If You Sing like That for Me

If You Sing like That for Me Summary | Detailed Summary

"If You Sing Like That for Me" is the short story of a Hindu woman, Anita, whose arranged marriage thirty years prior never evolves into the love she desires. She is impotent to alter its course just as she had been powerless to object to the marriage initially.

As the story begins, Anita wakes from a nap and finds herself in love with her husband, Rajinder, for the first time since their marriage seven months ago. From this point, Anita tells the story from memory and shares that the love she feels on that particular day would never again be felt despite their three children and the five houses they share throughout their marriage.

Anita remembers the stark, New Delhi flat into which she and Rajinder move two days after their wedding. Rajinder points out where all the furniture will be placed, and Anita's only sense of pleasure is the mention of the mattress. It represents sleep and a temporary reprieve from her current situation.

Anita never expected to marry Rajinder and is surprised to find herself a bride standing in this foreign place. Her father considered other men to become Anita's husband, but Rajinder is the first to go through with the arrangement. During all the time that wedding plans are being made, Anita thinks only that the upcoming marriage is a mistake and that something will happen to prevent it.

Anita knows that she is not a beautiful girl, and although she is smart enough, she is not educated. She is probably lucky to marry an ambitious man like Rajinder. Rajinder chooses Anita because his own mother does not want a daughter-in-law who is educated, a fact that Anita learns during a dinner between the two families prior to the engagement.

At the dinner, Anita's waning self-confidence is weighted down even further when her own mother tells all the guests that Anita was too lazy to study and finish her degree unlike her other daughter, Asha, who will be going to the United States to complete her doctorate degree.

A few days after the dinner between the families, Anita's father asks if she wants to marry Rajinder, and she replies that she will marry him. She still does not believe that the wedding will take place. Anita does not attend the engagement ceremony, following the dictates of custom, but Asha relates everything that happens at the event. Only then does Anita think that the marriage may soon be a reality.

As the days to her wedding fly by, Anita cannot help but wonder why she must stay in India, be married to a man she does not know, have children and grow old. Her sister will be going to America soon to begin an exciting life. Anita wonders about the difference between her sister and her self. When their father pulled them out of school, Asha had the audacity to re-enroll while Anita waited for their father to change his mind.

The wedding takes place with all the ceremonial rituals. When Anita touches Rajinder's neck, placing the marigold necklace around it, she understands the reality of what has just happened. On the wedding night, Anita tries but is not able to form the words to tell Rajinder that the union is a mistake. The marriage is consummated without finesse in a Spartan room.

Through the years, Rajinder is a good husband and sometimes does thoughtful things like bringing Anita small gifts upon his return from business trips and taking her to the Taj Mahal on her birthday. Anita has a sense that she needs something else, but she is not sure what it is. The months turn into years of an unfulfilled marriage.

Anita can remember the stifling summer after her marriage. She takes many baths during the course of the day and naps each afternoon to minimize the intense heat. After one of these naps, Anita wakes and realizes that she is in love with her husband, as she states at the beginning of the story.

The narrative now transitions to the present, and Anita is at the hospital where her father is being treated for a heart attack. The family members take turns keeping the bedside vigil out of obligation rather than love because the man is an alcoholic who has abused his wife and children for years.

The man's illness has made him sentimental, and he cries in Anita's presence. He says she is the only one who ever really cared for him, a statement that Anita cannot affirm. Eventually, Anita feels pity for her father, who still mourns the death of his only son who died while a young boy. Anita tires of her father's waxing and waning emotional displays and is glad when her duty at the bedside is relinquished. Soon Anita's father is well enough to return home, and Anita accompanies the ambulance workers to make sure that her father is settled and comfortable before she returns to her own home for the first time in two weeks.

Anita notices that the rains are coming. She is relieved to be back in the safety of her own home, where she may nap and relieve the exhaustion from her father's illness. When Anita awakes, she senses the cool air of the approaching monsoon and also realizes that she is deeply in love with her husband. The balance of the afternoon is spent in preparation for her husband's return from work, and she is excited to hear his scooter pull up to the house.

As Anita hears Rajinder's footsteps on the stairs outside, she practices what she will say to her husband about his day and with what degree of informality she will talk to him. Anita's anticipation is heightened when she sees Rajinder for the first time in two weeks, although she senses that his reception is not as ardent. Rajinder changes his clothes and asks perfunctory questions about Anita's father's health. Anita wonders if love might be different in other countries where people can be freer with emotions.

Rajinder comments on the rain, and Anita fixes him a drink so that he may sit outside and read the paper. Anita is thrilled to be near her husband again, although Rajinder does not seem to be in a mood to talk much. As Anita cooks dinner, she gazes out to see the back of Rajinder's neck as he sits outside. She wants to see if she still feels the same about him, and she does.

Over dinner, Anita mentions that her father cried when she left him earlier that day. Rajinder says that she could have stayed longer, and she wants to say that she would have missed Rajinder too much. She restrains herself for fear of appearing too forward and because it is becoming evident that Rajinder did not miss Anita as much as she missed him during her two-week absence.

Rajinder takes his evening bath while Anita cleans the kitchen. He emerges from the bathroom and asks Anita if she, too, is ready to bathe. Anita interprets this as Rajinder's overture to sex. Anita bristles at her husband's insensitivity but does not have the courage to reject him. The only power she has is in staving him off until her favorite comedy program is over in another hour.

Finally in a reversal of power, Anita seduces Rajinder while the monsoon moves in, and the intimate encounter is almost electric in its intensity. Afterwards Anita wants to speak about her love and asks Rajinder if he had planned to have her as his wife. He bluntly says that he did not. Rajinder wanted someone with an advanced degree or at least someone who had a job, but his mother disapproved.

Rajinder has a successful career at the bank, and at least in that regard everything is moving along according to his plan. As far as love, though, Rajinder believes it is best left to the movies. Anita asks if Rajinder at least loves her and his own mother. He replies that there are so many people in the world that it would be impossible to say that there is not someone whom he could love more.

Anita's hurt washes over her face, and Rajinder tries to undo the emotional damage he has created. He tells Anita that he does love her, but he believes in moderation and tries not to be too emotional about these things. The couple makes love again, and Anita lies in the dark. She listens to the rain and tries to wrap herself in the sheet, which does not feel large enough.