Moving to a new country is like diving into an uncharted pool with unknown depths. Mistry uses the swimming pool as a metaphor to represent a foreign country. There is a feeling of loneliness, homesickness and being more vulnerable. In the story the protagonist cannot swim. So, by diving into a swimming pool he is afraid of drowning. In other words, this represents his fear of losing his native South Asian identity after "immersing" himself in a country with a completely different culture and way of life. The protagonist struggles to preserve his identity by sending letters home as they are the only thing that connects him to India. His life in this new country is a constant battle of trying to adapt but also to preserve his own