Mapparium: The Glass Room 

Boston’s Mapparium has a great significance because it is where the two completely people go out to on a date. The story “Sexy” written by Jhumpa Lahiri focuses entirely on two people: a married man, Dev(Bengali) and a twenty two years old girl, Miranda(American) who went to see the Boston’s Mapparium where made lots of memories with each other by doing the things they never did. The title of Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘Sexy’ (1998) obtains from a trade that happens in an improbable setting: the Mapparium, an exhibit at the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston where two love birds(Dev and Miranda) went there together for the date. Mapparium is the three-story tall globe made of stained glass that is viewed from a 30 foot long bridge through its interior where many visitors visit on their vacation or on their tour and also for their date. Mapparium; the place where Miranda went with her Bengali lover and firstly heard that she was sexy as Dev whispered to Miranda, “You’re sexy” at the point of visiting the place.

“Sexy” is about the Miranda, a young girl who has moved to boston recently and the married Bengali man, Dev, who was in love with the girl while his wife was back to their country for vacation. After being in love, they started to meet with each other as much as they could. Every weekend they made plan to visit somewhere and one Saturday, after the evening show at Symphony Hall, he demonstrated her his most loved place in the city, the Mapparium at the Christian Science focus, where they remained inside a room made of gleaming recolored glass boards, which was formed like within a globe, however resembled the outside of one. In the middle, the room was a straightforward extension, with the goal that they felt as though they were remaining in the focal point of the world. The place itself was so huge and the globe was so colourful to see the different countries clearly. Even all the countries were shown so undoubtedly in the globe which made two lovers (Dev and Miranda) felt like doing a world tour just being that one place. Miranda was looking forward for this day which made herself dressed for someone she had loved ones.

And also as he get to know about India through Dev, Mapparium help Miranda to know a lot about the countries all around the world.  The Mapparium was intended to enable the nations of the world to be seen in precise topographical relationship to one another, consequently the structure of the Mapparium is a perfect representation, curved inversion of the Earth, which is seen from inside. This is the main arrangement that puts the eye at a similar separation from each point on the globe. As it was Miranda’s first visit in the place, she was stunned by the view itself. While looking at the clear and the big globe view which shows all the countries around the world made her curious about knowing where her lover’s country is located and how does it look a like.

Every lover are curious about knowing more about each other. Miranda’s curiosity about Dev made him to explain about his country. Standing in the middle of glass globe, in Miranda’s request, he started looking around and pointed at the globe, Dev indicated India, which was red, and unquestionably more point by point than the guide in The Economist. He explained about most of the countries to Miranda that he knows. He clarified that a large number of the nations, similar to Siam and Italian Somaliland, never again existed similarly; the names had changed at that point. The sea, as blue as a peacock’s bosom, showed up in two shades, contingent upon the profundity of the water(Dev). He demonstrated her the most profound spot on earth, seven miles down, over the Mariana Islands. They looked over the extension and saw the Antarctic archipelago at their feet, extended their necks and saw a mammoth metal star overhead.

As Dev talked, his voice bobbed uncontrollably off the glass, now and again boisterous, now and again delicate, once in a while appearing to arrive in Miranda’s chest, now and then escaping her ear out and out.  At the point when a gathering of voyagers strolled onto the extension, she could hear them clearing their throats, as though through receivers, Dev clarified that it was a direct result of the auditory. They both were so excited being in that place looking for each and every possible countries that they know. Looking all around knowing more from each other was helping them to come closer to each other.While standing in the mid point of the Mapparium surrounded by the huge globe and browsing at all the places, Miranda discovered London, where Laxmi’s(co-worker who is also from the same country as Dev) cousin’s husband was, with the lady he had met on the plane. Laxmi’s cousin’s husband was also having an affair with other lady: situation similar to the Miranda’s life who was having an affair with the married man.

After finding London she was wondering which of the urban areas in India Dev’s wife was in because she was not where she might be. Talking about India, the most remote Miranda had ever been was to the Bahamas once when she was a kid which she yet couldn’t discover it on the glass boards. While searching for the places, at the point when the visitors left and only Miranda and Dev were left alone there once again. Seeing themselves alone Dev asked her to stay in the other side of the bridge.  Despite the fact that the place was so huge and they were thirty feet separated from each other, Dev stated, they had have the capacity to hear each other murmur due to the emptiness in the place. As soon as he said that, Miranda said that she does not trust him (Miranda) even though they were in love with other.

It was the first occasion or the first thing that she had talked since they had entered inside the Mapparium. The voice was loud enough to hear each other voice from the opposite end of the bridge. So, she felt as though speakers were inserted in her ears. He asked her to say something to him, walking in reverse way to his finish of the extension. Suddenly, his voice dropped to a murmur. He asked her to say something as he reached to the end. She watched his lips shaping the words; in the meantime she heard them so clearly that she felt as if he was close to her which made her feel touched even being far to each other. Then she started their conversation and said hello, there. Seeing her murmuring, Dev had no idea what to response so, he said,”You’re Sexy”. Mapparium had made Miranda day so mesmorise where she heard someone none other than her lover calling her sexy.,As the time passed, Dev’s wife was back which made them difficult to meet each other often. One day Miranda was asked to look after the Laxmi’s cousin’s son by Laxmi in which she agreed without any objection. Because she was so busy looking after the baby, she made excuses not to meet Dev.

All of sudden, one day baby went to her room and started to look all around. He found the dress that she wore when she went to Mapparium with Dev. Boy asked her to put that dress on and she agreed to put it on and after she was dressed up, the boy said “You’re sexy”, just as the way Dev said to her that day in Mapparium. That reminded her about the day that she spent with her lover alone for the long time. At end of the story, she discontinued to meet him and ended her affair with him. As their affair ended, she again visited the Mapparium with lots of thoughts, but unfortunately it was closed. As a whole, in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story, ‘Sexy’, Miranda, an american girl and the married man, she is seeing (Dev) visit the Mapparium where they even tried different things with the murmuring games and had many new and fresh memories with each other. Even Miranda’s life’s first time hearing someone calling her sexy which made her stunned. However being in the love relationship did not last for long in their lives. Miranda’s love story started and end in the Mapparium so this place had lots of significance in the story.

Work Cited

1. Apap, Christopher. ‘Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Sexy” and the Ethical Mapping of Subjectivity.’ MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S., vol. 41 no. 2, 2016, pp. 55-75. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/620318.
2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_jzS3I52XEJCHgA2veZnOTk6sfI_sLW3/view
3. Lahiri, Jhumpa. “Sexy.” Creative Writing 3150B, September 2013, https://fuentescw3150b.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/sexy-by-jhumpa-lahiri.pdf.
4. Mary Baker Eddy Library, “Mapparium » Mary Baker Eddy Library.” www.marybakereddylibrary.org/project/mapparium/.