You Bring the Distant Near

Four months after the Das family moves to New York, Ma still refuses to let Sonia leave the apartment alone. Sonia creates a sanctuary for herself on the fire escape outside her bedroom window and often spends hours writing there. In her diary, she describes the worsening fights between her parents and her sister’s low grades. Unlike Tara, she’s slow to make friends, but some of her classmates have invited her to join the Equal Rights Club. Gerald calls up to Sonia and invites her to join him for some fast food, but she ignores him.

Tara calls her sister inside to help with the laundry and warns her that their mother is going to learn of her hiding spot sooner or later. Three Bengali families are living in the apartment building. An older Bengali woman, whom Sonia calls “Big Harm” behind her back, teaches Tara the harmonium and pokes her nose in other families’ business. Big Harm praises Tara’s beauty and disparages Sonia’s dark skin. Sonia retorts, “You mean they might think I’m black? That’s wonderful! I’ll fit right in” (66), and proudly rolls up her sleeves. Ma doesn’t defend Sonia from Big Harm’s criticism or stand up for Baba when the woman insults him.