Examine the significance of the title, "A Temporary Matter."

The title holds significance on a couple of fronts.  The
first would be the "temporary matter" of the power cuts in the evening.  This
establishes the basis for the plot of the story.  This is temporary as, by the end,
electrical power is restored, while the power of love becomes absent.  Another
understanding of the "temporary matter" could be the seeming emotional and physical
intimacy of Shoba and Shukumar during the power outages.  It seems as if there is a
greater closeness developing between both.  Yet, this is also temporary.  Shoba's
rehearsed delivery of breaking up with Shukumar and his disclosure to her as a response
clearly demonstrates that the emotional connection that might have been forged or the
intimacy that appeared to be formulated was, in fact, temporary.  Finally, I think that
 the nature of emotional commitment in the world of Shoba and Shukumar is revealed to be
one in which everything is a "temporary matter."  It does not seem as if their
relationship was really ever one in which there was a permanent and lasting connection.
 The death of their child did not really forge a connection between them, moving them
even closer to a "temporary" state.  The fact that Shukumar operates in a state of
introverted being while Shoba is more active with her work and being out of the house
feeds the idea that their entire relationship was a "temporary matter."  The ending in
which both are poised in the dark, weeping with what it is they now know helps to bring
to light that the only non- temporal condition in their relationship is the hurt and
sadness that will accompany them like a shadow in their own
darkness.