This story by Bharati Mukherjee is a fictional account of how families of Canadian-Indian passengers coped (or in some cases couldn’t cope) in the aftermath of the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182. Told through the eyes of a woman who lost her husband and two sons, the story contrasts the Canadian government’s insensitive, “textbook” approach to grief management with the protagonist’s conviction that we must all grieve in our own way according to our cultural traditions and personal preferences. Themes: denial (hope) vs. acceptance, despair, cultural tradition, bureaucracy, collective vs individual identity, collective blame.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (6,500 words)