“Day Trippers” is a present story that was shared in 2015. The story explores the impact of culture and cultural bonds in the subsequent international world we are residing. The characters in the story have their background in India, but by the time the story was issued, they stayed in London. Their story could be the same as several Indians who stayed in the UK and might have had similar perspectives concerning their culture (Murillo et al., 2013). The central theme of “Day Trippers” by Ruman Mundair is culture’s effect on an individual’s conscience. The author believes that a culture symbolized by traditions, food, and religion produces a magnetic influence on the people from the story. Sometimes, an individual might decide to reject their culture willingly, but ultimately, the culture’s impact catches up with them.
The title of the story “Day Trippers” indicates that the story might be revolving around the tourist. However, when we investigate how the main characters behave, we are convinced that the story is a metaphor. Parminder and Gurpreet feel like a tourist in their own culture (Su et al., 2020). “The days and weekends were no longer enough. Gurpreet and Parminder knew they didn’t want to be tourists – day-trippers into their own cultures – anymore ((Mundair, 1.35).” Initially, the two characters neglected the Indian culture and the idea of entering a romantic relationship with a partner from a similar culture. After getting married outside their culture, they start an affair with one another, enabling them to realize their culture. The rediscovery of their culture through their intimate relationship allows them to embrace for a long time their Indian culture.
In the short story, the two characters comprising of a man and woman rejects their culture. Such rejections are manifested in numerous ways. In the first case, they reject the Asian partners and only decide to marry people from the West as they strive to behave and act like the people from the West (Su et al., 2020). The wife to Gurpreet and children dismiss the traditional Indian clothes that their grandparents sent from India. Perminder can scold her mother for sending her family sweets that stain clothes (Murillo et al., 2013). However, the two partners are still able to feel that something was missing in their lives. Perminder that every time she wakes up, she was longing for different things with her life. Parminder and Gurpreet are two Indians who do not like the idea of getting married to Asians. Parminder is married to David, and they already have two sons. Gurpreet is married to an Irish woman by Aisling’s name, and he already has two daughters with the woman. The couples stay in London. Aisling and Parminder were friends at the university. Hence, they decided to organize a reunion with their husbands. Gurpreet and Parminder meet in the union. After one year, Gurpreet and Parminder meet accidentally in a Birmingham hotel while on a business trip, and this was when they began an affair.
The theme of culture is dominant in the story, and it is evident in the differences in lifestyles. Asians do not like the Western lifestyles, and unfortunately, this is what Parminder and Gurpreet like, and they have been in admiration of such a lifestyle. Cultural impact drives people in different directions. It works with an individual’s consciousness and motivates them to pursue various things with their lives (Su et al., 2020). The cultural impact can interfere with a marriage where people are peacefully married. In the story, the two Indians commit in an intimate relationship due to the culture they have been influenced with as they live among the Western people. Culture has a significant impact on the taste and preference of an individual. Gurpreet’s wife, together with the children, are able to reject traditional clothes from their grandparents. Parminder has also “begun to wake up feeling numb, with a longing for silence” (Mundair, 1.8). Parminder scolds her mother, who was willingly sending her family sweets, claiming that the sweets stains clothes. Gurpreet later begins to question the consumerist attitude for his wife.
“Day Trippers” is a story that strives to explore the impact of culture and cultural ties in the contemporary world we live in. The two characters have lived for a long time in London, but they come from India. Parminder and Gurpreet reject their culture due to the influence that they have had while staying in the UK. Numerous cases are familiar with the case between the two characters in the story. Particular Indians who also live in the UK or other Western parts of the world tend to develop an attitude towards their culture. The story depicts the lifestyle in the postmodernism world developed after WWII, and it is still dominant in the contemporary world (Murillo et al., 2013). Parminder and Gurpreet are not satisfied with the culture that their couples are adopting, which drives them to start an intimate relationship. It is evident from the story that the impact a culture can have on an individual is severe. It changes the preferences and makes a person to admire other lifestyles. Therefore, cultural impact transforms an individual’s behavior and pushes them to become tourists to other cultures.