Part 2, Narration Summary

The grandmother, Jaha, explains that her father was forever changed by his grief for his favored wife. However, good comes even from this darkness because when he emerges from a lengthy mourning period, he calls upon the Empire's most talented architect to build a mausoleum such as the world has never seen. The architect's name is Isa.

Part 2, Narration Analysis

The narration serves to explain and foreshadow the most important event in Jahanara's life: the arrival of Ustad Isa to build the Taj Mahal. The reader does not know yet what role Isa will play in Jahanara's life, but the grandmother says he is "everything."