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Nixaly Mendez

Professor VanDyke

ENC 1102-74264

February 7, 2023

The Man With A Heart

In Pria Anand’s  “Wandering Gliders,”  the crucial scene begins when Manu, the

husband, and Eve, the wife, are finished delivering their newborn twins. The narrator, Manu,

then takes the time to explain that one of the babies was not responding well after the delivery.

Manu’s actions and thoughts throughout this specific scene show the readers his strength and

willpower to overcome an obstacle that comes between him and the people he loves.

While Manu is standing next to Eve in the delivery room, Manu reveals his fears for his

twin daughters. With a motherly instinct, Eve decided to hold the twin that was not responding

well. Watching Eve not being able to hold or even look at her well-birthed baby, Manu decides

to step in and become the bigger person and hold his baby girl with no hesitation, “When the

nurse offered Eve the other, she closed her eyes and shook her head” (Anand 32). At this

moment he not only becomes brave and vulnerable but at the same time, also realizes that

something has changed about his wife. By showing strength, the readers can conclude that Manu

is a strong and loving man. 

Manu wants to be sure that both babies are healthy. Even though Eve did not want to hold

one of the babies, readers could assume that Manu wanted to ensure that no matter what he tried

and cared for both babies. Manu’s actions are, “Instead, Manu reached for her twin, whose chest

billowed and bloomed with her gasping breaths” (Anand 33). Breaking Manus’s heart, he took

the action to hold the baby, he might have not been able to understand why his wife did not want
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to hold the baby that was born with no complications. The connection that he must have built

with love at first touch. And although it does not seem like a big action, it has a highly effective

outcome. Manu’s fears, emotions, and connections are what keep him going. The author wants

their audience to understand the connection that he and that twin might have created, in order to

support them and continue building together as they grow. 

            While Manu is holding his daughter, he compares her cries to memories that happened

later in her lifespan. These future memories symbolize not only his daughter’s cries but as well

as what Manu has gone through with her emotionally, “Manu would remember that feeling

when, at five, she lost her footing on the stairs and fell to the bottom…” (Anand 34). And

another future reference is “and again at seventeen, when he heard her gasping sobs through the

closed door of her bedroom over a man whose name he would never know” (Anand 34). As the

author gives specific details about Manu’s daughters’ life, the readers can conclude that Manu is

a big part of her life; by showing that he is doing everything for his daughter and going through

every tear with her. As Manu relates his baby’s cries to future memories, this scene also shows

Manu’s vulnerability. What makes someone vulnerable is being able to feel the emotion of love

or sympathy, as well as being able to truly understand these emotions; and Manu achieves this to

the highest extent. This scene could also be a crucial part of the story because it could refer to

Manu’s emotions towards his and Eves’ relationship. 

The author, Anand, uses this specific scene to show Manu’s deepest fears of the cause of 

his daughter’s distress. While Manu is comparing the sounds of his daughter crying as a baby to

when she grows up and continues to cry, he comes to a realization that her cries are about her

twin sister. At this moment we are inside of Manu thoughts, when he realizes why his daughter is

upset, “Feverish and half asleep, she asked then, not for her mother, as Manu had feared, but
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instead for her sister, drawing her knees to her chest and curling in bed toward an imagined twin

forehead” (Anand 34). Since the readers know that these are future references, the readers can

infer that Manu told his daughter about her twin, considering that she was “… curled in bed

toward an imagined twin forehead” (Anand 34). Although it might have been a tough

conversation to have, Manu told her because he loves his daughter and would do everything to

make sure that she knew the truth.

            Manu proves countless times that he cares, loves, and supports his family, even in the

hardest situations. In this scene, Manu encounters many of his fears in a situation to be thought

of as joyful. Considering these fears, Manu still manages to demonstrate his strength and

willpower to help overcome his circumstances. Manu quickly changes from a fearful mindset to

a durable and loving mindset for the sake of his family.

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Work Cited

Anand, Pria. "Wandering Gliders." Ploughshares, vol. 46, no. 2, summer 2020, pp. 8+. Gale Literature

Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A649525156/GLS?u=lincclin_hcc&sid=bookmark-

GLS&xid=c9532dc0. Accessed 17 Feb. 2023.