Response to "Once in a Lifetime"

This story is written in and interesting way because we get most of it in first person from the narrator with second person at times to refer to Kaushik and his family. It's pretty clear that Hema's family is more conservative and less modern than Kaushiks and I think the way Lahari chooses to write the story makes their conservatism all the more noticeable. Hema's relationship and attitude towards Kaushik is distant an in the end unresolved. We never learn what really happens between the two, even though we do learn that she finds him appealing, yet nothing is ever acted upon which is a little disappointing. By having Hema's character detached and speak of everyone the way she does gives us an emotional attachment to her and the people she has feelings with, I.e. Kaushik. I think we sympathize with her because it's almost like we're in her head as well. The tension she feels or experiences, we experience it with her. I actually liked the way this story was told. The writing strategy here was different and caught my attention