“Sexy”

The short story “sexy” is about a husband (Dev) who’s cheating on his wife with a young woman named Miranda. Dev had met Miranda while he was out shopping for his wife. “They’re for my wife. He uttered the words slowly, holding Miranda’s gaze.”( pg. 4) Miranda is well-aware that Dev is married to another woman that first day she met him, however that does not stop her from allowing him to see her in more than a friendly way.

During that first day, Dev gives Miranda the details of how his wife is leaving for India for awhile. During that time, Dev becomes more acquainted with Miranda. They meet up with each other almost everyday. Miranda doesn’t seem to think anything is wrong wit the situation she is in because “somehow without the wife there, it didn’t seem so wrong”. (pg. 4) The two quickly begin to fall into the same routine, but Dev does go back to his place every night because his wife calls him around the same time everyday.

One day, Dev takes Miranda to the Mapparium. He takes her there to teach her more about the world. This is where Dev first tells Miranda that she is sexy. A few months after that, Dev’s wife returns. However, he continues to see Miranda but only on Sundays.

While Miranda has been meeting with Dev and sleeping with him behind his wife’s back, Miranda’s coworker (Laxmi) has been keeping her updated on the drama that is happening to her cousin. Laxmi’s cousin is also experiencing the same situation that Dev’s wife is in except she knows her husband is cheating unlike Dev’s wife.

Laxmi had convinced her cousin to come visit her and to spend a day with her to help her forget her husband who now filing for a divorce. Laxmi had somehow convinced Miranda to babysit her cousin’s seven year old son Rohin.

Instead of spending her Sunday with Dev like usual, she spends it watching Rohin. Affter spending a few hours with Miranda, Rohin becomes bored and decides to snoop through Miranda’s room where he comes across a revealing dress that Miranda had bought earlier that week to dress the part of a mistress. He asked her to put the dress on and after arguing with him about not wanting too, she grows tired and puts it on anyway. When she comes out of the room, Rohin calls her sexy. She was taken back by this comment and then asked him what it meant? Rohin after wanting to not say, but gives in whispers, “it means loving someone you don’t know”. (Pg. 16)

This reminds her of the time that Dev had called her sexy but this time the words don’t leave her feeling hot. Rohin then proceeds to say, “that’s what my father did. He sat next to someone he didn’t know, someone sexy, and now he loves her instead of my mother.” (pg. 16)

After that day, Miranda kept giving Dev excuses as to why she couldn’t see him on Sunday. Eventually, she had drifted away from Dev and no longer thought of him.

This story is something that I see in our society today. Most of the time, when a man cheats on his wife people of course put the full blame on the husband but not the woman he choose to have the affair with. I personally believe that it is the man’s fault but not all of the blame should be on him. I also think the finger should be pointed at the woman who he got involved with especially if that woman knows that the man has a significant other. I also think that if a woman ever found herself in the same position as Miranda that she should be the one to stop the affair from starting. It’s okay for another woman to let a man cheat like that. I think she should have respect for the other woman and say something to her or deny the man before anything starts. That’s what Miranda should have done. She knew about the wife and yet continued to meet with Dev. I do not think that was right and was disrespectful towards Dev’s wife. Women should always look out for other women no matter what.