She adds that this proximity led to more conflicts after Dadu rejected Ruma's offer to stay with them. Lahiri concludes that Dadu's decision had dashed Ruma and her son's hope of further developing their bond. Therefore, independence and autonomy were detrimental to Ruma's family because they destroyed the relationship Ruma had with his father despite Ruma's efforts, and they destroyed Akash's hope of developing the bond he had begun to develop with his grandparent. First of all, this concept of independence and autonomy played a major role in the loss of connection between Ruma and Dadu and destroyed the relationship they had. The author explains that the loss of ties between Ruma and his father, Dadu, was caused by Dadu's newfound independence, the fact that he had no family responsibilities and did not bother to communicate frequently with his daughter. She says, “After her mother died, it was Ruma who took on the duty of talking to her father every evening to ask him how his day was” (4). This shows that the communication was only one-sided and that Dadu's independence prevented him from making contact with him.