"Interpreter of Maladies" - Jhumpa Lahiri

Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies" is in my opinion a story of two worlds colliding. The Das family (the Americans) and Mr. Kapasi (the Indian)  spend the day together conversing in English, but there is still a sort of communication barrier. One of the questions following the story asks: How does Mr. Kapasi's job as an "interpreter of maladies" relate to the action in this story? Mr. Kapasi's job title is a good example of a misunderstanding between the two worlds. Maladies could cover a whole range of things from a serious physical ailment to a sort of sickness of the spirit like a social problem such as that of Mrs. Das. Mr. Kapasi sees his job as simply using his linguistic skills to communicate the symptoms of his patients to the doctor. Mr. Kapasi never analyzed the meaning behind his job; a sore throat was a sore throat, nothing more. However, Mrs. Das sees this as maladies such as her own with her son being conceived by a different man than her husband. The word interpreter is also confused. Mr. Kapasi thinks of interpreter of languages; whereas, Mrs. Das thinks of an interpreter as one who can find a meaning behind her situation. The confusion of the words "interpreter" and "maladies" show the communication barrier between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das. Mr. Kapasi, a man who once regarded himself as a talented linguist, has difficulty properly communicating with Mrs. Das who sees a different meaning in his words. Mrs. Das's interpretation of the word malady also shows the difference between the two cultures. In America, people have so few essential things to care about such as proper medical care that this leads the American Mrs. Das to instantly think of a malady as her social predicament. This almost makes it appear that the entire situation was a disappointment to both sides. Mrs. Das expected a social prescription while Mr. Kapasi expected an intimate relationship. This tone of an entire disappointing misunderstanding is shown with the closing of the story: " When she whipped out the hairbrush, the slip of paper with Mr. Kapasi's address on it fluttered away in the wind" (Lahiri).