Unaccustomed Earth

Though Pranab Chakraborty is not Usha’s uncle, her parents considered him a part of their family, and she was taught to call him Pranab Kaku—“Uncle Pranab” in Bengali. They met one afternoon in Cambridge when Pranab approached Usha and her mother, Aparna, hoping to befriend a fellow Bengali family. A new engineering student at MIT from Calcutta, Pranab knew no one in America. As he becomes a regular part of Usha’s life, she notices her mother’s spirits are generally higher. Eventually, Usha realizes that her mother has fallen in love with Pranab Kaku, with whom she shares far more in common than Usha’s father—a man Aparna married in an arranged union she never truly wanted.

Pranab Kaku is young, but closer to Aparna’s age than Usha’s father. Usha, Aparna, and Pranab spend free time together, picnicking and swimming at Walden Pond as Pranab captures the special moments on his camera. But, when he begins seeing a student named Deborah in 1974, the group dynamics shift. Usha’s mother disapproves of Deborah and regularly insults her behind her back. Usha, however, likes Pranab Kaku’s girlfriend. Gradually, Aparna distances herself from Pranab, allowing Usha to spend time with him and Deborah on her own. Later, Usha learns that around this time, her mother became pregnant but tragically suffered a miscarriage. Her doctor advised that she stop trying for more children altogether.

As Pranab Kaku continues seeing Deborah, Aparna often tells her friends that he is no longer who he used to be, that the difference in his behavior is “hell-heaven.” When he proposes to Deborah, he asks Usha’s parents to write to his family in Calcutta, expressing their approval of his marriage to an American woman. Though Aparna reluctantly agrees, Pranab’s parents are furious, blaming Usha’s parents for allowing their son to stray from tradition. Despite defending Pranab against their harsh words, Aparna is unable to sway them, and they refuse to give their blessing. Unfazed, Pranab chooses to follow his heart, openly defying his parents’ wishes.

Pranab Kaku slowly distances himself from Usha’s family and their Bengali friends following his engagement. Nonetheless, Usha’s family is invited to his small Westernized wedding, though Aparna complains about various annoyances through the entire celebration. The next year, Pranab and Deborah welcome twin daughters, Srabani and Sabitri, whom they call Bonny and Sara. Gradually, Usha’s family stops inviting Pranab to gatherings, blaming Deborah for “changing” him and for stripping away the independence they once admired in their adoptive family member. Aparna, for her part, is certain Deborah will one day leave him.

As Usha grows up, her relationship with her mother becomes strained. She rebels against the traditional Bengali image her parents hoped she would embrace, drinking beer and kissing boys in secret. Usha begins to view her mother’s existence with pity, dismissing Aparna’s loneliness and depression much like Usha’s father did. The year before Usha starts college, the Chakrabortys invite her family to celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a large gathering, full of family and people Pranab Kaku and Deborah had once known but lost touch with. While Usha flirts with Deborah’s younger brother, Matty, her parents mingle with the other Bengalis in attendance. Her parents leave early, and at the end of the night, Matty drives Usha home. She kisses him, hopeful he’ll call.

After 23 years of marriage, Pranab Kaku and Deborah separate, as Aparna had once predicted they would. Pranab has an affair with a married Bengali woman, and a heartbroken Deborah calls Aparna to help her process the betrayal. Despite years of only occasional communication, Deborah always considered Usha’s family her in-laws, often pushing Pranab to maintain a connection to his Bengali roots. Deborah’s words surprise Aparna, and she tries to console her, neglecting to mention that, at one point, Pranab Kaku had broken her heart as well.

As Aparna ages, she accepts Usha as “a child of America” as much as India, making peace with her daughter’s American lifestyle and boyfriends. After Usha suffers an especially painful heartbreak in her adulthood, Aparna reveals that, shortly after Pranab Kaku’s wedding, while Usha and Usha’s father were out of the house, she had doused herself in lighter fluid, intending to set herself on fire. Ultimately, she was “saved” at the last minute by a neighbor who came by to discuss the sunset. Afterward, Aparna had cleaned herself up, cooked dinner for her family, and carried on with her day.