When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

Outside of Lilia, Mr. Pirzada receives the most characterization in the story. He is an intelligent, charming, considerate man from Dacca who is in America to study the foliage in New England. While he is away from home, the Bangladesh Liberation War breaks out and he loses contact with his family. He spends many nights at Lilia’s house to eat dinner and watch the news, hoping to glean any information he can about his family’s safety. The introduction of Mr. Pirzada and the subsequent bond they form catalyze Lilia’s coming-of-age arc. It is through him that she learns what is going on in Pakistan (and more broadly, learns about the world outside America), which piques her curiosity about her cultural heritage. It is also through witnessing Mr. Pirzada’s separation from his family and experiencing his eventual departure that Lilia first understands real loss.

Even with the deep connections he builds with Lilia’s family, Mr. Pirzada is never quite fully present. Each night he sets his pocket watch to local Dacca time to feel more connected with his absent family, and Lilia initially describes him as a man who seems to be “balancing in either hand two suitcases of equal weight” (27-28)—a metaphor for the opposing pulls of America and Pakistan. Despite his circumstances, Mr. Pirzada carries himself with grace and is always extremely well dressed. Lilia notes that the “superb ease” with which he interacts with her parents and seamlessly blends into their lives makes her feel “like a stranger in [her] own home” (29). Like Dora, he functions as a foil for Lilia, revealing the ways in which Lilia is not quite culturally aligned with her parents. 

Lilia’s parents are first-generation immigrants from India who went through many struggles before arriving in America (food rationing, curfews, riots, and the threat of being shot are all mentioned). Her father is a university professor and her mother works part time at a bank. They complain about many of the things they miss from home and are somewhat reluctant to assimilate into American culture; they seek out other immigrants to befriend so that they can maintain as much Indian culture as possible at home. They are Lilia’s sole connection to Indian culture, and they have differing opinions about what that connection should look like. Her father is concerned that she only learns about American history and geography at school, believing she should know what is going on in the wider world (particularly India and its surrounding nations). Her mother is less concerned about this and sees it as a point of pride that Lilia is getting an American education, which she takes as a symbol of the American dream. In this way, her parents reflect opposite sides of the identity struggle that many immigrants face: the desire not to lose touch with one’s cultural heritage versus the potential value in assimilating, which can mean a safer life filled with more opportunity.