The Lowland: Part 7, Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Gauri remembers the early days of 1970—the time of her marriage to Udayan, or, rather, of their elopement. They were married in the countryside, in the presence of “a few other comrades.” Gauri did not care what her family would think of her—she longed to put them behind her and devote her life to Udayan.

Gauri and Udayan return to the home of Udayan’s parents, where Gauri paints the part of her hair with vermillion powder and dons an iron bangle—markers of a married woman. Gauri’s new in-laws welcome her warmly, telling her that what is theirs is now hers.

At first, Gauri and Udayan share a normal life, going on evening walks together and settling into his parents’ house. Soon, though, Udayan asks Gauri to start doing things for him. He draws maps and tells her to walk to a certain place while running an errand, and to let him know whether a scooter or bicycle is parked outside. He gives her notes to deliver both to letterboxes and in person. Gauri willingly completes these small missions—she knows she has been “linked into a chain she [cannot] see.” She asks Udayan how her tasks are connected to his work, but he will not tell her.

Shortly after their first wedding anniversary, Udayan arranges a tutoring job for Gauri. She is to help a brother and sister in a nearby town pass their Sanskrit exams. Udayan instructs Gauri to use a fake name, and to do certain things while she is there—to part the living room curtains and say she needs some light, and to watch through the window for a policeman to pass by. Udayan wants Gauri to record the time the policeman passes, and to note whether or not he is in uniform. He tells Gauri that the policeman’s route passes a safe house, and his comrades need to know his schedule—they need him “out of the way.”

As Gauri’s students study ancient, sacred Hindu texts, Gauri half-listens, watching for the policeman each afternoon. One day, a Thursday, the policeman is not in uniform and is walking in the opposite direction of his normal path, bringing a small boy—his son—home from school. The following Thursday, Gauri observes the same behavior. After four weeks of seeing the policeman in civilian clothes, bringing his son home from school each Thursday afternoon, Gauri confirms the policeman’s schedule with Udayan, who asks how old the son is, and then turns away from Gauri.

The week before going to America to live with Subhash, Gauri returns to Jadavpur—the neighborhood where she’d tutored the brother and sister. As she walks down their street, she looks at the letterboxes on the neighboring houses until she finds the name of the dead policeman, Nirmal Dey, affixed to one. The policeman’s son is on the verandah, as is a woman a few years older than Gauri who is clearly his mother. She wears a white sari, like Gauri had worn until just a few weeks ago. Gauri considers her part in turning this woman’s life upside down, and her role in a tragedy that the mother and son will mourn for the remainder of their lives.