Ruma
Ruma's decision to stay at home to care for the house and her son, Akash, is the subject matter of "Unaccustomed Earth," the first story in the collection.
Pranab Chakraborty
An MIT grad student whose homesickness is alleviated by his participation with a local family of the same heritage, or at least a similar heritage. His story is told in "Hell-Heaven."
Amit
Amit's wife Megan is catching onto the fact that Amit's friend, Pam, might have been more than a friend, but ultimately, they work through it, somewhat, and end up having sex. This occurs in the story, "A Choice of Accommodation."
Sudha and Rahul
Sudha is a successful person, but her little brother Rahul is kind of a failure and definitely an alcoholic. "Only Goodness" is the story of the decay of their relationship as Rahul loses control of his alcoholism and mental health issues.
Sang
Sang is a beautiful woman and the protagonist of "Nobody's Business." Her boyfriend is cheating on her, and she finds out that her roommate Paul already knew, but eventually, they work through that conflict. The boyfriend chooses the mistress over Sang.
Hema
The subject of Part Two of the collection, along with Kaushik. Her story begins as her friendship with Kaushik fades away. Eventually she considers leaving her fiancé to be with Kaushik once more, once they're all grown up.
Kaushik
Kaushik's mother dies in the story "Year's End," and his subsequent 'wandering' personality leads him to cross paths with Hema in "Going Ashore."
