"Durwan" is a word comprised of Urdu, Hindi and Persian roots. According to Oxford Dictionary, it means a porter or doorkeeper, yet in many cases, like Boori Ma's, durwans may only be cleaning women. These sorts of doorkeepers can be found all around India, where they are called durwans, as well as all over Europe, where they are often called "concierges" (this is similar to yet very different from the concierges found in hotels). At the best levels, this sort of porter or doorkeeper lives-in and oversees order in the building and cleans all the public areas. In buildings where only rooms are rented, they clean water closets, bathing rooms and kitchens. In Boori Ma's case, in the old building with cramped quarters, she is there to clean the public stairs to the different floors and the different renters' dwellings.
"I live in two broken rooms, married to a man who sells toilet parts." Mrs. Dalal turned away...
To be a real durwan in this scenario one has to fulfill actual duties and implied duties. The actual duty for Boori Ma is to sweep the stairs and keep the public areas in order. Boori Ma's implied duties are the same as for higher level durwan and for European concierges: they ensure none but residents and residents' guests enter the building. This is an important function for doorkeeper: they keep the safety of the premises by restricting who enters the doors. According to this, Boori Ma is a "real' durwan. She performs actual and implied her duties and, for doing so correctly, she is given a place to sleep "underneath the letter boxes where she lived."
Is Boon Ma, a real Durwan or not ? It is a controversial angle. The 64 year old frail woman used to do both. The staircase and the premises were kept spit and span. She would keep the strangers at bay by striking her broom on the ground, for an the work done she was allowed to sleep under the letter boxes. Boon Ma is allowed to wander in and out of the apartments, Offered tea and crackers for help with cleaning of children's activities. She went beyond her duties of a durwan to help the women. She also was a source of entertainment as she kept on narrating stories of her old and better times before partition. Many didn't believe them.
One day Mrs, Dalaal promises to buy her a mattress, as the old lady complains there are mites on the present one. But it gets delayed. Then it rains reducing her bedding to yogurt. She wants to remind the lady of her promise as there is a fight between the Dalals. The husband brought basins instead of stuffs like fridge. He had to appease his wife by taking her on a holiday. The promised bedding was forgotten and the woman had to sleep on news papers.
The basin , the first in the building, was fixed in the Dalaal's house and another in the foyer for public use. The residents instead of feeling happy, feel a lot of resentment and decide to renovate their houses.The stairs become choked by workmen. Unable to sweep, Boori Ma has spend all the time on her roof, keeping an eye on her dwindling set of newspapers and wondering when she had her last glass of tea. When she grows restless on the roof, she wanders around the town spending her life's savings on treats. All of a sudden, she feels a tug at the end of her sari and finds her purse and skeleton keys gone. When she returns to the building, she finds the basin has been torn out of the wall.
The residents feel that she has neglected her duty by not keeping a watchful eye on the entrance. She was not on duty at the time of the theft; so she can't be spared of punishment. The unfortunate woman was carried to the roof and accused of telling robbers about the new basin. She tries to convince them, but after all of her lies, they say, how can they believe her now? The residents come to the conclusion that the building needs a real durwan to keep their valuables safe. Boon Ma is out on the street muttering, as her figure recedes, 'believe me, believe me.'
Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Boori Maa' is the representative of the downtrodden people of our society. The story brings to light how mercilessly, these people are treated. She goes on doing the duty of a true durwan, but for no fault of hers, she loses her job and has to live the life of a destitute.