Convene to Discuss Problem
NEW YORK — Indian filmmakers, authors, dancers and other artists gathered Monday at the Asian American Writer’s Workshop to discuss the community’s ongoing obsession with arranged marriage and food.
The idea for the meeting, which attracted the who’s who of artists in the Indian diaspora, was borne out of the anger and frustration author Lara Mookhey-Schmid felt after thumbing through Sonia Prasad’s newly released The Exotic Arranged Marriage Spices Club at Barnes and Noble.
“Arranged, Re-Arranged, Aloo Gobi and Me, My Vegan Arranged Marriage, Mistress of Spices, I could go on,†Mookhey-Schmid said. “I noticed that desi artists are using food and marriage as culture symbols over and over again. It’s a cop out, and it’s getting old.â€
Mookhey-Schmid’s recent book, This Book is Not About Indian Food and Does Not Involve Arranged Marriages, was shortlisted for the American Book Award. The award instead went to Farha Mirza’s book, My Chicken Tikka Masala Marriage: It Was Arranged!
Meeting attendees were not shy about expressing their views on the food and marriage issue.
“The Exotic Arranged Marriage Spices Club is an intertextual study of how arranged marriage is enacted in non-Indian, non-Hindu spaces,” said NYU English professor Manorama Chugh. “Unfortunately, that’s all it is.”
Others are not so diplomatic.
“I’ve read this crap twenty times before,” said UCLA history professor Vinay Pal. “Enough!”
Participants acknowledged the growing problem, and decided to place a moratorium on weddings and certain foods.
“Arranged marriages are definitely out,” said Laila Ranveer, a filmmaker and meeting facilitator. Foods that made the list included tamarind, rice, dal, spices, the word “masala,” and fish (only for Bengalis). Participants also agreed that characters in their works could no longer longingly remember their mother’s/aunty’s/grandma’s/maid’s homemade cooking.
Sonia Prasad, however, was unfazed by criticism that she is focusing on arranged marriage because it’s a safe topic in ethnic literature.
“Perhaps my focus on arranged marriage is a bit too much for you, but that’s probably because of your Eurocentric way of perceiving my culture,” she said. “Shit, all Indians talk about is marriage. What’s wrong with making a few extra bucks off of it?”
South Asian audiences so far have negative reactions to her book. The most ardent fans, for some reason, are unanimously American females who are not of Indian origin.
“Wow, it’s so fascinating to learn about the exploitative and repressive means which the Indians use to control women,” said Lynn Babcock, a publishing editor. “Oh, and I really do love Indian food – so spicy!”
Note: Many thanks to the anonymous tipster on the newstab for the tip, and to my buddy Ansour for the inspiration.
salil,
heard of this one?
my overactive imagination kept me up for nights with nightmares taken from her rather uninspiring prose. And the whole book is about olfactory sensations, who knew?
we were forced to read it in college as the prof knew the father of the author. tragic.
ha! I HAVE read that book. It’s…well…yeah. Kind of painful to read.
I was hoping for a really sink-your-teeth-into-it kind of book, though…something huge and epic and personal at the same time.
LOVE this thread. (I like disecting desi-lit)…
While on the topic- Anyone heard of South Asian American Memoirs? I think part of what so bad about the desi-lit genre is their attempt to fictionalize their diaspora experience…
I like Lahiri AND Divakaruni. And Kiran Desai’s Award winning book, but not the first one. Don’t like Rushdie. Didn’t like Namesake (but did read it all, unlike some of you). Not a fan of God of Small Things, and can’t figure out why so many people are.
Nice spoof, Naina! I had a lot of fun dissecting the various composite character names you created 🙂
Professor Saab, Babcock appears only as an editor in Naina’s piece. Did you mean Prof. Manorama Chugh, who says: “The Exotic Arranged Marriage Spices Club is an intertextual study of how arranged marriage is enacted in non-Indian, non-Hindu spaces” 🙂
Her name appears to be based on a Manorama that you blogged about once, and a real Prof Chugh at NYU.
And Lara Mookhey-Schmid’s name is a composite of Lara Dutta and Yukta Mookhey. OK, that was easy, except I’m not sure which famous hyphenated surname is also being alluded to.
Prof Vinay Pal – the name is a barely concealed allusion to Prof Vinay Lal, of course.
This is something i’ve noticed – if you like Lahiri’s “interpreter of maladies” than you’ll dislike “god of small things”; i loved “god of small things” and really dislike “interpreter”, except the last story.
