The dominant thing the child narrator, Lila, learns is how to value two cultures when they are brought together. In Mr. Pirzada, Lila meets the juxtaposition of American culture with Pakistani culture and Indian culture. She is mystified by the fact that though Pirzada speaks the same language and eats the same food and has the same look about him, her father specifies that Pirzada is not Indian. While he is studying in America, he is not American either. yet he brings much of American culture with him when he comes to dinner.