A Real Durwan

The importance of voice, especially a voice that others will heed and believe, takes center stage in the plot. The narrator describes Boori Ma’s voice as being the most “three-dimensional” thing about her (in other words, she is so thin that she appears “two-dimensional”). Boori Ma’s voice is what allows the residents to follow her movements along the stairs, almost as though her body and voice are one: “It was with this voice that she enumerated, twice a day as she swept the stairwell, the details of her plight and losses suffered since her deportation to Calcutta after Partition” (147). In addition to her suffering and loss, the older woman recounts the luxuries she knew before Partition. The residents consistently question the veracity of her claims, and the truth of her origins has been a frequent topic of conversation among them. Rather than deciding for themselves, they turn to Mr. Chatterjee for his opinion. The residents listen to and believe Mr. Chatterjee, the opposite of how they often treat Boori Ma.

One of the story’s warmest moments also illustrates the power of voice: On the rooftop, Boori Ma speaks with Mrs.