In 1964, the unnamed Indian narrator of the story moves to London to study. There, he lives with a group of Bengali bachelors in the house. In 1969, two significant events happen to change his life: he gets a job in Boston and his family arranges his marriage. While his wife, Mala, waits to receive a green card, the narrator flies to America alone. He arrives in Boston on July 20, the same day as the moon landing. In America, he must navigate his own new world, adjusting to changes in currency, driving patterns, shopping, and diet. At first, he stays at the YMCA, but it proves noisy and stuffy. When he sees an advertisement for a room for rent, he decides to go look at it. The house is on a quiet, tree-lined street. Mrs. Croft, the landlady, is very elderly and the narrator initially is put off by her eccentricity. She has several rules—and emphatically insists he call the moon landing “splendid!” Still, the room is nicer than the one he has, so he rents it. Chatting with Mrs. Croft after work becomes part of his daily routine. She is touched by his attention to following her rules and how he places the rent money in her hands, instead of leaving it on the piano.
At the end of the first week, Helen—Mrs. Croft’s daughter—comes to deliver her mother cans of soup. Helen tells the narrator that Mrs. Croft thinks he’s a “gentleman.” She also reveals that Mrs. Croft is 103. The narrator is chagrined. He thought Mrs. Croft was younger due to her strong personality. Due to her age, he starts to see Mrs. Croft as more vulnerable. At the same time, he is amazed that she has survived so long and seen so much. As the weeks pass, He gets used to his daily habits at Mrs. Croft’s. At the end of six weeks, the narrator rents an apartment for himself and Mala, whose green card has been approved. He moves out of Mrs. Croft’s room. Outwardly, she seems indifferent to his departure and the narrator is somewhat hurt.
When Mala arrives, he finds they have little in common. She’s more traditionally Indian in dress, attitude, and taste, while he’s had time to become Americanized. Although Mala tries to make their apartment homey, he feels they remain strangers. The narrator takes Mala to visit Mrs. Croft. Helen answers the door and explains that her mother injured her hip in a fall and cannot move from the parlor. Mrs. Croft’s personality is still intact, however, and the narrator knows he’s supposed to say it’s splendid when Mrs. Croft tells him she was able to call the police herself after her accident. Mrs. Croft curiously looks Mala over, assessing her. This moment of evaluation causes the narrator to sympathize with Mala and her immigrant experience, which reminds him of his own. Mrs. Croft approves of her, calling her a “perfect lady.” The narrator laughs, and he and Mala share smiles. The barrier between them starts to come down.
The new couple grow closer, exploring new activities in Boston and learning to rely on each other emotionally. When the narrator notices Mrs. Croft’s obituary in the newspaper, Mala consoles him. Thirty years later, the narrator and Mala are American citizens, living in town outside of Boston. Their son goes to Harvard. They still visit Calcutta and maintain some Indian rituals, but realize that as time passes, their son may not do so. The narrator worries about his son but feels there is no obstacle he can’t overcome. After all, unlike the astronauts who spent only few hours on the moon, the narrator has lived on his “third and final continent” for thirty years. He’s amazed by his successful journey.
