She didn’t understand how her mother had done it. Growing up, her mother’s example –moving to a foreign place for the sake of marriage, caring exclusively for children and a household –had served as warning, a path to avoid. Yet this was Ruma’s life now.
-- Narrator (Unaccustomed Earth paragraph 18)

Importance: Here, Ruma reflects on the past, on changing times, and how the past seems to have repeated itself. Ruma had long criticized her mother’s stay-at-home role. She didn’t want to end up being the same way –yet she has become the same as her mother, voluntarily. Ruma comes to have a deeper appreciation and understanding for her mother as a result.

It is clear to me now that my mother was in love with him.
-- Usha (Hell-Heaven paragraph 10)

Importance: Usha reflects on how her mother fell in love with family friend Pranab. He provided a counterpoint to her father. He was younger, optimistic, warm...