Unaccustomed Earth: 7. Hema and Kaushik: Year’s End Summary & Analysis

A few years after the death of Kaushik’s mother, Kaushik’s father unexpectedly remarries, calling Kaushik in his final year at Swarthmore to break the news. Dr. Choudhuri’s new wife, Chitra, is a Bengali widow 20 years younger, with two daughters of her own. Though surprised and upset by his father’s sudden decision, Kaushik remains calm on the phone. He feels as though his father has betrayed his mother’s memory. After hanging up, Kaushik returns to bed, where Jessica, a recent fling, lies. He begins to cry, discussing his parents with her for the first time.

When Parul was diagnosed with breast cancer, Dr. Choudhuri seemed to fall in love with her all over again, doting on her every need and indulging her every whim. Following her death, Dr. Choudhuri removes all of her photographs from their home and places them in a box, and he gives away her clothing and jewels. Kaushik, now addressing Hema as “you,” recalls his final memory of her from this period of his life: she and her mother were sifting through his mother’s belongings, taking what they wanted and leaving what they did not.

When Kaushik arrives at Dr. Choudhuri’s house—where Parul spent her final years—to meet Chitra and her girls during winter break, he’s surprised by the aromas hanging in the air, as his mother didn’t often cook during her illness. Chitra immediately places an array of Indian food before him. Her daughters, Rupa and Piu, appear, and Dr. Choudhuri suggests they call Kaushik “KD”—Kaushik Dada, or “brother Kaushik” in Bengali. Though Kaushik’s father is a civil engineer, he’s always had a creative streak and a fondness for writing poetry, a fact known by very few in Kaushik’s family’s circle.

Kaushik wonders why Dr. Choudhuri isn’t drinking Johnnie Walker as he typically would at this time—when Parul was first diagnosed, they’d picked up the indulgence together, and his father continued after her death. Searching the kitchen for a bottle, Kaushik comes up empty. His father explains that he’s quit drinking since meeting Chitra, who’s more traditional and disapproves of whisky. Still, he retrieves a half-full bottle hidden in a cupboard and hands it to Kaushik, who quickly downs two glasses, telling his father that none of this is “easy” for him.

Kaushik, relegated to the guest bedroom while Rupa and Piu occupy his old room, finds his new family’s presence inconvenient. When Chitra offers to make him tea, he declines, opting instead to go to Dunkin Donuts. Rupa and Piu tag along, and Kaushik, warming to them, buys them each a Boston cream donut. As American customs and the English language are still largely foreign to the young girls, Kaushik tries to help them adjust, offering advice. He realizes he shares more in common with them than many of his own friends, none of whom understand the immigrant experience. The girls mention Chitra has been searching for photos of Parul, but Kaushik explains that Dr. Choudhuri took them all down.

Later that evening, Kaushik dozes off in the living room and wakes to see Chitra, Rupa, and Piu braiding their hair. The sight “repulses” him, reminding him of Parul’s hair loss during her illness and the synthetic wigs she wore until her death. Kaushik’s father returns with a Christmas tree, intending to trim it with Parul’s old decorations, which are now stored in the basement. As Kaushik searches for the box, he recalls the times his mother helped him develop his photographs there, in his makeshift basement darkroom. He remembers her saying she hoped death would feel like a darkroom—quiet and peaceful.

Not wanting Chitra to touch Parul’s old ornaments, Kaushik abandons the search, telling Dr. Choudhuri he couldn’t find them. Where he once resented his father for attempting to erase Parul from their home, he now feels his father didn’t go far enough. He “despises” Chitra, the woman he believes is trying to replace his mother. When his father asks him to take pictures, Kaushik explains that he left his camera at school (intentionally, though he doesn’t mention this). Two days later, on Christmas Eve, Kaushik’s father drives everyone into Boston for a tour of the area. When they pass Mass General, Kaushik is flooded with memories of the day his mother died, her body cold to the touch.

When Dr. Choudhuri and Chitra are invited to a New Year’s party by Bengali friends, Kaushik offers to watch Rupa and Piu for the evening. After dinner, while wrapping up a conversation with Jessica, he realizes the girls are missing. He finds them looking through old pictures of Parul, which they found in a box his father had sealed up after her death. Kaushik explodes, grabbing the girls and scolding them for touching what isn’t theirs. Despite their tears, he continues to yell, saying cruel things about Chitra and their family. Overcome with anger, he storms out, abandoning the girls and driving far away from the city.

When Kaushik calls Dr. Choudhuri from a payphone the next day, he realizes that Rupa and Piu never told Chitra or his father the horrible things he said to them. His father is upset with him for leaving so suddenly but never asks why. Kaushik spends the following days driving up the coast, heading north with no map or destination. He relishes the freedom of solitude and thinks often of Parul, who would’ve loved the small towns he drives through. Ashamed of making Rupa and Piu cry, Kaushik recalls another time when Hema also cried because of him. Though the months he spent with Hema’s family were painful, he acknowledges it was the last place that felt like home.

When Kaushik reaches the Canadian border, he finds a secluded spot and stares at the box of Parul’s photos—the same box Rupa and Piu had discovered. Unable to bear seeing the pictures again, he buries the box there. Before graduation, Kaushik’s father informs him that he and Chitra are selling the house and moving to a neighborhood with other Bengali families and an Indian grocery. At the ceremony, Rupa and Piu pose with Kaushik for pictures, though he can tell they’re still hurt by his outburst. He realizes that, though they ultimately kept his admonishments a secret, he’s damaged what could have been a meaningful relationship with his stepsisters.