Jhumpa Lahiri's "Once in a Lifetime"

     Told through the eyes of  Hema, but it seemes to be an older Hema telling the story through her middle-school aged point of view. This story is directed to a boy, Kaushik, whose family held a close relationship with Hema's and had to live with her. Though Kaushik is not extremely present in most of the story, he obviously had an indenting impact on her. One summer, Kaushik's  father received a good job in the U.S. forcing them to move back to America from India. Hema's family offered them to live at their home until they were able to find a home for themselves, which they are quite picky about choosing. Hema becomes a love-stricken thirteen year old, crushing on Kaushik who seems to be a regukar disdainful sixteen year old. This story follows the time the two families spent together, learning and growing from each other, especially Hema.
     Cultural diversity is a dominating theme throughout the story. Hema, who has been "Americanized," learns many cultural differences from her house guests during their time together. I found Lahiri's incoporation of American and Indian cultures refreshing and interesting due to their contrasting elements and characters. The difference in each family's culture creates a nice build up of tension by Lahiri as Kaushik's family begins to wear out their welcome. I thought Lahiri did a great job here, amongst many other places, by showing the clashing contrasts between the families: Kaushik's family had preserved their Indian culture, while Hema and her family had become Americanized. Though Hema's family saw their guests' moving as a "weakness,"Despite their families' differences, Hema and Kaushik become close or get to know each other further after Kaushik shares an important secret with her. Lahiri's descriptions and images throughout were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed the small details she provided. Also, I really loved how Lahiri created the story to be a sort of flashback for Hema, as if she were telling Kaushik, helping him remember their encounters, etc. I found this extremely effective and helped me to identify with Hema. I'm not exactly sure why, but Hema's character just felt relatable to me. Though the ending is a bit sad, I loved the very last line and how Lahiri chose to end it by not fully closing the story, but giving the reader enough closer to where it doesn't just end abruptly. All in all, I found this story a great read and loved Lahiri's style of writing. Although, I think I would have enjoyed it even more if it were a tiny bit shorter in length. Nonetheless, I'm very glad I got to read it and become exposed to a different and effective style of writing.