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The Washington Post education
correspondent S. Mitra Kalita debuts in diaspora writing with
a moving account of the immigrant experience in "Suburban
Sahibs". Born to Assamese parents, the New York-based
scribe captures the quiet transformation of Uncle Sam's suburbs
by the sub-continent immigrants. Sujoy Dhar reports
Edison, New Jersey, is the quintessential American suburb,
under an hour from the city by train, subdivided neatly into
houses with identical floor plans, dotted with mini-malls
and gas stations and monster movie theatres. Named after the
famous inventor of the electric bulb, town officials often
boast it as the place "where tomorrow was born".
This is also the backdrop of debut writer and The Washington
Post reporter S Mitra Kalita's book Suburban Sahibs.
Immigration has continuously redefined America and transformed
the American suburb. Through the migration of three families
from India to Central New Jersey, Mitra's book delves into
how immigration has altered the American suburb, and how,
in turn, it has altered the immigrant.
Says Mitra, "Middlesex County houses one of the largest
Indian populations in the world outside India. Their mark
on the region has been gradual but increasingly definitive:
auto-repair outlets named after 'Deepa' and 'Singh', a thriving
commercial strip of sari stores and sweets shops, valedictorians
named Patel and Shah. To be sure, the reception from long-time
residents has not been an entirely warm one as Indian-American
shopkeepers regularly contend with broken and egged windows.
Yet, as Indians achieve economic success, their desire for
political and social parity grows stronger; their acceptance
becomes less a question and more a reality."
Mitra Kalita traces the evolution of the suburb from a destination
for new arrivals to a launching pad for them. She focuses
on three waves of immigration in the post Civil Rights era
through the stories of three families: the Kotharis, Patels
and Sarmas. Their experience offers a window into the America
that has become: a nation of suburbs, a nation of immigrants.
"It is a wonderfully crafted story of the personal struggles
and victories of three immigrant families from South Asia
living in New Jersey suburbs. Amazingly, what emerges through
the prism of their narratives is the much broader portrait
of life in America today," says Bill Bradley, former
U.S. Senator
Says Amitava Kumar, noted author and an English professor
in the Penn State University, "The portraits in these
pages are discerning and empathetic: a businessman-turned-politician
and his wife are seen, despite their success, as 'somewhat
sidelined by many facets of American life,' and, perhaps more
movingly, the daughter of a struggling Gujarati family is
described as 'a reticent teenager who seemed to bear more
burdens than girls her age should.' ...an important feature
in this telling is that a desi writer is producing a new map
of suburban America."
"This book introduces us to a new generation that instead
of looking back is instead looking around itself." feels
Kumar.
"Mitra evokes a sense of familiarity with the families
while taking the reader through a breadth of immigrant experience.
As an American-born Sri Lankan I found the window into the
immigrant experience rife with turmoil and triumph,"
says Arun Nava, a mathematician with the Columbia University.
" Suburban Sahibs opened a door into a world I knew
virtually nothing about. Using an approachable and engaging
narrative, the book deftly explores the families, educating
non-Indian readers without talking down to them and respecting
the Indian culture and heritage at the book's core. The book
tells such an interesting story about the time and place in
which we live," opines Jeffrey Goldfarb, writer, New
York City.
Says Mitra, "In the late 19th century, tourists descended
upon Edison to gawk at its Christmas lights displays. Today,
thousands of Indians from all over the United States arrive
in the same bedroom community to celebrate their own festivals
of lights and colours. Suburban Sahibs attempts to answer
the question of how and why they arrived - and how Edison,
once again, might be the community that has shown us the future."
"I am a combination of all my environment"
Excerpts of an interview:
Is the book a work of fiction or are
the characters real ones with real names?
This is a narrative non-fiction book. The subjects' names
are real. No names were changed.
What inspired you to write this book?
I think my reportage and writing on South Asians stem mainly
from two places: a desire to help people better understand
the subcontinent and its diverse diaspora, and a desire to
better understand myself, my family and where we came from.
I started this book in the spring of 2000 as a graduate student
at Columbia University with a nebulous nugget of an idea:
to write about South Asians in the United States. It wasn't
until my spring break, though, that I ventured into the suburbs
of New Jersey and met the subjects and found the place in
which to tell a story not just of South Asians, but of the
America we have become. I'm trying to tell a story of how
America has changed, how the American dream remains elusive
for many, how the faces of South Asian immigration are diverse
and include people across class.
Why do you think this book is important?
This book could've been set in a lot of places. Immigrants
have transformed America, often forming clusters that debunk
the notion of and need for assimilation. I hope newcomers
and old-timers alike read this book to better understand each
other.
Is the book influenced by the experience
of your own family in any way?
Definitely. They say all books have an element of autobiography
and this is no exception. I relied on a lot of my own memories
of New Jersey and of being an Indian kid to tell this story.
I also tried to put myself in the shoes of the immigrant more
often and see the world through his eyes.
As a South Asian yourself living in
the US did you undergo any identity crisis ever?
For sure. My identity is an evolving one that has taken me
from wanting to be a White suburban teenager who wore only
GAP to a bohemian desi who donned flowing skirts and scarves
to a tight-shirt-wearing club-going desi diva who shook to
Bhangra and Hip Hop. Now I'm a combination of all of my environments:
Assamese, mainstream Indian and mainstream American. I pride
myself on being chameleon-like and able to adjust to the people
I interact with.
As a first-time writer, how satisfied
are you with your own writing?
Gosh, that's a hard question. I think writing is always in
need of improvement, mine
included. I am proud of the style and some turns of phrase
in my work but expect my writing, like my identity, will continue
to evolve.
If you are to write another book,
would it be yet another on the immigrant experience?
Perhaps. I am tinkering with doing a book on going back to
my family's rural roots in Assam. It's a part of the world
so few know of.
What is the impact of the book so
far? How did the families react?
I've been overwhelmed and thrilled that mainstream media outlets
have really showcased the book, including the New York Times.
The families still keep in touch with me, so I guess it couldn't
have been all that bad.
Elaborate a little on the central
characters.
The Kothari family represents the immigrant story that could
have a happy ending -- except they want more. Through Pradip
Kothari and his bid for office, I try to highlight how hard
it remains for immigrants to penetrate politics. The Patel
family, after more than a decade here, still feel the day-to-day
struggle to make it; there's a sense that they've been wronged
by the version of America that lured them here. And the Sarmas
really thought they had encountered something too good to
be true: limo ride from the airport, expense-paid hotel stay,
combined income of more than six figures. Of course, they
were right. The economic downturn showed them just how tenuous
and welcome their place in America was. That's an important
part of the book - how the economy has had everything to do
with immigration.
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