This short story, "Interpreter of Maladies" written by Jhumpa Lahiri, has many different conflicts arise throughout the story. One event that stood out to me the most was when Mrs. Das tells her taxi driver whom she has just met, Mr. Kapasi, about the strife she has endured the last eight years. She tells him secrets no one else knows, including the fact that her children are not all from her husband. What bothered me the most about this is that Mrs. Das assumes Mr. Kapasi will help her since he works in a doctors office. This is far from the case though, because his work has nothing to do with offering people guidance. Mrs. Das says, "Don't you realize what it means for me to tell you" (Lahiri, 159). I think, at this point, Mr. Kapasi was probably thinking something along the lines of "No, I have no idea why you're telling me any of this right now." It is not his job to be her therapist, and I thought it was just all around strange that she told him this.
I couldn't help but think about what Mr. Kapasi must have been feeling during this. If I were him, I would want Mr. Das to know the truth. While I would never want to get involved in something that is not my business, I feel it is right that he knows. However, I think hearing this story was beneficial to Mr. Kapasi. He tells of how he and his wife are not very close. I think after hearing this, he will learn to appreciate her and their marriage more.
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