India, July 9 -- Perhaps America's 250th independence anniversary does matter to us in India. The United States has shaped global culture, giving the world jazz, Hollywood, and generations of influential writers. American literature, in particular, has been moulded by a staggeringly diverse range of voices and lived experiences, from writers as distinct as Toni Morrison and Ocean Vuong. One such writer is Jhumpa Lahiri, whose work spans lands, languages, and pehchan, reflecting many of the idiosyncratic qualities that define American writing. Born in London to Bengali immigrants, raised in the United States, and now a resident of Rome, she visited Delhi earlier this year. One slice from that visit provides a fitting way to mark this histori...