Discuss the significance of the conversation between Sir Mohan Lal and the mirror in the waiting room of the first-class in your Own Words

Discuss the significance of the conversation between Sir Mohan Lal and the mirror in the waiting room of the first-class in your Own Words. Class 11 | English (Karma) 6 Marks

Ans:

The conversation between Sir Mohan Lal and the mirror in the waiting room of the first-class is quite significant in respect to the story’s progress. Through this conversation, for the first time, the readers understand Sir Mohan Lal’s aversion towards anything Indian. It also helps us to understand his negative outlook towards Indian culture and his constant endeavour to adapt western manners. The old and damaged mirror stands in sharp contrast to Sir Mohan’s well-maintained aristocracy and represents most of the things in India-dirty, inefficient and commonplace. He smiles at it with an air of pity and patronage, as it symbolises the clumsy, disoriented and stigmatized Indian life and culture. Though he wants to see himself in the mirror as fully steeped in the richness of life, the mirror smiles back at him-a sarcastic smile. This smile throws light on man’s alienation from his real identity and his habit of portraying what he is not.