How about “The inbetween world of Vikram Lall” by…MJ Vassanji; The book is about a South Asian Kenyan. Really enjoyed it and partially b/c it introduced me to a community I know little about.
Excellent work, chachaji! Bravo! 🙂 Actually, there is no reference with Schmid — I just threw that in there for kicks, as a metaphor for the multi-faceted identities of artists in the Indian diaspora. (ok now i can’t turn my inner bs track off.)
.
this qualifies as huge, epic and personal.
However it doesn’t seem to be readily available and i had to get a copy smuggled from da roadz in E9.
sadly it does not qualify as honest, unequivocating or satisfying at all. a good read though, if you ever want to get into a tiger supporter’s head.
Mookhey-Schmid’s recent book, This Book is Not About Indian Food and Does Not Involve Arranged Marriages, was shortlisted for the American Book Award.
Arrr, Mookhey-Schmid, methinks you’ve been hanging out at the Pirate Shop.
Bravo, Naina.
“My Chicken Tikka Masala Marriage: It Was Arranged!” is a more believable title than “The Hindi-Bindi Club”. :/ And Shobhan Bantwal’s site has to be a spoof: my thoughts on a variety of subjects including Arranged Marriage, Dowry System, Karma, Dharma, Indian culture, Desi life in these United States, Literature, Indian cooking, Gardening and just about anything… A contemporary story set in exotic India.
Is anyone familiar with diasporic poetry? (It tends to be ok at staying away from spices, but the occassional goat-milking and coconut-water-drinking does creep in.) Any poet recommendations?
I found this on YouTube.
It’s about a Indian woman who marries her dildo. How’s that for orginality?
This is the most twisted indian chick on the planet and if you check out more video’s from her you will see what I mean!
And there is no nudity, but dont check it out if your at work! A dildo is still a dildo, even if your having a argument with it.
he’s/she’s referring to this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sh7Oh1wmCh4
Shi@, I forgot to put a link up!!
Thank’s Muralimannered.
That video is wack. Can you provide more links to her videos?
We are looking for someone to be our spokesperson in India for the “ananda bindu” and I’m not yet that bold or liberated to feel comfy giving seminars and demos of it. She would be perfect – desi and all.
Love her whole Indian bahu routine in the beginning. That’s the demographic we are seeking to market the product to.
But I don’t think this is the thread to discuss that. Maybe the C-shock one.
Yea, the clip is crappy. Im not saying it’s any good or is a piece of art, but it still is a Indian woman being different. It’s just shocking. This girl must do all type’s of hallucinogens!
I liked it. Thought it was funny.
Basically just a girl being a funny girl.
Got more?
How could Lahiri be better than Divakaruni? I finished “Interpreter” and felt like I just went thru “Arranged Marriages Part 2” except with positive male characters.
Also, Red Snapper – if I remember correctly, Lahiri had references to mustard oil on lips in “Interpreter”. I was confused by this and had discussion w/a Bengali friend who confirmed the excessive use of mustard oil and tumeric in Bengali cooking.
Regarding South Asian diasporic poetry, I think it’s doomed too. Ok, I just submitted 3 poems for an anthology (editor is non-Asian). The one that got selected has sari, vermillion, shakti, and all those “exotic” terms (no recipe, but someone’s thinking about food). The rejected poetry dealt with universal themes such as life, birth, a shakespeare quote about sex.. those were politely returned.
What is a struggling writer to do? Feed the stereotypes and face the wrath of Sepia Mutineers? Or hang in there til the exotic is mainstream.
BTW – I’m finding this “Hindi-Bindi” title rather belittling.. is it just me or does it sound like something a mean 4th grader would’ve said to you??
Ashi — did you identify your ethnicity when submitting? Is the anthology South-Asian or Asian-American focussed?
Great topic, Naina 🙂
I think what bothers me the most about a lot of the desi lit coming out is that it’s not really literature, it’s just junk. It’s similar to chick lit that way – no substance, just a lot of crap. I don’t so much mind that a lot of it is writing on “the diasporic experience,” I just wish it actually did that. If stories reflected one fraction of the complexity and diversity of the diaspora instead of giving into stereotypical representations, they could be more interesting. At least, I hope they would be.
?
I don’t know nearly enough about contemporary diasporic poetry, but a lot of my friends like Shailja Patel. I’m more divided – I like some of her work, but some of it is a bit derivative for my taste.
“Oh, and I really do love Indian food – so spicy!â€
Right on! That’s starting to become a pet peeve of mine. It’s such a one-dimensional way of looking at it. It’s like saying, “I love Indian people – so brown!”
