There are many people who start their adult life very happily and later on regret their past and what will be their future. Out of these people three groups form. The first group gives up and leads their life feeling sorry for themselves and depressed. The second group starts over and leaves their past behind not caring who it hurts along the way. The third group accepts their life and learns how to make the best of it and change their future to be a satisfying one. lJhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies explores a "spiritual reassessment" of the Mrs. Das's life and shows which group she decided to join to change her future. .
Mrs. Das is detached from her family. She sees herself as an individual and as a separate entity from her children and husband. When her daughter asks her to polish her nails too, Mrs. Das responds, "You"re making me mess up." She doesn't care about her children's happiness. She does motherly acts as if they are chores and not the duties that she took on when she had children. Mr. and Mrs. Das fight over who is going to take Tina to the bathroom because they don't feel that either of them should have to. When Tina appears Mr. Das says, "Where's Mina." By referring to her his wife as Mina instead of mother, the reader is able to realize the detachment that Mrs. Das has with motherhood. She doesn't hold Tina's hand while walking with her anywhere, nor does she look out for Bobby or Ronny. It is easily observable that she does not really care what happens to her children. .
Mrs. Das is unhappy and feels trapped in her lifestyle. She thinks that she is too young at 28 to have this responsibility of the three children. She says to Mr. Kapasi, " stop calling me Mrs.Das. I"m twenty-eight. You probably have children my age. " By acknowledging the fact that she is only twenty-eight shows the reader that she still sees herself as being young. This is the first time in the story that her age is even relevant.