Previous
Parul/Kaushik’s Mother
Hema’s parents embody traditional Bengali values, placing a strong emphasis on family, education, and cultural identity. Though well-intentioned, their expectations for Hema create an environment that often feels restrictive, particularly as Hema strives for independence in her American life. They’re encouraging of Hema’s marriage to Navin, seeing him as a “suitable” match who shares their cultural background. Their presence in Hema’s life reflects the tension between tradition and assimilation that she struggles to reconcile.
Hema’s Parents Quotes in Unaccustomed Earth
The Unaccustomed Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Hema’s Parents or refer to Hema’s Parents. 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:
).
6. Hema and Kaushik: Once in a Lifetime Quotes
“They should have known it’s impossible to go back,” they said to their friends, condemning your parents for having failed at both ends. We had stuck it out as immigrants while you had fled; had we been the ones to go back to India, my parents seemed to suggest, we would have stuck it out there as well.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When Hema’s parents first learn that Kaushik’s family is returning to America, they automatically assume it’s because Kaushik’s parents couldn’t tough it out in India after living for so many years as immigrants in New England. Despite their once-close friendship with the Choudhuris, Hema’s parents’ criticisms suggest that there’s an unspoken competition among immigrants to prove their adaptability and fortitude. However, these judgments also reflect Hema’s parents’ own insecurities and fears, aware as they are that uprooting one’s life for a foreign land inevitably involves loss and compromise. The specific phrase “failed at both ends” encapsulates a deep-seated fear common Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consect
8. Hema and Kaushik: Going Ashore Quotes
It was her inability, ultimately, to approach middle age without a husband, without children, with her parents living now on the other side of the world, and yet to own a home and shovel the driveway when it snowed and pay her mortgage bill when it came [...] to abide that life indefinitely that led her to Navin.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Before Hema is engaged to Navin, she spends a decade of her life in an affair with Julian, a married man who repeatedly promises to leave his wife but never follows through. His betrayal leaves Hema desperately searching for a connection that will bring her stability and security, as she feels a large part of her life was wasted on a fantasy. Her decision to marry Navin is more pragmatic than romantic, driven by the increasing weight of cultural and familial expectations. The imagery Hema uses in this passage of shoveling snow and paying bills captures the monotony of an Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minim
It would be replaced tenfold in the course of her wedding. And yet she felt she had left a piece of her body behind. She had grown up hearing from her mother that losing gold was inauspicious, and as the plane began to climb, [...] a dark thought passed through her, that it would crash or be blasted apart in the sky.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Hema boards her plane for Calcutta and somberly prepares to leave her Roman love affair with Kaushik behind, she realizes that she has left her golden bangle at airport security. A piece of jewelry she’s worn since she was a child—and one that Kaushik specifically recalled her wearing all those years ago—Hema is devastated. Her heartbreak over its loss is about more than the object itself; it symbolizes her severed future with Kaushik. Having just parted from him, the bangle’s disappearance feels like a bad omen, intensifying Hema’s fears about the uncertain path ahead. While Hema’s concerns center on Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Volupta
Get the entire Unaccustomed Earth LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Hema’s Parents Character Timeline in Unaccustomed Earth
The timeline below shows where the character Hema’s Parents appears in Unaccustomed Earth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
6. Hema and Kaushik: Once in a Lifetime
...first time she noticed Kaushik as a fixture in her life, during the farewell party Hema’s parents throw when Kaushik’s family, the Choudhuris, choose to return to India in 1974.
(full context)
...Massachusetts and asking to stay at Hema’s home while they find a place to live. Hema’s parents assume that something went wrong in India, judging the Choudhuris for being unable to “stick...
(full context)
Before the Choudhuris’ arrival, Hema’s parents buy brand-new décor to modernize their home, replacing old pillows, bath towels, and blankets. Hema...
(full context)
...missing there and her own mother won’t allow her to go. The Choudhuris confess to Hema’s parents that Kaushik didn’t want to leave Bombay, and this is why he’s so isolated and...
(full context)
...family along when they go house hunting, always viewing grand, sprawling homes far beyond what Hema’s parents could ever afford. Now, a month into their stay, Hema’s parents are frustrated by the...
(full context)
8. Hema and Kaushik: Going Ashore
...engaged to Navin, an Indian professor of physics at MIT. She doesn’t tell Navin or Hema’s parents , who have returned to Calcutta, that she’s going to Rome to be alone, instead...
(full context)
