The Storyteller's Secret

When Jaya’s childhood was diagnosed with cancer, the community briefly set up a schedule to cook and donate food to the family, but Lena continued to cook extra food for the cancer patient’s family and drop it off anonymously on their doorstep. When the neighbor recovered, the community threw a party, and tried to thank the anonymous food donor. Jaya’s mother never stepped forward. When Jaya asked her mother why she didn’t come forward, Lena simply responded that “It wasn’t about me” (184).

In India, Jaya thinks about Patrick and their failed phone conversation. She tries to take her wedding ring off, but it stops at her knuckle. Jaya feels a wave of relief and keeps it on. She goes to the market to shop for gifts, and meets Ravi and his dog. They go to Ravi’s house at the edge of the village. Ravi’s house is a “hovel” (186) to Jaya. Ravi never moved into Jaya’s family’s house out of a sense of duty and propriety.

They cook dinner, with Ravi jumping in to help spice the curry as Jaya isn’t familiar with Indian cooking. Though Jaya’s mother was a terrific cook, “she liked to cook alone” (189).