Part 1 Section 4 Summary

The narrator's next journal entry is dated February 20th. When she visited Inder Lal's mother and his wife Ritu, she thought, how rapidly young children that age can make it so "untidy." She could imagine Inder Lal's mother having gone wife shopping for him (and notices how swiftly Ritu obeys her commands). The narrator tries out her Hindi, unsuccessfully and thinks the old woman has appraised her (and found her lacking). She is though by now accustomed to being appraised, because everyone does it. How strange for Indians, she thinks, seeing the British living among them and wearing their style of clothing (which was cheaper and cooler). One of the first things she had done after settling in her room in Satipur was to purchase Indian clothing for herself. She now wears a knee-length shirt and baggy trousers tied at the...