The Museum of Failures

Cyrus is waiting for Shirin at home, having learned of her visit to the home. They get into a fight that is interrupted by a scared Remy who runs into their room, begging them to stop. Cyrus and Shirin eventually strike a bargain that involves her keeping her silence in exchange for visiting Cyloo every Saturday, while Cyrus stays home with Remy. While Shirin grows to look forward to these visits, Remy begins to dread them because of the mood in which Shirin returns.

Once, when Remy is seven, Cyrus takes Shirin out and begs her not to redirect her anger toward him onto Remy. Shirin promises to do better and does try harder; so does Cyrus, and he even visits the home on a couple of Saturdays despite his discomfort. On his final visit, he even asserts that they will tell Remy about Cyloo when Remy is older. Four days later, however, a sobbing Dina arrives with news of Cyloo’s death.

Cyloo was one of four boys who died in an electrical fire that broke out in one of the dorms at the home. Shirin is overcome with grief when she sees his body, and she hurls abuses at Cyrus, Dina, and the nuns as well. She is admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a short time and is put on medication to calm her down. The only thing that keeps her going is not wanting Remy to lose a mother along with a brother. Saturday visits are now to the cemetery where Cyloo is buried alongside the other boys, without his own gravestone; he doesn’t receive a Parsi funeral.

Despite knowing that Cyrus is also grieving, Shirin blames him for Cyloo’s death because he was the one who sent him to the home. She grows bitter and cutting with her words, wanting to inflict as much pain on him as she can. She also redirects her anger toward Remy, pinching him surreptitiously whenever she can. Remy learns to keep the pinching a secret from Cyrus. Shirin finally stops when Remy accidentally drops and breaks a butter dish one day; as she scoops him to safety, Remy holds out his arm, asking Shirin to pinch him. This breaks Shirin’s heart, and though she continues to hurt Remy with her words many times, she never touches him again.

In the present, as Shirin concludes her story, she asks Remy to forgive both her and Cyrus and leave behind this story and their memories when he eventually leaves again for the US. She urges him to write his own story and give his son the childhood he didn’t have.

Remy finally tells a shocked Kathy everything he has learned about his family’s past. He spends whatever time he has left in Bombay making things easier and more comfortable for Shirin as he processes all the revelations. One day, a memory finally resurfaces of Cyloo trying and failing to rearrange his fingers into a fist, and Remy is happy that he is able to remember some part of his brother. He decides that he has had enough of secrets and decides that he will try and set the record straight.

Remy invites Monaz over and tells her that he cannot take her with him to the US without her parents first being told about her condition. Despite Monaz’s teary protests and her fears of what they will say, he insists that she must give them “a chance to rise to the occasion” (288). Having a child without their knowledge will be a terrible secret to carry all her life. Shirin, who doesn’t agree with Remy, asks him to talk to Kathy, who is equally displeased. She believes that Remy is imposing his own values on Monaz. However, Remy promises to fix the situation and decides to tell the truth.

Remy invites Pervez, Roshan, Jango, Shenaz, Monaz, Gulnaz, her husband, Hussein, and Dina over for dinner, the latter of whom Shirin is furious to see in her house. Remy tells the group about Cyloo and what happened to him. When Dina tearfully acknowledges that she feels responsible for his death, Shirin surprisingly also credits her with being the reason she could see her son again.

Shirin instructs Remy to wheel her back to her room and chastises him for bringing Dina there to humiliate her. She also forbids him from badmouthing Cyrus to his friends, insisting that she has learned that everyone does the best they can. The rest of the evening is a subdued one, and it ends soon. Before leaving, Pervez apologizes for his behavior toward Shirin and promises to do better; Monaz, too, decides to tell her parents the truth.

Remy goes for a run and reflects on Cyrus, Kathy, and the choices both Cyrus and Remy made in their lives. Remy recollects how he moved away from writing poetry to pursue a more corporate ambition that only grew more intense the more success he tasted; he wonders if this is what happened to Cyrus, too. Remy also reflects on how Kathy and he could have adopted in the US if they had been willing to raise a Black child. However, they knew that even within the US, there was a caste system, and an Indian man and white woman raising a Black child would have drawn attention that they didn’t want for their child.

Remy messages his friends an apology for making the previous night awkward, but their responses are supportive and understanding. He heads home with a fresh idea on which he wants Shirin’s input.

Remy obtains the location of Cyloo’s grave from Dina. She tells him that the home has been relocated and the cemetery abandoned, but Cyrus fought hard for Cyloo’s grave to remain where it was. Remy asks Dina if what he is planning is a good idea, and while she isn’t sure, she applauds Remy for doing his best to make good of an unpleasant situation.

