Melo-Moore 1

Gabby Melo-Moore

Mr. Gallagher

AP Literature & Composition

28 November 2010

The Red Carpet Analysis

Lavanya Sankaran’s The Red Carpet suggests that individuals are not always the

character they are portrayed to be. Sankaran evaluates this by differentiating the lives

between May-dum Choudhary and Tharikerre Ranganatha Gavirangappa “Raju”. The

different life styles of these two individuals clarify the contrasting judgments based on

uncommon living conditions. Sankaren begins The Red Carpet based on the opinion of

Raju. May-dum Choudhary’s position is completely opposite of Raju’s, but the two soon

come together as they adapt to each other’s lives and adjust to one another’s characters.

The Gavirangappa’s are a traditional Indian family whom live up to the customs,

traditions, and beliefs of the Indian culture. They wear traditional Indian style clothing,

have numerous namesakes, and live by the rules of the society. Raju lives in a modest

house with his sister, his parents, his wife, and their daughter. They suffer under the

circumstances of having a very minuscule amount of money. Raju’s sister is getting

married and Raju feels it is in his best need to have the money to marry his sister off and

send her on her own way. In order to support his family, Raju needs to become

employed, and so he meets the affluent May-dum Choudhary. “But he didn’t have a

choice. His salary had to support his parents, his sister, his wife, and their baby

daughter.” (75) Raju is a meticulous, dedicated man who seems to want the best for his

family.
 Melo-Moore 2

On the other hand, May-dum Choudhary’s life is incredibly distinguishing from

Raju’s. May-dum is wealthy and has everything handed to her. She has a personal driver,

maids, servants, gardeners, etc. “The Choudhary house stood in a large garden, two

stories high and gleaming whitely at the end of a cement driveway edged with rosebushes

whose blossoms would never be plucked for the altar but would remain in the garden to

wither and die at their master’s pleasure.” (76) May-dum Choudhary lives in a

pleasurable environment where she is put on a pedestal. It is evident that both Raju and

May-dum are dissimilar characters.

May-dum is very free-spirited and open minded. She expresses herself in many

indifferent ways from how Raju would. When Raju first met her, he was shocked at the

fact that May-dum appeared practically naked in front of him. This is scandalous for

women to reveal their bodies to men in the Indian culture. Therefore, Raju’s first

impression of May-dum was bizarre. May-dum Choudhary is incredibly unique in the

principles of the Indian customs. She curses, smokes, drinks alcohol, and parties; it is an

allusion that May-dum is westernized and untraditional. However, in Raju’s mind, he

finds it strange that she is a rebellious young lady with a humble, polite personality. May-

dum lives not by the Indian rules and traditions but fictitiously by her mother-in-law’s

strict desires. Her mother-in-law Mrs. Choudhary expects standard Indian rituals from

May-dum; well dressed clothing, well spoken grammar, proper behavior and respect, but

May-dum on the other hand does not hassle to make her mother-in-law satisfied because

Mrs. Choudhary never truly is.

In the beginning, it is understandable that Raju tries to impress May-dum

Choudhary because he not only needs employment, but he perceives the fact that she is of
 Melo-Moore 3

much more superior power, something in which he has never been. When Raju is

preparing for his interview to meet May-dum Choudhary, his father helps him dress to

impress with his best, cleanest clothing. “And very important, you need a new, clean

shirt. Otherwise they won’t hire you. You should look smart. I know these things.

Daughter, give your husband a new shirt.” (76) It is evident here how the Gavirangappa

family is customary and they are willing to do what it takes for Raju to display himself as

a suitable man in front of May-dum Choudhary. However, alternatively, Raju desires to

make a good impression on May-dum, but his appearance is not what is required to him.

It is ironic because it seems that Raju’s family is more eager for him to make a lavishing

first impression than he is.

Conversely, the most ironic moment in The Red Carpet is when the roles are

reversed and May-dum Choudhary makes an impact on how she presents herself to

Raju’s family and the people in his community. Throughout the story, May-dum’s

rebellious acts are revealed depicting her as eccentric, but in the end of the story, her

character opposes as she not only dresses to impress Raju’s community, but she makes

them feel like they are just as human as she is and they deserve better. “She was wearing

a lovely salwar khameez, the full-sleeved tunic flowing elegantly down her calves, her

ankles, modestly covered by the loose pants below, the crisp, transparent, shawl-like

dupatta draped and pleated over one shoulder…she looked every inch the memsahib.”

