Summary

The short story “The Boss Came to Dinner” by Bhisham Sahni begins with Shamnath and his wife preparing for his boss’ visit. They clean the house and then wonder what to do about Shamnath’s mother. They do not want the guests to see her, and they also do not want her to fall asleep and disturb the guests with her snoring. They discuss sending her to a neighbor for the night, but finally decide against it. Shamnath goes to his mother and asks her to stay on the verandah while the guests are in the drawing room, and afterwards to go up to her room. The mother agrees. 

However, Shamnath is still uneasy about this arrangement. He fears his boss will somehow see his mother. Therefore he tells her how to sit and what to wear while she sits on the verandah. Shamnath instructs his mother how to speak if his boss asks her a question. He also tells her not to fall asleep because she snores too loudly. The mother is afraid of the upcoming visit, but she decides to do as her son asked her to. 

Everyone enjoys themselves at dinner and the boss is in a good mood. When they come out of the drawing room on the verandah, they see the mother there sleeping in the chair and snoring. Shamnath gets angry. The mother wakes up and Shamnath tells her to go to her roo...