The Mistress of Spices

Tilo muses about the unique character of each day in her shop. Fridays are restless, and it is therefore fitting that Friday is the day she meets a man she calls “the lonely American” (69), whose mysterious nature intrigues her. Tilo remarks that she has met many Americans (by which she means non-Indians), and she is often curious about them, but she does not involve herself in their lives because to do so would violate the rules. The Old One has warned her that her job is to help only her “own kind” (meaning Indian and Indian American people). She describes a Black man named Kwesi who frequently visits the store and whom she finds particularly alluring, but she resists the temptation to ask him questions about his life.

The lonely American, however, is more difficult to resist. She describes him as handsome and elegant, dressed all in black, in simple but expensive clothes. Trying to avoid conversation, she begins packing away her merchandise to close up for the night, but he decides to help her. As their hands accidentally touch, she feels erotic attraction for the first time in her life. When he leaves, he says, “I’ll be seeing you” (73), and she hopes he means it.

After the lonely American leaves, Tilo searches for a special spice for him. The Old One told her that for each person, there is a particular spice—the mahamul, or root spice. While she searches the shelves, she fantasizes about seeing him naked—something she has never desired before—and fears that her desires will prevent her from seeing the spices clearly. Her hands, searching of their own accord, settle on a jar of asafetida: A spice known as an antidote for love, it hardens the heart and strips away emotion. She puts it aside for the lonely American, feeling both relieved and immensely saddened: If she gives it to him, it will eliminate any chance of love between them.

Geeta reflects on her various customers. She has to fight the impulse to feel resentful toward the “rich Indians” who live in the Oakland hills. Though they are often haughty and even rude, she realizes that many of them are dealing with serious private struggles and that their lives are not as easy as they appear.

On Saturdays, the shop is crowded, and everyone is full of their private desires. On these days, sometimes, Tilo glimpses the future. Longing to see the lonely American again, she becomes conscious of her own desire and tired of catering to everyone else’s desires. She imagines using the spices to make the lonely American fall in love with her, but this would be a profound breach of the rules Mistresses must live by.

A man Tilo calls “Geeta’s grandfather” comes in and talks to Tilo, complaining about Geeta’s modern, independent lifestyle. When he leaves, Tilo lights incense in the hope that Geeta will keep her independence and learn to forgive her grandfather for his stubbornness. When Geeta’s grandfather returns the next day, he is extremely upset. Geeta has revealed that she is in love with a Latino man named Juan Cordero. At the news that she is romantically involved with a man who is not Indian, her parents have disowned her. There is so much discord in the family that Geeta’s grandfather asks Tilo for some remedy. She gives him powdered almond and kesar, instructing him to boil it in milk and have the whole family drink it at bedtime. It will sweeten their words and help them to remember that they love each other. However, Tilo warns him that the medicine will not work unless Geeta comes to the shop herself and asks for Tilo’s help.

The chapter concludes with a vivid dream that Tilo has about the island. In the dream, the Old One’s face becomes a void, and Tilo hears a warning about the chaos that can ensue when a Mistress uses her power for personal gain. This dream leaves Tilo shaken and reinforces her commitment to her role, despite the personal cost.

Ever since the lonely American’s visit, Tilo finds herself increasingly empathetic and concerned about her customers, unlike before. This shift is evident in her worry over Ahuja’s wife, Lalita, who hasn’t visited the store for months. Tilo fears for her safety, as she had previously provided her with turmeric to protect her from domestic abuse. She fears that the spices are losing their power, which would signal that she is failing in her duty. When Lalita does come in, she tells Tilo tearfully that she remains deeply unhappy in her marriage. Her husband rapes her and hits her. They married in India, and she hoped that when they moved to America he would change, but if anything, he became worse. Recently he has become even more controlling, forbidding her from leaving the house without him, insisting on reading her private letters, and subjecting her to constant surveillance. She used to long for a baby, but she does not want to bring a child into this household. She has begun to consider dying by suicide.

Tilo gives her fennel seeds, a spice symbolizing ordinary lives and ordinary, middle-aged people, and tells her to eat a pinch of them whole after every meal “to freshen the breath and aid digestion and give you mental strength for what must be done” (109). She tells her to give some to her husband, too. Lalita is disappointed, but Tilo cannot tell her more without diluting the spice’s power. When Lalita is gone, Tilo begs the spices to help her. For the first time in the book, the spices speak to her, telling her that she has overstepped her boundaries and that there will be a price to pay.

Tilo is slicing kalo jire seeds for Haroun when the lonely American comes in unexpectedly. Startled, she cuts her finger. He apologizes, takes her hand, and puts her injured finger in his mouth, sucking the blood away. Moments later, the cut is mysteriously healed. As she and the lonely American are talking, Haroun comes in to collect his packet of kalo jire. The lonely American walks to another part of the store to let her serve this customer, and Haroun loudly tells her that she should be more careful, that this stranger could be dangerous. She tells Haroun that she can take care of herself and asks him not to insult her customers, and Haroun leaves, his feelings hurt.

The lonely American tells Tilo that he has an ache in his heart, taking her hand again and placing it on his chest. She is overwhelmed with attraction and, sensing that he is flirting with her, she flirts back, suggesting that the cure for his ache is love. Realizing that she is breaking the rules, she pulls away and says she will retrieve a spice for him. She feels the spices willing her to give him the asefetida—which would end any chance of love between them—but she is not yet willing to do so. Instead she gives him churan, which she tells him is for “the too-indulgent life” (120).

In the morning she remembers that she has forgotten to clean the blood off her knife—a gift from the Old One, meant to protect her—and it is irreparably stained. She feels guilty for having broken the rules and for having offended Haroun.

Kwesi comes in and asks permission to put up a flyer for his martial arts dojo. He tells her how, many years ago, his deep involvement in martial arts helped him overcome his substance use disorder. After Kwesi leaves, Jagjit comes in. Tilo hasn’t seen him since he was 10 years old. Now he is a young teen, still struggling to fit in and find his identity. He treats her disrespectfully and appears troubled, and Tilo wonders whether the spices are punishing her for her transgressions.