The conflict between tradition and modernity is one of the major themes in Appachana's short story "Sharmaji." We see this mostly play out with the parts of the story that concern the marriage prospects of Gupta and Sharma's daughters and the contrast between Sharma and Miss Das.

Sharma and Gupta's parents are quite concerned with finding suitable spouses for their children according to their cultural traditions. They are much less concerned with what their children are actually looking for in a spouse or if they are interested in marriage at all. Appachana contrasts this with Miss Das and her more modern, even egalitarian, relationship with her husband. Miss Das is a modern woman in many senses. She works a job in which she outranks men, has been seen smoking with a man, and has kept her maiden name. All this flies in the face of tradition.

In one of their contentious conversations, modernity is represented by Miss Das, and tradition is showcased by Sharma. Sharma seems very set in his ways. He has kept the same job for twenty-five years and shows no inclination to change that. In fact, he has been able to get away with barely working at all. He argues that he should be able to remain in his position simply because he has held it for so long and was given praise for his work many years ago. As a traditionalist, Sharma resists change and is clearly contemptuous of Miss Das for not acting as a traditional woman would. At the same time, Miss Das sees herself as an agent of change, bringing modern sensibilities and ideas into the workplace.