The Space Between Us

The Space Between Us uses juxtaposition and multiple points of view to highlight the intense gap between Bhima and Sera’s socio-economic stations. What they share in common is their gender and the experiences born of this identity, but the “space between them” is born of every other social identity that makes up the fabric of Indian society: class, caste, and religion. When their identities are considered intersectionally, Bhima and Sera no longer have solidarity or much in common.

Sera and Bhima come from different religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. There is an intimate relationship between the two women born from their shared experience as women. Sera and Bhima both live for their children, which society expects them to have, and then suffer for the sake of their children’s well-being. Sera endures and shields Dinaz from Feroz’s abuse over the years; she believes that Dinaz and Viraf’s company after Feroz’s death is her reward for all her suffering, highlighting the belief that her suffering was required of her. Bhima spends her life working first for her children, and then her granddaughter, an extension of her children. Bhima vows to raise Maya to have a better life than Maya’s mother or grandmother ever did; she takes pride in Maya’s intelligence and supports her education, pinning her hopes of a better future on Maya.