“We have seven different words for spicy, for different types of spiciness, biatch!” or some variant of it is my usual response. Although I can’t think of seven different words, I really like to perpetuate that myth.
You snowcloner!
Some brown poets to check out:
Suresh Dalal Vijay Seshadri (awesome!)
and, from the ode skoo (like turn of the 20th century and pre-Partition): Joseph Furtado Nissim Ezekiel (not sure if I got the spelling right)
Another unfortunate trend in today’s literature is the Western appetite for (poorly written) intimate novels that cast sweeping shadows on these exotic and troubled cultures; God of Small Things, Shame, and Kite Runner come to mind. I’d add Rushdie, but I think that’s more stylistic disagreement than out and out bad writing. Naina, do let me know if the Workshop will convene to discuss this proliferation of self-exoticization through the airing of dirty laundry.
MM (57):
You have to bring it to the next DC meetup. Rumor has it the next one’s already in the planning. I’m hoping it’ll be on a day I can attend; the meetups are right up there with visits to see the nephew in terms of joy production. A potential good book out of it, too? I’m effin’ giddy with anticipation.
Espressa (72):
Wow. You thought Kite Runner was poorly written? Damn.
Well, hell, if you’re in DC, please come to a Kahani workshop; we’d love to have another passionate writer in the mix.
You know, the thing that bugged me most about TGOST was that it read more like a Victorian novel than a truly modern novel. It was so formal. There’s no room for humor in very formal writing, and even tragedy gets muted into something more akin to spectacle than pain. The brownz really seem to buy into this style of writing, though it drives me nuts. I like honest (and yeah, probably somewhat unsubtle) writing, but hey, I’m Punjabi. So whatever. Don’t make fun of me, or I’ll kick your ass.
🙂
I think the quirkiest, most bizarrely South Asian book in recent memory was not written by a South Asian at all. I refer, of course, to “The Life of Pi,” by Yann Martel.
And I really like Michael Ondaatje, too.
Camille, finally someone has turned the discussion towards the idea of good writing, which is far more important than the actual subject of the writing. It seems generally agreed upon that the quality of desi writing these days simply isn’t that good. Blame the market for pushing for brown stories to be told, but there’s no reason that tired old subjects of marriage and mangoes can’t be merged with talent.
A nice collection that reminded me of some good desi-writing across a longer period of time is called Away: The Indian Writer as an Expatriate edited by Amitava Kumar. It’s not all perfect stuff, but you get a good sampling of a tired topic (exile and identity) engaged creatively and effectively by good writers.
Salil, you mentioned the writing circle on another thread. Would love to take part when next in DC (and to figure out a way to participate from abroad).
You have your desi Dostoevsky. He’s Vikram Seth.
I think the quirkiest, most bizarrely South Asian book in recent memory was not written by a South Asian at all. I refer, of course, to “The Life of Pi,” by Yann Martel.
When the hindu, catholic and muslim meet in front of Pi’s house to argue in front of his religiously uninterested father, it was hilarious. Possibly the best Hindu-Christian-Muslim dialogue that I have ever read.
Yeah, the sad thing is that the discussion in the post is probably happening somewhere right now.
Ah, the pain of it all. I think we should add tiny, wizened old servants and eunuchs to the list of subjects being banned.
Oh, it burned, burned my eyes to read that convo! But it was hella funny, well done 🙂
72: You’re the first I’ve seen who’s not going ga-ga over The Kite Runner. Yeah, it’s a good first book, but needlessly melodramatic and filmy.
Rushdie is a flawless genius if taken one or two at a time. In larger doses, he becomes a pompous crazy with a limited vocab and range of sensibilities.
Agree with #74 about The God of Small Things being a century behind the times. It’s pretty great otherwise, though.
76: Oh man, no. The Suitable Boy is the most soporific soap opera masquerading as a 1500-page tome that I have ever subject myself to. The Golden Gate was getting at something, if it didn’t make the use of rhyming dictionary so painfully obvious at every line. Too scarred now to try his other works.
Re: Lahiri — The Interpreter of Maladies is above-average on all counts… pretty non-descript (no great flaws either) except for the hype. Haven’t got to The Namesake, but the excerpts I’ve read are a little more promising.
The Inheritance of Loss has periods of brilliant insight into character. Manages to make incisive commentaries on human perceptions of class differences, communalism, and the immigrant experience. Unfortunately, the plot is weak, and the narrative doesn’t rise above its characters.
