The Protagonist Shaila Bhave

The protagonist Shaila Bhave is the most prominent character who displays the struggle of coping with the problems and emotions she experiences throughout the short story. Many of her problems stem from the fact that she was unable to fully express her love towards her husband and sons since her traditional culture barred her from doing so. Immediately after the incident, Shaila Bhave is affected by the loss of her family members in a very common way- she grieves a lot and takes comfort in those close to her. As we discussed in class, the Indian social culture is based very much on the community and is made up of a close knit network of friends and family. It is no wonder why Shaila confronts her emotions and problems by consoling with neighbors and friends. Although, this is interrupted by the negative behavior that Judith expresses unto the community due to lack of knowledge and respect to the culture. Though, perhaps from her culture, Shaila Bhave ultimately deals with her emotions in quiet calmness and takes it in stride. The evidence that she refuses to identify her children, takes valium, and moves to Hardwar perhaps in seeking of withdrawal from her community may suggest that she is in the denial stage of the incident. However she eventually finds closure; she visits the site of the plane crash and comes to terms with the incident and finds comfort when she hears her husband speaking with her and stays strong and moves on.

In the story "Management of Grief" base on a tragic Air India flight crashed due to a bomb planted by Sikh terrorists which brought a neighbors together in Shaila's home to cope with their emotional problems. As stated in this story if makes me feel that these characters were being judged base on how they cope with their problems. Shaila becoming a spokesperson, Kusum sold everything and joined as Ashram to withdraw from the world, or Dr Rangathan who made an effort to stay in touch and being supportive as if he was a more practical or in the right mind type character, until he sold his home and moved to the U.S. I mean this is more of a cultural matter than being accused of being too emotional attached or just in denial altogether. It's about the Indian culture of convenience in times like this one where it brought a community together because they all in need of each other's company or just physically being there is what is enough for them at the time. On the contrary, dealing with

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