Day Trippers
This study guide will help you analyse the text “Day Trippers” by Raman Mundair. We will show you examples of elements in the text that will be relevant for your analysis. In these notes, we will focus on summary, structure, characters, setting, narrator and point of view, language, theme and message, and help you put the text into perspective.
Raman Mundair is a British author who was born in India. She writes poetry, plays, and short stories. Her works are often influenced by politics and philosophy. Some of the main themes she explores are faith, loss, and compassion.
Summary
Parminder and Gurpreet are Indians who dislike the idea of having Asian partners. Parminder is married to a man named David with whom she has two sons, and Gurpreet is married to an Irish woman named Aisling with whom he has two daughters. Both couples live in London, in the United Kingdom. Parminder and Aisling used to be friends at university and they decide to organise a reunion with their husbands, where Parminder and Gurpreet meet. A year later, Parminder and Gurpreet meet accidentally in a hotel in Birmingham on a business trip. The two begin an affair and rediscover their Indian culture in the process. They go to Indian restaurants and celebrations, and even to a wedding at an Indian temple.
Both David and Aisling are confused by Parminder and Gupreet’s changed behaviour, although they are unaware of the affair. David proposes couple counselling but Parminder refuses, and Aisling claims she no longer recognises her husband. Soon Parminder finds out that she is pregnant and goes around the house opening the windows.
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