(94) Aside from her defiant behavior, May-dum stayed true to Raju. She classifies herself

as an Indian woman in Raju’s community. She never let him down, which is a

contradiction to how Raju characterized her from the beginning as being an ignorant,

crazy minor with no morals or self-dignity. May-dum clearly proved him wrong.
 Melo-Moore 4

In comparison to the way May-dum lived when Raju first met her, she has

changed her attitude. Raju adapted to May-dum’s personality and her character. It is

strange that May-dum turned out to be a great person who helped Raju’s daughter, aside

from being a wild party lady. Sankaran illustrates May-dum’s character well as she

reveals May-dum Choudhary’s true self. It becomes evident that everyone in Raju’s

community wanted to respect and impress May-dum, but in the end she respected them

and impressed them for being the person she was and doing good deed. “The twelve little

children who studied with his daughter were dressed smartly, in clothes that were cleaner

than their stained faces and dusty hair; a few were in newly acquired blue-and-white

uniforms.” (96) It is poignant at the fact of how bad Raju wants to impress May-dum, all

for no reason.

Towards the end of The Red Carpet May-dum’s entire characterization is thrown

out the window as she stands for someone more symbolic. Sankaran illustrates the

symbolic Indian styled customs throughout May-dum’s visit. She was traditional to begin

with, but her bizarre behaviors were acts of being a juvenile, after all she is just a minor.

Her true colors come out in the end of story when Sankaran reveals her true person and

Raju realizes that May-dum was nothing of who he expected her to be. “May-dum

praised his home and his parents, and Raju filled her in on his sister and their plans for

her marriage…” (99) May-dum’s character is very respectful and helpful, “He watched

his father usher her into the house. She paused at the door and, respectfully, slipped off

her shoes.”

“May-dum, you don’t have to do that!”

“That’s alright.” She said. (97)

 Melo-Moore 5

This is an example of Indian tradition, and it is obvious that May-dum had respect for

Raju’s family and for their cultural beliefs.

The plot of this story works outlandishly contradicting. Throughout the story,

Raju’s point of view of May-dum Choudhary is being portrayed. Sankaran makes it seem

that according to Raju, May-dum just wants to impress everybody with her riches, in

which he does not attain. However, towards the end, it is extremely ironic that all Raju

wants is to make the best first impression of his community. He anticipates nervously as

May-dum comes to his neighborhood, “Would they approve, or would they be envious?”

(94) Raju’s anxiety takes the best of his stance because he hesitates towards the idea of

believing that May-dum’s visit would go horrible.

In the end, the author, Lavanya Sankaran creates an epiphany for Raju. He no

longer doubts May-dum, nor does he make judgmental assumptions. Raju comes to

realize that May-dum is a completely different person than who he thought she was and

who she was in the beginning. Raju tries to understand her life and the person she is, as

she does to him. “What was she thinking? As he’d done for a month now, he tried to see

his surroundings through her eyes.” (95) The author created this epiphany for Raju

because as in the beginning, he just wants to impress her because he needs a job and

because May-dum is rich. However, the roles are reversed as May-dum’s helps Raju out

with an education for his daughter and he soon comes to understand that it is not all about

flaunting riches, but staying true to people and believing in them.

Sankaran’s contrast between Raju and May-dum Choudhary throughout the story

is completely opposite. Raju is a very family orientated man, and May-dum is a young

lady who is usually by herself. She tries to see life by living as Raju does and he tries to
 Melo-Moore 6

see life through her eyes. Even though these two characters are opposite of one another

Lavanya Sankaran establishes the point that characters are not always who they are

depicted as once they learn about that person and adjust to the way that person lives life.

Sankaren did a fascinating job comparing Raju and May-dum illustrating the ironic twists

throughout the story between the two characters. Also, creating an epiphany in the end

when both characters realize it’s not about where an individual comes from or what they

have, it’s about the kind of person they portray themselves as and how they treat others.