Scolding Awaits (dialogue versus scene irony)
When we see Lenny break the plate a maid immediately arrives on the scene to pick up the broken pieces. A moment later the cook rushes in from the outside asking what the madame will say, setting an expectation of Lenny getting scolded to the audience. Ironically, the opposite happens even though Lenny admits of breaking the plate her mother hugs her affectionately saying I’m glad you told the truth.
United
When Shanta’s group is discussing the division of India at the food place, we see the group conversation getting heated and almost violent. This leads Hassan to defuse the tension and ask that friends will support each other no matter what, to which Dil Navaz answers in affirmation. This is ironic because Dil Navaz, who was the first to agree in supporting each other, is the one who gets Hassan killed and even gets Shanta killed by an angry Muslim mob.
Home
During the dinner table scene at the beginning of the film, we see Mr. Singh and Mr. Rogers get hostile against each other. So far so that they grab each other’s collars. After this skirmish, Mr rogers cools down and ironically remarks that Indian has been his home. This statement displays irony because Indians never truly welcomed the British, which is apparent with Mr. Singh’s displeasure with Mr. Rogers, yet Mr. Roger calls a foreign land taken over from the natives his home.
Phone Connection
The issue of the division of India slowly creeps in and starts to affect the lives of our main characters. We see Shanta sitting with her group in the park discussing when Dil Navaz comes dressed as a Muslim scholar who pretends to have a direct line of communication with god. He, ironically, communicates through a regular telephone with god. This is doubly ironic as not only is that only the regular telephone but religions, in general, convey that the only way to communicate with God is done through spiritual ways, not through man-made inventions.
Marriage
Lenny tells her father, who has just arrived in his car, that Papoo is getting married even though she is only ten years old. To this we see Lenny’s parents giving bad remarks. Ironically, they then tell her that she will only get married when she turns sixteen, which is still too young for marriage according to today’s standards.
