Asian Indians in America: Two Worlds in One Place

Released in 2006, The Namesake was directed my Mira Nair, the Indian director of award winning works such as So Far From India and India Cabaret, along with others, like Salaam Bombay!, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988, won the Camera D'Or, and the Prix du Publique at the Cannes Film Festival and 25 other international awards. Nair is known for delving into the reality of the lives of Indians living in the United States. Of her work, she says, "I like to be unabashed, which is an Indian trait, both emotionally and visually. It's important to have a circus to play with."

Her 'circus' plays out in full in The Namesake, as the film takes the audience on a journey from 1970's India to present day New York. The arranged marriage of Ashoke and Ashima gives viewers unfamiliar with Indian customs a feel for what it was like-a quick engagement, a sumptuous wedding, followed by a plane trip halfway around the world. It's apparent that even after raising two children and living in the US for more than two decades, both Ashoke and Ashima, who were both born, raised, and educated in India, are not completely at ease in American society.

Like most Indian families who've moved to the States, the Gangulis associated themselves predominately with other transplanted Indians-mostly Bengalis, as they themselves are Bengali. Even as their children grow up 'Americanized,' they hold fast to the traditions of home. Their children, Gogol or Nikhil and Sonia, behave as typical Indian-American teens and young adults. Both date non-Indian people, something that is not well-received in most households. Gogol's relationship diminishes after his father's untimely death, whereas Sonia marries her non-Indian boyfriend, who is accepted by the family easily. Gogol marries a Bengali woman prior his father's death-a marriage which ends shortly after Ashoke's death because of her infidelity. This, along with the death of her husband, prompts Ashima to return to India, where she resumes her musical career and plans to split her time between India and America, where her children remain.

This film was created for a specific purpose-to exemplify the differences between the lives of Asian Indians residing in India and in the United States. It deals with the cultural clashes and breaks in a realistic way-which shows the 'outsider' why some Asian Indians living in America have trouble adjusting to life in the US. It also depicts the way families change when they are removed from their familiar environments. In this way, it allows non-Indians to peer into the lives of our friends and neighbors without actually having to eavesdrop. These aspects of the film, along with the director's choice of cast members heavily affected my decision to view it. I'm particularly fond of Kal Penn-especially for his role in this film.