Remy takes Shirin to visit Cyloo’s grave together. On the way, they discuss whether Remy would have left for the US at all if he had known about Cyloo. Remy isn’t sure, thinking of the life he has built there. Shirin insists that this choice is what Cyrus was trying to protect Remy from; after all these years, she can see Cyrus’s perspective better.

At Cyloo’s grave, Remy leaves a few lines of poetry by Walt Whitman before he and Shirin offer Zoroastrian prayers together. On the way home, Shirin thanks Remy for this visit, claiming that it was the best gift he could have given her.

Monaz arrives with her father, Phiroz, a couple of days later. Phiroz thanks Remy for his integrity in insisting that Monaz tell her parents about her condition; Monaz also reveals that her parents want to keep the baby and raise him as their own. Monaz tearfully apologizes to a stricken Remy for reneging on the adoption again. With the option of having her child be accepted and loved by her own parents, she doesn’t want to part with him anymore.

Remy speaks to Jango after Monaz leaves. Jango apologizes for all the stress Monaz has brought him and Remy; he also points out that Remy’s decision to make Monaz tell her parents came out of a desire to prove to himself that he is not his father. Remy reflects on this later and how it was also the first time in his life he acted like “he was also Shirin Wadia’s son” (323).

Shirin is as heartbroken as Remy about Monaz’s decision. Remy asserts that it is for the best, and he reveals that he and Kathy have pressed pause on their adoption plans; she is currently throwing all her energy into Remy’s birthday plans to distract herself. Shirin asks Remy to stay a little longer and celebrate his birthday in Bombay.

Remy reflects on how he wants to spend this birthday quietly and peacefully with Shirin and his childhood friends, rather than attend the bigger celebration Kathy is planning for him. He writes an email to her explaining his state of mind and reassuring her that he cannot wait to be back afterward and resume their life together; however, he has decided to stay and celebrate his birthday with Shirin as one last thing he is doing for her.

Shirin and Remy visit Marine Drive at sunset. They talk about what it was like to raise two sons with such different needs, and Shirin urges Remy not to give up on his own journey of parenthood. Despite his misgivings, she believes that there is a child in his future and that he and Kathy will make great parents.

Remy reveals that he spoke to Dr. Billimoria, who believes that Shirin traveling to the US at the moment might be a little risky. Shirin, too, believes that it is not the right time, but she promises to visit and help with her grandchild after Remy and Kathy adopt. Remy asserts that she will come to the US before then; he and Kathy will visit for Christmas and take Shirin back with them then.

Remy speaks to Kathy on the morning of his birthday, and she asks him to pass on her love and good wishes to Shirin. Shirin prepares the house for guests but refuses to tell Remy whom she has invited to lunch. Dina arrives first, and Remy is surprised and pleased; shortly after, however, Sister Hillary arrives with a four-year-old boy named Anand. To Remy’s shock, Sister Hillary and Dina tell him that they can help expedite the process if Remy and Kathy would like to adopt Anand.

Remy speaks to Shirin privately, who explains how she arranged everything through Sister Hillary and Dina, the latter of whom served on the board of the home. When Remy points out that he needs to speak to Kathy first, who may not even want to do this, a deflated Shirin apologizes. To pacify her, Remy asserts that they can decide what to do after lunch.

Over lunch, Remy learns that Anand was almost adopted by an Australian couple alongside another younger boy, but they eventually decided to adopt only the younger boy. Remy doesn’t feel any immediate attachment to Anand, who is reticent and speaks very little English; however, he decides to discuss the situation with Kathy anyway.

Two days after his birthday, Remy has still not made a decision about Anand. He video-called Kathy to speak with Anand on his birthday, but they were both daunted by the language barrier. Furthermore, Remy and Kathy had originally planned to adopt a baby, not a young boy.

On Jango’s advice, Remy decides to try and spend time alone with Anand so that they can bond. He buys a couple of kites, and they fly them together on the terrace of Remy’s apartment building. Anand, who is a champion kite flier, loosens up almost instantly, and Remy is astonished and delighted to see the playful, mischievous boy that emerges.

Remy thinks of all the things he has learned over the past few weeks. He reflects on how Shirin was brave enough to love with all her heart even when she was forced to do so from the shadows; the task of loving and raising Anand pales in comparison to this. Remy is suddenly confident that he and Kathy can grow to love the boy. As they run around and play, Remy catches sight of Anand’s teasing expression and muses, “Why, […] he looks exactly like Kathy” (356).