with air-conditioning," Mrs. Das continued.."Why do you do this, Raj, just to save a few stupid rupees. What are you saving us, fifty cents?

Flirting is possibly the only way she knows of to assuage her personal discontent. She flirts with Mr. Kapasi under her own husband's nose so that he is initially intrigued by the possibilities of a relationship of sorts with her.

Her sudden interest in him, an interest she did not express in either her husband or her children, was mildly intoxicating.

While she listens intently to Mr. Kapasi describe his occupation as a doctor's interpreter of maladies, she does not bother to hide her admiration of his intellectual prowess, of the necessary display of accuracy and careful thought  in his chosen profession:

Unlike his wife, she had reminded him of its intellectual challenges. She had also used the word "romantic." She did not behave in a romantic way toward her husband, and yet she had used the word to describe him.

She is oblivious of her own husband's presence and starts to imagine a relationship with Mr. Kapasi.

Her experience with Mr. Kapasishowcase her apathy about her actions.

She sees him as a possible dalliance and sets to manipulate him into sympathy for her. She tries to confide in Mr. Kapasi about her personal suffering in a loveless marriage. In telling Mr. Kapasi of an affair which produced her son, Bobby, she is oblivious to Mr. Kapasi's obvious discomfort in his body language as well as his speech: he tries to make her see that he cannot help her with a 'malady' that only she can diagnose and take the proper measures for. She continues trying to seduce him, her attraction only subsiding when she realizes that he expects her to take some personal responsibility for her own predicament. For her part, she is seeking some relief from her pain and grief, but does not want what Mr. Kapasi eventually suggests.

Mr. Kapasi, I’ve been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better, say the fight thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.

He decided to begin with the most obvious question, to get to the heart of the matter, and so he asked, "It really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?"

Her careless indifference to her own children, products of her union with Mr. Das.

She ignores both children and is not interested in interacting with them. Although she buys a puffed rice snack, she does not bother sharing them with her children or husband. Her self-absorption is eventually apparent to Mr. Kapasi, but not to her; in fact, she always has her sun-glasses on, a metaphor for her own blindness: her views about her husband, children and Mr. Kapasi are distorted, but she refuses to acknowledge her own self-absorption.

Notes: Hope this gives you an idea of how to approach the topic of Mrs. Das. You can use any supporting text from the short story to show her apathy, her indifference and her desperate emotional struggle and refusal to come to terms with her own actions: this is why she does not come to the same conclusions as Miranda in 'Sexy.' You might also discuss the cultural divide: Mr. Kapasi is aghast at Mrs. Das' imminently more liberal western view of adultery.

Miranda in 'Sexy'

With Miranda, start by talking about her personal reasons for a clandestine relationship with a married man. She is intrigued by Dev's exotic Bengali heritage and he in turn, is fascinated by her American beauty, so different from that of his own Indian wife's. Dev tells Miranda that his wife resembles a Bollywood actress, Madhuri Dixit. Only later when she curiously goes to an Indian grocery in Central Square does she find out how beautiful Indian actresses really are. This shatters her sense of peace. How does a man with a beautiful wife commit adultery? Dev tells her she is sexy and later on, so does Laxmi's little son. She is faced with the damage Rohin's father's adultery is inflicting on Rohin's sense of normalcy. Rohin is seven, and when he asks Miranda to put on the sexy silver dress she bought to try to impress Dev, she does so, but later on, can't stop herself from crying. She sees from a little boy's warped sense of sexuality what adultery inflicts on innocent parties. She loses her attraction for a dalliance that will never promise her the kind of cherished love that she wants. So, Rohin is the catalyst for her turning; Mr. Kapasi could have been a catalyst for Mrs. Das' change of heart, but she is too absorbed in her own pain to realize it.

This is very good question to begin your thought process with a compare and contrast essay.  In fact, both of these characters, Mrs. Das and Miranda, can be compared quite easily, especially with the following quotation:

A woman who had fallen out of love with her life.

This quote describes both Mrs. Das and Miranda so perfectly, it's almost a shame to reveal that it was originally spoken of Mrs. Das. 

Further, the two main characters of "Interpreter of Maladies" (Mrs. Das) and "Sexy" (Miranda) have many comparisons.  Both of them are at least somewhat unhappy with their status in life, especially in regard to how they feel about their bodies and self-images.  Mrs. Das is no longer in love with her husband, even though they are on a family vacation to India.  She admits this to their tour guide, Kapasi, when she is finally in the car with him alone. 

She watched his lips forming the words, at the same time she heard them under her skin, under her winter coat, so near and full of warmth that she felt herself go hot.

It is Kapasi who is labeled by Mrs. Das as the "interpreter of maladies" as she asks for his advice, but she is upset by his response about the differences between guilt and pain.  In "Sexy," Miranda is quite young and moves alone to Boston.  Her married lover is the first "man" she has met and the first person to call her "sexy."  She longs to hear that quality in a description of herself from another.  She longs for the same affirmation as Mrs. Das does.  A further comparison of the two characters is the end result of the interaction with the men. 

It was only then, raising my water glass in his name, that I knew what it meant to miss someone who was so many miles and hours away, just as he had missed his wife and daughters for so many months.

Mrs. Das simply leaves and tends to her children, the note with Kapasi's written phone number blowing away in the wind.  Miranda also leaves and discovers herself anew within her new city of Boston.

In conclusion, we must admit that there are a few differences in the characters as well.  Mrs. Das is married (and probably a bit older) and has children while Miranda is quite young and in the work force of Boston.  Mrs. Das does NOT have an affair with the enamored Kapasi, whereas Miranda DOES have an affair with a married man.  Mrs. Das feels comfortable with Kapasi and reveals many secrets, but isn't told of Kapasi's infatuation.  Miranda IS told she is "sexy" by her married lover.