I refrain from commenting on works with blatantly annoying titles (hint: Divakaruni), or tasteless titles combined with idiotic cover art. Books with headless sari-clad women on the covers should be banned.
That dildo girl is funny! This sequel she’s done is even wilder, cruder, and funnier, with a very outrageous and hilarious visual punchline — but it’s strictly NSFW chaps, don’t watch it if you’re offended by brown girlz with senses of humour about their sexuality — Bitch – Dildo story 2
I wonder if she writes funny stories too.
Can there be too much discussion of arranged marriage? Absolutely.
Can there be too much discussion of food? Never.
OK, really, I think that the difference in quality between Lahiri and Divakaruni’s writing is self evident, but if you can’t see it, that’s cool, subjectivity and all that. But I’m curious about your line about ‘postive male characters’? That’s interesting.
I think of the guy having an affair in one of the stories, the chap in another who hurts his wife by telling them about their dead baby out of spite at the end of the first story. But the thing is, these characters are complex — despite their actions, we empathise with them. This is a sign of the sophistication of Lahiri’s characterisation. To reduce it to a gender warfare battle of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ depictions of men means we don’t see them as individuated humans first and foremost, depicted with insight and subtlety on the page — that’s Divakaruni’s plodding prose and stories summed up I suppose. Or it could also be a sign that when male Indian characters are depicted in fiction as Lahiri does — complex, conflicted, contradictory — with the Lahiri touch of empathy and sympathy and insight, it confuses, because life and literature is a game of either demonising or blockheadedly stereotyping this group or the other, and we believe literarture most valuable when it affirms stereotypes or judgment (which is the appeal of much of this kind of mango fiction)
In that case, Lahiri shines even brighter.
By the way — best of luck with your poetry.
2 points:
I think Divakaruni is not ABD. She is BBD.
2nd: Maybe I am the only person who reads this blog and watches Zee TV. But all Zee TV soaps are based on arranged marriage, and named something that has to do with marriage ceremony. So maybe Indian society is obsessed with arranged marriages and it’s okay to have it reflected in the diasporic literature.
RS – It’s hard for me to argue the merits of these books now since it’s been 10+ years since I read “Arranged Marriage” and few years for “Interpreter”. I remember I liked Divakaruni’s book b/c she chose different voices – the MIL who resented the DIL, American girl who was dating an Indian guy. I liked “Interpreter” b/c of the last story where Lahiri stepped it up with the male immigrant POV.
But, “Arranged Marriage” men were very controlling or weak or just not likeable. I think she did get better in her later books. I actually liked “Unknown Errors” for honing in on better topics (i.e., widow living w/son in US)
As far as writing goes, I think Lahiri is detail heavy. Every single detail is spelled out – what they wore, what they ate, what dressing was used to toss the salad (esp in Namesake).
“and we believe literarture most valuable when it affirms stereotypes or judgment (which is the appeal of much of this kind of mango fiction)”
Bingo! We went along with our lives for years feeling isolated and finally there are books that talk about conservative parents/funny first name/arrange marriage hanging over them, immigrant experience, etc.
But it’s all the POV. I loved GOST while a friend from Kerala found the descriptions of India absolutely mundane. Meanwhile, Namesake seems trite and typical to me, yet it’s fascinating to others.
BTW, Rushdie’s writing style blows my mind. It drives me nuts to read it, but I’m in awe.
It’s so interesting when I read these comments. This discussion came up a while back about the whole mango-chutney-arranged marriage-my daddy never held me when I was a little girl – he never touched my mother which makes me surprised I was born and then he ran off with all of our money and is now our gatekeeper. But when a book like “Londonstani” comes out, the critcisms still flew even though it had to be one of the most uniqe entries onto the desi-lit scene. Sometimes I think desi’s never want to stop being cynics and just want to trash everything everyone else attempts.
What were the criticisms of Londonstani that you saw Vinny?
I’ll clarify. It wasn’t heavily criticised but when you hear people wanting something different and when it does come out, it seems like the masses still can’t be satisfied. Malkani’s book was annoying with the text-message speak and his liberal use of Punjabi in the book. I almost didn’t read it but then decided that I am my own best critic and I was shocked as to how many people missed the point. It’s probably one of the few books that actually made me laugh out loud. I started reading desi-lit almost decade ago and as a Punjabi guy, I tell you it wasn’t common. None of the guys I knew actually cared because it was primarily chick-lit. It is honestly marketing, the mango-chutney novels are the in-thing and the publishers spend most of their energy on those. For those of you truly looking for something different. I recommend “Londonstani”, “Maximum City”, and “Sacred Games”. Or even “Shantaram” although it’s a bit long.
