Later that evening, Pi overhears his parents discussing his requests and new religious commitments. Pi’s father asks if Pi’s mother said yes, and Pi’s mother reminds him that Pi’s father redirected Pi to her, while teasing that Pi’s father is now “comfortably unemployed.”

Pi’s father admits he is baffled by Pi’s spiritual intensity, complaining that Pi “seems to be attracting religions the way a dog attracts fleas.” Pi’s father insists they are a modern Indian family and worries they have raised a son who behaves like a saintly mystic; Pi’s mother pushes back by questioning whether “modern and advanced” leadership like Mrs. Gandhi is truly desirable.

Pi’s father doubles down on his faith in technological and social progress, arguing that resistance leads to “dinosaurhood,” while Pi’s mother suggests Pi may simply be “marching to a different drumbeat of progress.” The narrator adds an aside that Mrs. Gandhi will indeed pass and that Pi’s family will later decide to move to Canada.

When Pi’s father realizes Pi may have become Muslim, he reacts most strongly, calling Islam “totally foreign” and labeling Muslims “outsiders.” Pi’s mother counters that Muslims have long been in India and are far more numerous than Christians, and she argues that Pi’s faith is not harming anyone and may be a phase.

Pi’s father wonders why Pi cannot have typical interests like Pi’s brother Ravi, who focuses on cricket and entertainment. Pi’s mother mentions that Pi recently finished The Imitation of Christ, prompting Pi’s father to exclaim again how far Pi might go, and the parents end by laughing together.