Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new book, Queen of Dreams is featured in Newsweek magazine:
Newsweek: What else influenced you [to write Queen of Dreams]?
CBD: The shock of 9/11 and its aftermath. If my novel is about how dreams affect our waking life, this was the other end. What happens in reality is sometimes unbelievable, like a nightmare. Many people felt, “Is this real? This can’t be happening.” When reality takes on that nightmare quality, that shade of the surreal, some people respond with fear and prejudice; they need to blame somebody, to lash out at someone who looks different, who is the “other.” Nationwide, Middle Eastern and South Asian communities became hate-crime victims. Businesses were vandalized, people beaten up—even murdered. Many were afraid to leave their homes. We were advised by mass e-mail, “Don’t wear Indian clothes,” “Don’t go out by yourself,” “Pretend you’re Hispanic,” “Put up an American flag, a GOD BLESS AMERICA sign.”
Of course this will probably be another depressing book by a South Asian author but at least it tackles some new themes.
CBD: …That [9/11] was a tragedy for [Americans of South Asian descent] also—weÂ’d lost people. Then this additional burden—of proving ourselves patriotic—was placed on us because we were “suspicious looking.” It was an injustice to our community at a time when we all needed to come together as Americans. So, the second theme in “Queen of Dreams” is, what does it mean to be American? Does it mean one thing in good times, another in bad? When everythingÂ’s going well, Indians are a model minority—weÂ’re exotic, you take our bindi, our henna, things you like. When things go bad, suddenly, weÂ’re “terrorists”?
thanks abhi for the newsweek link to the interview..interesting interview. the following questions and answers were just odd..
question:What else influenced you? Chitra :The shock of 9/11 and its aftermath. they need to blame somebody, to lash out at someone who looks different, who is the “other.” Nationwide, Middle Eastern and South Asian communities became hate-crime victims. Businesses were vandalized, people beaten up—even murdered. Many were afraid to leave their homes. We were advised by mass e-mail, “DonÂ’t wear Indian clothes,” “DonÂ’t go out by yourself,” “Pretend youÂ’re Hispanic,” “Put up an American flag, a GOD BLESS AMERICA sign.” hmmm……. Is this chitra’s answer an exaggeration or reality ? I dont think any indian was abused after sep11th except one person belonging to sikh community I think in chicago..
I never felt all this after 9’11 . All my american collegues behaved pretty normally and never treated any of us asians this way..may be this is exaggeration
the last question and answer were interesting too.
Question:”WhatÂ’s next? Chitra: The sequel to “The Conch Bearer,” a magical childrenÂ’s novel about a boy, a girl and a magic conch stolen from some Himalayan healers by a sorcerer. The characters are Indian. I explore everyday life through the magic and break down cultural barriers. IÂ’d like children to relate to others who are different. hmmm…. looks like chitra divakaruni is trying to follow the footsteps of harry potter writer and weave yet another harry potter magic story sequel or allauddin magic lamp kinda asian magic stories…
Prakruti, not all desis had as positive an experience as you did. There was a post-9/11 wave of hate incidents directed against folks perceived to be South Asian, Arabs, and/or Muslim. Some of those sentiments were also translated into problematic government practices around policing, immigration, and profiling. For some general background on post-9/11 hate incidents, take a look at two reports: SAALT’s “American Backlash” and the ACLU-NC’s “Caught in the Backlash”.