The Museum of Failures

Monaz sullenly insists that she is going to marry Gaurav, the baby’s father, and a livid Jango and Shenaz assert that her father will never let her marry a non-Parsi. Remy steps away to call Kathy, who is upset at the news and apologizes for suggesting that they adopt from India; she had just wanted a child who looked like Remy. Remy dismisses Kathy’s apology even as he thinks about how India always disappoints. He remembers once telling Kathy how the happiest day of his life was when he received admittance into the Master of Fine Arts program at Ohio State University: “That letter had been his ticket out of the museum of failures and into a new world of possibility” (17).

Remy decides to cut his trip short and just spend a couple of days with his mother before returning home. Monaz apologizes to Remy once again. Gaurav, who was initially petrified and wanted nothing to do with Monaz when she revealed her pregnancy, has now promised to tell his parents so that they can marry before the child’s birth. Although he is disappointed, Remy wishes her well.

Remy arrives at his mother’s apartment and is shocked at the deteriorated state of the place when he is let in by Hema, the woman who comes to clean. Hema informs him that Shirin is in the hospital; she has been there for a few days following a bad cough and cold. Remy is stunned and wonders why Pervez and Roshan, his cousin and wife who live a few floors below, didn’t inform him. They live rent free in the apartment that once belonged to Cyrus and now is Remy’s, in exchange for an agreement that they check in on Shirin and handle her care. Remy is further shocked when Hema tells him that his mother has not spoken a word for months.

Remy goes down to Pervez’s apartment to find both the place and its occupant looking extremely well. Pervez reveals that Shirin has typhoid and pneumonia; he and Roshan didn’t tell Remy so as to not worry him. However, they have not been checking on Shirin every day, as she has become too rude and difficult to manage. Even when she stopped speaking, Pervez couldn’t convince Shirin to see a doctor. He only managed to get her hospitalized when she fainted a few days ago and he brought a doctor around for a house call. Remy is angry at his cousin’s negligence and nonchalance but also feels helpless knowing that he pawned his own filial duties.

As Remy heads back upstairs, he remembers Dina Mehta, the family lawyer. Dina is the one who suggested the arrangement of giving this apartment to someone who could care for Shirin after Cyrus’s death. Accordingly, Remy offered the place to Pervez, whose father, Faroukh, was Cyrus’s brother. Pervez had a far less affluent upbringing than Remy, and Remy felt sorry for him. He additionally offered to sign the apartment over to Pervez and Roshan following Shirin’s death, but he now wonders if this was a mistake.

Remy takes a cab to Parsee General Hospital, privately bemoaning the traffic and noise of Bombay all the way there. He forgets Shirin’s room number and walks past a few rooms until a nurse leads him back to one he has already passed. As he announces himself to her, Remy is struck by how he didn’t recognize his own mother, who has turned white haired and gaunt.

Remy talks for several minutes about his travels, to no response from Shirin. He steps out and attempts to find a doctor to speak to. Dr. Rumi Billimoria arrives shortly after and examines Shirin. He reveals that she was completely dehydrated when she arrived, with pneumonia in both lungs. She is on antibiotics but is still running a fever at night. Dr. Billimoria grows annoyed with Remy’s impatience to get Shirin discharged and admonishes Remy for trying to rush things, as Shirin needs care. He doesn’t know why her speech has disappeared, but he suggests that it is because she has given up the will to live since she has nothing to look forward to.

Remy tries to coax Shirin into eating some dinner, but she barely has two bites and a couple of sips of water. Remy asks her what she wants, and Shirin mumbles “Kho,” getting irritated when Remy can’t understand what this means. Manju, the night nurse, arrives in the evening, surprised to discover Remy there—she didn’t even know that Shirin had a son.

Remy remembers Cyrus’s final days. Knowing that Cyrus didn’t have much time left, Remy and Shirin had united in his care for the first time, their joint grief melting away Remy’s resentment. They stood by each other through Cyrus’s final days, the funeral afterward, and the 10 days of mourning that followed, with Remy even crying in his mother’s arms for the first time since his childhood. However, shortly after, they got into an argument when Remy began trying to settle Cyrus’s accounts. Shirin was bitter that all of Cyrus’s joint accounts were in Remy’s name rather than hers. When Remy insisted that the money would stay in India and be used toward her expenses, she was further upset that Remy wasn’t planning on taking her along with him to America.

