#439 A Real Durwan- Jhumpa Lahiri
Boori Ma is a woman worn down by a life of labor and loss.
She was a refugee forced to Calcutta under Indian Partition. Working as a sort
of house-maid, gate-keeper for the inn, a real Durwan, she never lets anyone
forget the troubles she’s had. Although her tellings may get a bit exaggerated.
“So she garbled facts. She contradicted herself. She
embellished almost everything. But her rants were so persuasive, her fretting
so vivid, that it was not so easy to dismiss her.”
“Aside from her hardships, the other thing Boori Ma liked to
chronicle was easier times.” She did this in a way to get back around to how
hard she had it now. No matter what somebody had, she had had it better…and now
look at her. Believe her or don’t
believe her.
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