Well, I thought Londonstani was fresh, but I had problems with it, however, I remember thinking it was good that it was published, as well as Nirpal Dhaliwal’s Tourism (which I also had issues with), simply because at last different types of novels were being published from British Desis — which is good. I think most other people I spoke to about Londonstani, felt the same way. Even if they didnt like it, they are least said it’s good that something different from the norm is being published.
if you’re looking for a different take on the arranged marriage story, check out “the validity of love” in Rishi Reddi‘s book Karma. has anyone read vikram chandra’s Sacred Games? Not diaspora lit, but just wanted to know if anyone had read it- i’m in the middle of it right now.
“Maximum City” is non-fiction, or at least purports to be. In any case these books offer something different. Does anyone know of good desi fiction from apartheid era S. Africa ? The N. American desi experience has always been uninteresting to me
I think the quirkiest, most bizarrely South Asian book in recent memory was not written by a South Asian at all. I refer, of course, to “The Life of Pi,” by Yann Martel.
Very true. And you really can’t beat a book where the main character is named after a pool!
In defense of Rushdie, I haven’t read too many children’s books that are as entertaining as Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
For a sample of diasporic South Asian writers, check out Shyam Selvadurai’s collection, Story-wallah. He’s pulled in the heavy hitters (Rushdie, Lahiri), but also writers from Trinidad, Sri Lanka, Guyana, and Malaysia.
I’m still reading this, but what I’ve read is just wonderful.
I’m waiting for a desi Philip Roth myself. Someone who can develop a compelling character and take him through life in a sequence of novels. Someone who can deal with the complexity of settled diasporic life, the permanent otherness, and also address the tension in the diaspora-vs-home population relationship, the generational complexity, all this through an autobiographical prism. Produce work, in short, that is “huge, epic, and personal” regularly. Such an author will come, I think, when the third desi-in-America generation matures, though that may not be necessary. We’ll also need a desi Woody Allen, of course, to produce films addressing these themes, and compete for uber-auteur status with the desi Philip Roth, spoof him in his movies, and etc. 🙂
Do you think a Woody Allen type person could develop in India? I figure a neurotic germophobe would probably pass out from fear just trying to cross the street..the desh does not suffer delicate types lightly.
This may be true, but the Woody Allen type that I had in mind arises as an comic ‘interpreter’ of ‘maladies’ in settled diasporic life. That apart, I never attributed any of his, to me, essential aspects to his germo-phobia. I could be wrong.
Would his clarinet playing be an essential aspect? Perhaps our Woody Allen knockoff can play nadaswaram instead? I don’t have the time to elaborate, but I feel that his type of angst and self deprecation requires a society with significant surplus in order to develop (and be appreciated by at least 10% of the audience).
Vikram Chandra did a reading of Sacred Games at the Festival of Books here this weekend. My sister and I sat, but left after 10 minutes because we were bored out of our minds. maybe it would have been better if he were reading it in a more engaging way, but it was so monotonous. I now can’t fathom the thought of reading 500+ pages of that dialog.
I too LOVE the book Story-wallah. Another book in a long list that I lost to someone…I wish I had that one back (the book, not the guy).
His name is Vikram Seth.
Sometimes I think desi’s never want to stop being cynics and just want to trash everything everyone else attempts.
I think Vinny J makes a bit of a valid point… it’s one thing to whinge about just about every book published in the last 15 years, it’s another to take a complex view of things (which, don’t get me wrong, a lot of commenters have). As a professor of mine once said, and which I find to be good advice most of the time, “I don’t care what you’re against, tell me what you’re for.
Not everyone is going to like everything, but some of the trashtalk about Lahiri and others is pretty weak. While Naina’s original satirical riff was great, I’d actually really be interested in having a Mutineer capture an interview with Lahiri or Divakaruni or another writer and actually explore these issues, rather than just slamming The Interpreter of Maladies as derivative and calling it “Arranged Marriage, Part II.” In other words, if Jhumpa-di were in the room, would we choose to express differently the shortcomings/merits of her writing?
Speaking of the desi Woody Allen…. it’s not the Jews who are the only ones who seem obsessed with Schadenfreude. 😉
Taz, maybe it would have been better if he were reading it in a more engaging way, but it was so monotonous. This might have to do with Indian intonation. Indian intonation of English is different from that of Americans.
I haven’t read “Sacred Games”, but I absolutely lowed “Love and Longing in Bombay”. Do not judge a book by the author reading 🙂