A few days later, Remy met Dina, the executor of Cyrus’s will. He took an immediate liking to her soft, warm presence, which stood in sharp contrast to Shirin’s. Remy discovered that Dina and Cyrus were childhood friends who even dated when they were in college, but they broke things off when Dina went to London for her higher education; when she returned, Cyrus had already found Shirin. Remy wished out loud that Cyrus had married someone like Dina, but Dina defended Shirin, insisting that she had had a hard life. As they settled Cyrus’s final affairs, Dina suggested the arrangement with the apartment. After Remy left the meeting, he serendipitously bumped into Pervez and heard about his tough life working a low-paying bank job. Remy visited Pervez at his small, cramped apartment a week later “with an offer he was certain Pervez would not be able to refuse” (52).

Remy looks through all the unopened mail back at the apartment. He searches for a letter opener in Cyrus’s drawer and finds a letter addressed to him, penned by Cyrus a few days before he fell into a coma. Cyrus apologizes to Remy, claiming that he tried, and he urges Remy to be better than him. A confused Remy decides to ask Shirin about the letter tomorrow.

Remy returns to the hospital the next morning, and Dr. Billimoria notes that Shirin’s condition has seen no change since the previous day. Remy asks Shirin about the letter, but she turns away from it without saying anything. Remy urges her to eat, and when she repeats herself like the previous day, he realizes that she is asking for a Coke. Amazed, Remy rushes to get her one, also picking up a slice of jelly roll just like the ones Shirin used to buy for him in his childhood.

Shirin drinks a couple of sips of Coke but gets agitated when she sees the jelly roll and refuses to eat it; Remy feels personally rejected. Manju returns, and as she chats with Remy, she reveals that she has a brother who has migrated illegally to New York. She gives Remy a bundle of cash to get to him; Remy asks Manju to keep her money and give him her brother’s phone number instead, promising to get some money across to him.

As Remy leaves, he muses about how the lives of immigrants in the US are not very different than the working poor in India, both of whom work hard only to build comfort and luxuries enjoyed by a few in the upper classes of society. Back at the apartment, Remy rereads and pockets Cyrus’s note, telling himself that Cyrus was apologizing for not being able to hold onto consciousness before Remy arrived so that he could see his son one last time.

Remy and Jango catch up over a drink as Shenaz arrives with Remy’s favorite chocolate cake from a local patisserie. Remy is overwhelmed by the affectionate gesture and how comforting it is to be with these friends again. As they eat dinner, Shenaz tells Remy that she gave Monaz Shirin’s address, as Monaz wanted to send a card when she learned that Shirin was unwell. Later, Remy walks home while thinking about Shirin and marveling at the concern he feels for her for the first time in his life. He wonders if this is love or a combination of pity and guilt.

As Remy is preparing to leave for the hospital the next morning, Monaz arrives unexpectedly. Gaurav is insisting that he meet Remy before he tells his parents about the baby, and Monaz begs Remy to spare a few minutes of his time.

Remy meets Gaurav at a nearby cafe, and as Gaurav dismisses Monaz, Remy is angered by the boy’s arrogance. Gaurav reveals that Monaz didn’t tell him about the adoption option; he doesn’t want to be involved with her and the baby if there is a way out, as he doesn’t love her or actually want to marry her. Furthermore, his parents, who are Sindhis, would not approve; they want a Sindhi match for him. As Gaurav describes his family’s affluence and joint living setup, Remy realizes that Monaz and her child’s lives would be hell if she married into this rigid, patriarchal setup.

Remy tells Gaurav that he would need to give up all parental rights in a legally binding contract and that the adoption would ultimately have to be Monaz’s decision. He also admonishes Gaurav and insists that he talk to Monaz himself first, as her condition is his responsibility. After Gaurav leaves, Remy reflects on the turn of events and urges himself not to hope too much just yet.