Summary

Chapter 45 transitions back to Amisha. Nine months after Stephen left, Amisha gave birth to their daughter, Lena. Deepak was suspicious of Lena’s pale skin but Amisha convinced Deepak that Lena was his. She made Deepak promise to send Lena to America one day, as she recalled Stephen saying it was the land of opportunity.

A few years later, Amisha was bitten by a mosquito and contracted encephalitis. Deepak and Ravi tended to her, but her condition worsened quickly. Deepak presented Amisha with the keys to the school, which he bought to make her feel better. Amisha began hallucinating, thinking she saw Stephen instead of Deepak. Ravi brought her to the school’s garden, where she then collapsed.

With the doctors unable to help her, Deepak turned to religion. He told Ravi, “The Brahmins say it is dark energy” (347). In an attempt...