In Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Interpreter of Maladies’ Mr. Kapasi , the main character, seems to be a person with mixed feelings. He does not seem to have fixed stand neither in his job nor on his thoughts. His thoughts and experience are structured by the strict cultural society of India. His hidden wants and desires suppressed by the community rules are looking for way to come out. The consequence is his changing thoughts and desires which at different parts of the story appear differently and brings instability in his life. At the beginning of the story he seems to be surprised by the strange behavior of Das couples, then at the middle of the story he seems to be attracted towards Mrs. Das and at the end of the story he seems to be getting distracted from her slowly. It can be said that he had no fixed stand in life and his thoughts and feelings were changing.
Mr. Kapasi’s cultural beliefs and thoughts get first blow when he looks at Das family.
At the beginning of the story Mr. Kapasi seems to be surprised by the way Das couple acted in taking care of their children’s needs. He does not find this to be in tune with Indian culture. Children very much depend on their parents in Indian society. But in this family the parents seems to have no close affection towards children as seen by Mr. Kapasi. This statement from the story supports this fact, ‘In the rearview mirror Mr. Kapasi watched as Mrs. Das emerged slowly from his bulky white ambassador, dragging her shaved, largely bare legs across the back seat. She did not hold the little girl’s hand as they walked to the rest room.’ This brings a upheaval in his thoughts and beliefs. When he looked at them, he guessed that the family was Indian but their dresses were like those of