Instant Connection or Rebound?

            In the Chapter 8 of The Namesake, Lahiri introduces us to the characters Bridget and Moushumi. So far, Gogol has been in two previous relationships with Ruth and Maxine. Maxine and Gogol ended things because she did not understand why he excluded her from important family events and plans. “She felt jealous of his mother and sister, an accusation that struck Gogol as so absurd that he had no energy to argue anymore” (Lahiri 188). After they break up, he soon finds out, from her parents, that she is getting married to another man.

            Bridget is an attractive woman from New Orleans, who works for a small firm with her husband. The two of them have an affair. This affair lasts until “suddenly he imagines the house where Bridget’s husband lives alone, longing for her, with his unfaithful wife’s name on the mailbox, her lipstick beside his shaving things. Only then does he feel guilty” (Lahiri 191). This does not seem like something Gogol would do because it is disrespectful and immorally incorrect.

He keeps his “relationship” with Bridget a secret. His mother becomes progressively worried about him and even asks him if he is going to try to work things out with Maxine. His mother was to find his a suitable match, so she sees if he is willing to call Moushumi Mazoomdar, daughter of one of her friends from Massachusetts. Initially, Gogol has no intention of calling her, but after a while, he agrees to meet up with her at a bar for drinks.

They end up having a great time, and he evens asks her to join him for dinner. They seem to be getting along great, and “her frankness surprises him” (Lahiri 196). She admits that she moved back to New York from Paris because of a guy named Graham. They were engaged, but they broke off the marriage after he made rude remarks to her parents, ultimately leading up to a fight that caused them their future.

It is great that she is honest with him about her past and reason why she came back, but I don know how I feel about their relationship. They are both getting over a tough breakup, and I don’t know whether they actually like each other and are getting along, or if they are on the rebound. They seem to get along great and really enjoy each other’s company, but I am not convinced that they are both in a good place to start a healthy relationship. They are both dealing with the complications of their breakups, and there is a high possibility that one or the both of them are not completely over their previous relationship.