How we cite our quotes: (Abbreviated Title.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Their baby had never cried, Shukumar considered. Their baby would never have a rice ceremony, even though Shoba had already made the guest list, and decided on which of her three brothers she was going to ask to feed the child its first taste of solid food, at six months if it was a boy, seven if it was a girl. (ATM 36)
Here's a rare look at what Shoba was like before she lost her baby. She seems like a totally different person. Talk about shattered dreams—this passage is so poignant.
Quote #2
The job was a sign of his failings. In his youth he'd been a devoted scholar of foreign languages, the owner of an impressive collection of dictionaries. He had dreamed of being an interpreter for diplomats and dignitaries, resolving conflicts between people and nations, settling disputes of which he alone could understand both sides. (IM 77)
This is all about Mr. Kapasi's job as an interpreter for a doctor and how far he thinks he has fallen. It's also about economic reality and how it can make any dream come crashing down. We learn soon after that Mr. Kapasi only took this job to work off what he owed to the doctor for treating his son's typhoid, a son who eventually died anyway. The doctor offered him more money than he was making as a teacher.
Quote #3
He hoped that Mrs. Das had understood Surya's beauty, his power. Perhaps they would discuss it further in their letters. He would explain things to her, things about India, and she would explain things to him about America. In its own way this correspondence would fulfill his dream, of serving as an interpreter between nations. He looked at her straw bag, delighted that his address lay nestled among its contents. When he pictured her so many thousands of miles away he plummeted, so much so that he had an overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around her, to freeze with her, even for an instant, in an embrace witnessed by his favorite Surya. (IM 106)
Mr. Kapasi—quite the romantic dreamer. We don't need to tell you how soon these dreams will come crashing down.