warning: contains tremendous amounts of sympathyredsoxjd18August 3 2005, 17:57:33 UTC
welcome back, ms. amulya! i couldn't know how you feel more...
i have to say, when i go back and visit my family and suffer the heat and dehyrdation of spending the day in agra just to come back to the house and swim through monsoon floods, i know exactly how you feel. it's so hard to be there and think of your friends drinking clean water out of a refridgerator in air conditioning and wonder why you weren't born just american in the first place. and then you go and feel all guilty because you really do love where you come from and are proud to be indian, but after so much exposure to america, the indian in you is almost unrecognizable. i understand what you mean about being anxious to get on a plane and go back, and the comfort of arriving home again that made even my parents say "i really prefer living in the u.s." you have to wonder whether or not our kids will consider themselves indian at all after the confusion this generation feels.
if you haven't already, i want to suggest that you read the book "the namesake" by jhumpa lahiri. it's about a boy who goes through the same sort of ordeal as the american son of indian immigrants, and after i read it i finally felt understood, like someone else out there sees the awkward clashing of cultures the same way i do. it's a wonderful book and i think you could get a lot out of it.
anyway, sorry for my long rant, welcome back and i hope you are glad to be home :) hopefully i'll see you before i leave! have a great rest of your summer.
i have to say, when i go back and visit my family and suffer the heat and dehyrdation of spending the day in agra just to come back to the house and swim through monsoon floods, i know exactly how you feel. it's so hard to be there and think of your friends drinking clean water out of a refridgerator in air conditioning and wonder why you weren't born just american in the first place. and then you go and feel all guilty because you really do love where you come from and are proud to be indian, but after so much exposure to america, the indian in you is almost unrecognizable. i understand what you mean about being anxious to get on a plane and go back, and the comfort of arriving home again that made even my parents say "i really prefer living in the u.s." you have to wonder whether or not our kids will consider themselves indian at all after the confusion this generation feels.
if you haven't already, i want to suggest that you read the book "the namesake" by jhumpa lahiri. it's about a boy who goes through the same sort of ordeal as the american son of indian immigrants, and after i read it i finally felt understood, like someone else out there sees the awkward clashing of cultures the same way i do. it's a wonderful book and i think you could get a lot out of it.
anyway, sorry for my long rant, welcome back and i hope you are glad to be home :) hopefully i'll see you before i leave! have a great rest of your summer.
your fellow american-born-confused-desi,
priya
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