Bharati Mukherjee : The American Dreamer

plats,

I beg your pardon? Could you point to anywhere in Mukherjee`s career where she needed her husband to ``social climb``? Was it when she was accepted into Iowa`s Writer`s Workshop? The publication of her short stories and Jasmine? Her various tenures?

What if she, like many desi women artists married someone not white or Muslim? Or from a less moneyed socio-eco background-and I can assure this happens all the time-more now.

What is it about desi women chosing whom they marry and being successful in their profs that is so galling for certain desi men?

As for your last ``comment``, go ahead and rustle up some new nicks...I`ll provide the hay-go to town...

Amit,

I`m thinking of two stories from The Middleman; one where an Indian woman in a sari attends a Mamet play with her Eastern European lover. The pivotal moment in that piece is where one of Mamet`s characters refers to Indian women as something the cat dragged in. The rest of the piece is unflinching.

The second piece I remember is told from an Italian American woman narrator`s pov. Her lover is an Afghani refugee. The setting is Thanksgiving with her family, the men who have no idea how to contextualize this man`s scars, the civil war in Afghanistan, the US`s role there, the family he left behind, his makeshift Afghani community, the fact that he was a prof in Afghanistan and now is employed in hard labor, what ``masculinity`` is.

Sure sounds like a lot of ``desi self hate``....

Amit #11,

Yes, we all agree that nikki is the modern day oracle of early desi immigrant
experience. However, taking a peek at secondary sources of information, like
the large body of desi immigrant literature by people not in nikki`s social circle,
may be valuable as well.

Re:subroto#9

Check out Nikki777`s response. He has grown up here and he knows exactly the attitude of earlier immigrants to the US. They thought they had won some kind of lottery to be able to get out of India and live with the goras. They looked down on everything desi, even as they tried desperately to fit in. When they failed to fit in, they came back to ``rediscover`` their roots with their tail between their legs.

The newer immigrants dont think it is such a big deal to live and work with goras and succeed here. If necessary, living in India is pretty good as well. We don`t mind keeping a foot in both places.

Subroto #9,

Nah, we don`t need to really know her socially to make personal remarks. The fact
that she didn`t go to an IIT is reason enough for disdain. And as for marrying a
gora - we all recognize that as a certain sign of cultural insecurity; only social climbers
do it.

Aap bhi....

Saminasha #6,

``So it doesnt surprise me that most of the squeals on this board are from men..``

Would you be willing to retract that statement if I can gather 5 women who squeal
just as hard (perhaps harder) ? I know it must give you a warm, fuzzy feeling to
take potshots at men in general, but you really need to work on constructing a logical
argument. Often, your arguments are not even wrong.

In addition to Subroto`s and Kaal`s comments, why does Mukherjee get this crap while Naipaul (who has written only two books I can read without need a shower for the slime of self loathing-Enigma of Arrival and House for Mr. Biswas) gets accolades?

Again, women writers are shams, disconnected, whores, transgressors, etc., while male desi writers are ``masterful``, ``witty`` and ``worldy``...

Amit
``Bharati Mukherjee belongs to the older generation of desi immigrants who had no confidence in their capabilities and were on a perpetual, unsuccessful mission to fit into American society`` I thought she was a fairly successful writer apart from being Professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley.

So is it Bharti Mukherjee`s fault is that she is not from IIT (or other engineering/science background). Have you actually read her books? ``The casual nature of her marriage process `` Bhai sahib I am assuming that you are a family member and this was a hot topic at home. Incidentally the casual marriage in 1963 is now a 41 year old marriage.

``The net result is someone who appears phony, pretentious, confused and basically a misfit in either society`` how do you know that? Do you move in the same circles as her?

We could be more understanding. The world was a different place when Bharati Mukherjee came to the US.

Indians of earlier generations lived more isolated, uncertain lives than we do today. They were cut off from the homeland. They couldn`t find Indian food in their cities. They rarely had the pleasure of hearing a good word spoken about India. Many were repeatedly humiliated because ignorant, simple-minded, and often even the benevolently prejudiced semites couldn`t make head or tail of the `exotic` Indian religions.

Bharati Mukherjee was here in those days. Even if she did not want it to, the shingle hanging outside her doors clearly said `Indian.` All said and done, she was/is a path-breaker. We have benefitted from her. She deserves our respect.

Lovely picture, btw.

Zeynab,

Thank you for the interview!

A lot of desi immigrants take for granted the work done by these first waves of Asian American writers. In my memory Mukherji was one of the first diasporic desi writers to look at class, labor, gender, immigration and Indo-Caribbeans in her novel Jasmine. The Middleman, her book of short stories lays down the tracks for writers like Gish Jen and Chang Rae Lee. In fact, some of the stories in the Middleman are filled with the early and uncomfortable negotiations of Afghanis, Indians, Phillipinas and even Anglo men with each other.

It seems Mukherjee is less interested in the comfort zones that many desis require when they pass thru Newark; bubble wrap for the mind, heart and soul. So it doesnt surprise me that most of the squeals on this board are from men, who probably wouldnt understand Nella Larsen`s Passing or Jean Toomer`s Cane if the Cliff Notes came attached.

Looking forward to more work from you!

Re:nikki7777#3

Well said!! I totally agree with you.

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Amit,

I will have to disagree with you. Bharati Mukherjee is entitled to think herself as an American and she may also dislike the hyphenation. But then why was she participating at an Asian-American Writer’s workshop when she disapproves of the term Asian-American.

Zeynab,

Bharati Mukherjee belongs to the older generation of desi immigrants who had no confidence in their capabilities and were on a perpetual, unsuccessful mission to fit into American society. You see the confusing urge to go home one day while at the same time staying back and marrying a gora guy. The casual nature of her marriage process shows that it is a crude attempt to force herself into the American society. You can sense the desperate urge in her to be known as a American while trying to leverage her ethnic background for commercial benefit. The net result is someone who appears phony, pretentious, confused and basically a misfit in either society.

Today`s desi immigrants, the IIT/IIM guys for example, come to America and lead their life on their own terms. They have the confidence of knowing that they are good and they bring value to the table. Hence they do not neet validation from anyone. They have no conflicts on having divided loyalties to both India and America. They study in top institutions and get employed at top dollar by big companies or universities. In their careers, they do not mind keeping an international outlook and work elsewhere including in India. They do not feel any unusual pangs of cultural confusion doing all this. They get married on their own terms, socialize with whoever they feel like and lead life without worrying about what anyone thinks. I have noticed that Americans also tend to respect people who are real and unpretentious and who have the confidence about the value they bring to society.