Sai’s Father (Mr. Mistry) Character Analysis in The Inheritance of Loss

An orphan himself and a member of the Indian Air Force. He and Sai’s mother travel to Moscow for him to be interviewed for the space program, but the couple is hit by a bus when they are crossing the street, leaving Sai to be taken care of by her grandfather.

Sai’s Father (Mr. Mistry) Quotes in The Inheritance of Loss

The The Inheritance of Loss quotes below are all either spoken by Sai’s Father (Mr. Mistry) or refer to Sai’s Father (Mr. Mistry). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Colonialism and Globalization Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Grove Press edition of The Inheritance of Loss published in 2006.

Still, they considered themselves lucky to have found each other, each one empty with the same loneliness, each one fascinating as a foreigner to the other, but both educated with an eye to the West, and so they could sing together quite tunefully while strumming a guitar. They felt free and brave, part of a modern nation in a modern world.

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Page Number and Citation: 29

Explanation and Analysis:

Sai’s Father (Mr. Mistry) Character Timeline in The Inheritance of Loss

The timeline below shows where the character Sai’s Father (Mr. Mistry) appears in The Inheritance of Loss. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...come before, if she’s been so close. She tells him her parents are dead; Sai’s father was a space pilot, and he and Sai’s mother both died in Russia. The cook... (full context)

The narrative jumps back even further, explaining the circumstances of Sai’s parents’ deaths. Sai’s father had been a resident at the Society for Interplanetary Travel in Moscow, during “the last... (full context)

Sai’s mother and father (referred to as Mrs. and Mr. Mistry) had met in a public park in Delhi,... (full context)

...government to find candidates to send to space in India. They had been impressed by Mr. Mistry and asked him to come to Moscow. Sai, only six at the time, was left... (full context)

The judge (then called Jemubhai) had been accompanied by his father to his departure point. His mother stayed weeping at home. With him, Jemubhai had a... (full context)

As the judge departed on the ship, the judge’s father yelled at him to toss the coconut. Jemubhai was embarrassed by his father, a barely... (full context)