The Third and Final Continent
by Jhumpa Lahiri
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A Bengali narrator recounts his journey across three continents, India, England and finally America. Leaving India in 1964 with a commerce certificate and almost no money, he lives frugally among Bengali bachelors in London, then takes a job at MIT in 1969, the year of the moon landing. His marriage to Mala is arranged, but she will join him only after six weeks. In Cambridge he rents a room from Mrs Croft, a fierce, imperious woman of 103 who each evening makes him declare that the American flag on the moon is 'splendid'. A quiet, respectful bond grows between the lonely young man and the ancient widow. When Mala arrives, the couple are at first strangers, but a visit to Mrs Croft, who inspects Mala and declares her 'a perfect lady', becomes the moment their affection begins to grow. Years later, settled and successful in America with a son at Harvard, the narrator remembers Mrs Croft as the first death he mourned in America, and marvels quietly at the ordinary yet extraordinary distance he has travelled.
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Lahiri's story is a gentle diasporic narrative about migration, loneliness, arranged marriage and human connection. It interweaves the historic 1969 moon landing with the small, private conquests of an immigrant making a new life across three continents.
From India to London to America
The narrator leaves India in 1964 with a commerce certificate and ten dollars, sailing to England, where he lives cheaply among penniless Bengali bachelors in Finsbury Park. In 1969 his marriage is arranged and he is offered a library job at MIT. He flies to Calcutta to marry Mala, then on to Boston to begin his new life, arriving the very week two Americans land on the moon.
Mrs Croft's room
The narrator rents a room from Mrs Croft, a tiny, fierce woman of 103, a former piano teacher who lives alone. Each evening she makes him sit beside her and declare that the American flag on the moon is 'splendid'. Though her commands baffle him, he complies gently, and a strange, respectful routine develops between the lonely young man and the ancient widow.
A growing bond
The narrator learns Mrs Croft's age from her daughter Helen and grows protective of her, in awe of a life spanning from 1866. When he hands her the rent in her hands, she calls it 'very kind'. His quiet care for the fragile old woman deepens into genuine affection, even as he awaits the arrival of his wife.
Mala arrives
Mala joins him and they are at first strangers, awkward and shy. He takes her to meet Mrs Croft, who has broken her hip but proudly announces she called the police herself. She inspects Mala from top to toe and finally declares her 'a perfect lady', a moment that makes the couple laugh together and look at each other for the first time, beginning to close the distance between them.
Looking back
Years later the narrator and Mala are settled American citizens with a son at Harvard. Mrs Croft's obituary was the first death he mourned in America. Driving down Massachusetts Avenue, he tells his son of the woman aged 103 he once lived with, and reflects that though the astronauts spent mere hours on the moon, he has survived nearly thirty years in his new world, an ordinary achievement that still, at times, is beyond his imagination.