Real-Time by Amit Chaudhuri: Summary

Real-Time - Summary Amit Chaudhuri is a well-known Indian writer in English. Most of his stories are situated in Kolkata in the 1980s. He presents the lifestyle of upper middles class families in Kolkata. This particular short story portrays how even the death of a person is seen in a light-hearted manner. Even though the name of the city is not mentioned in the story it is understood from the reading as Kolkata. The story revolves around a memorial service for a young woman, Anjali Poddar, who committed suicide by jumping off the third-story balcony of her parent's apartment building. The story is narrated in the third person from the point of view of the main character, Mr Mitra, a middle-aged, professional man who, with his wife, is attending the shradh ceremony for Anjali. The story opens with Mr and Mrs Mitra in their Ambassador car on their way to the shraddha – the memorial ceremony for Anjali. His botheration about his white cotton dress and sandals on the way to buy flowers…