Interpreter of Maladies

Mr. Kapasi, a middle-aged Indian man who works as a tour guide and as an interpreter for a doctor, has been hired to take the Das family to the Sun Temple at Konarak. The family includes a daughter, Tina, and two sons, Ronny and Bobby, and Mr. Kapasi is struck by how American they are despite their Indian heritage. As the family waits at a tea stall and the boys take interest in a goat, Mr. Kapasi chats with Mr. Das, learning that he was born in America and is a middle school teacher.

Everyone gets in the car, and they start the long drive to the Sun Temple. Mr. Kapasi notices the ways the children misbehave and the parents are impolite or uncaring with each other. The boys see some monkeys, and despite their relative ubiquity in the area, Mr. Das instructs Mr. Kapasi to stop so they can take a photo. They stop again soon after so Mr. Das can take a photo of a barefoot man, then the conversation turns to Mr. Kapasi’s job as an interpreter for a doctor. The doctor does not speak Gujarati, which is part of Mr. Kapasi’s heritage. Mrs. Das finds his job romantic, and she takes an interest in him, concluding that the patients are as dependent on him as the doctor.

Mr. Kapasi does not hold himself in such high regard—his children speak English better than he does, and he took the job as an interpreter to pay for his son’s medical bills from typhoid. His son did not survive, but he kept the job, even though his wife does not respect the work and is reminded of their loss because of it. Mrs. Das’s interest in his job thrills him, and he wonders if she and her husband are poorly suited for each other in the way he and his wife are.

As they drive, Mr. Kapasi tells Mrs. Das about more and more patients he has met, and she invites him to join them at lunch. Mr. Das takes a photo of everyone, including Mr. Kapasi, and Mrs. Das asks for his address so she can send him a copy of the photo. He gives her the address, fantasizing about becoming pen pals and, eventually, close.

They arrive at the Sun Temple, and Mr. Kapasi is pleased the family likes it, particularly Mrs. Das. While they tour the temple, his fantasy about his correspondence with Mrs. Das grows, and when they begin the return journey, he wants to prolong their time together. He convinces the family to make a detour to the hills at Udayagiri and Khandagiri, hoping this will give him a chance to spend more time with Mrs. Das. When they arrive, the site has many monkeys, and Mrs. Das decides to stay in the car. Mr. Das protests, but she is firm, and Mr. Kapasi warns Mr. Das not to provoke the monkeys with food. The family sets off, leaving Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi alone.

The two of them watch Bobby play with a monkey in the distance, and Mr. Kapasi comments on his bravery. Mrs. Das offers Mr. Kapasi some of the puffed rice she has been snacking on, then reveals that the boy is not Mr. Das’s son. Mr. Kapasi nervously dabs lotus oil on his forehead, and she says she has never told anyone. She goes on to tell the story of her marriage: She and her husband were childhood sweethearts, engaged in high school, and as a result she had few other friendships or close connections. When they had children, she was overwhelmed and lonely. Her husband, meanwhile, enjoyed his work and seemed to have no trouble in life. When one of her husband’s friends visited for a job interview, Mrs. Das found herself alone with him. When he made an advance on her, she did not attempt to stop him.

Mr. Kapasi asks why she would tell him all of this, and she says it’s because he’s an interpreter. She feels terrible all the time, and she thinks that he will be able to say something or understand her in a way that makes her feel better. He thinks and suggests that perhaps what she feels is guilt. She is insulted at the suggestion and leaves the car. The puffed rice that she’s carrying attracts the monkeys as she walks. Mr. Kapasi gets out of the car and takes up a stick to scare the monkeys off.

Mrs. Das meets her family, but Bobby is not there. They search for him and find him being attacked by the monkeys that have been trailing Mrs. Das. The family doesn’t know what to do, so Mr. Kapasi rescues the boy. He is tempted to whisper what he learned into Bobby’s ear. The boy is stunned but largely unhurt, and as Mrs. Das reaches into her bag to bandage him and then pulls out her hairbrush to fix his hair, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi’s address on it falls out. Only Mr. Kapasi notices, and he decides this is the picture of the family he will preserve in his memory.