Summary

Gopal Maurya woke to the sound of his doorbell ringing. He rushed to answer it seeing that it was his divorced neighbor, Mrs Helen Shaw. He was desperate to talk to someone after having been a recluse for the past four months after his wife and daughter had left him. His daughter, Gitu, had moved to Germany with her boyfriend and his wife, Anita, had decided to stay in India after a trip there. Mrs Shaw asked Gopal if she could borrow his lawnmower. She apologized for not visiting him sooner after hearing about his family leaving. While getting the lawnmower out, Gopal becomes aroused by Mrs Shaw and attempted to kiss her. She pushed him away laughing saying “Not now” (Location 72). Gopal interpreted this comment as meaning that they would be together at a later time and became excited. He was unable to...