The story "Affairs" was a good mystery. It started off with immediate conflict to set the tone for the rest of the book. Right after that it introduced the affair and by the fifth page I thought I had figured out the rest of the story. When Abha compared her skin to Meena's, it seemed like a subtle hint that Ashok was the one Meena was having an affair with. After that the hints became less and less subtle, like the dance and the dinner with all four main characters. At the dinner scene Abha kept describing how much she and Srikant were alike. After that I thought Meena and Ashok were having an affair, but Abha would hook up with Srikant to get back at Ashok. This would be consistent with their fight at the start of the book.
The change in Abha came when she watched the inappropriate channel her husband had ordered. She realized how cold she had been towards him. She then buys a robe to impress him on him her willingness to change. She thought she would be able to change their relationship but it was too late. Then when Srikant cam over, she thought she would get together with him and maybe go to India. She was wrong again, when all he did was ask her what she was going to do with her life after leaving her crappy marriage. Finally, in her talk with Meena she learns her husband isn't having an affair after all, but she does realize how deteriorated their marriage is. This leads her to set off on her own.
At the start of the story, Abha seems to be in total control and have it all figured out. By dropping hints, the author makes the reader feel similarly. By the end of the story, Abha turns out to be way off target in her predictions and she's seen how out of her control her life really is. The reader also feels tricked and so feels Abha's problems. When she decides to leave, the reader feels staisfied and so they most likely enjoy the story.
