Portrayal of Women Protagonists in the Selected Novels of Bharati Mukherjee

Bharati Mukherjee is a famous Indian born American non-fiction writer, short story writer and journalist. She is one of the well-known novelists of Indian Diaspora. Within a really short creative time, she has achieved enviable position in the field of English literature. In her works, she has very well depicted the Indian immigrant experience of her women characters both in her novels and short stories. In her works, she talks about the lives of Indian women immigrants in the U.S.A and their journey of transformation and adjustment of their lives and personalities. She tries to explore the themes of immigration as well as transformation. She portrays the various phases of her characters such as the phase of expatriation, the phase of transition and phase of immigration. She very well depicts how the cultural clash or cultural conflict between the west and the east leads to the psychological crisis in the minds of her women characters. In her novels, she has given importance to the feministic perspective of her women characters. Her women characters are the protagonist and hero of the novels. She has tried to portray how her female characters sacrifice their dreams, hopes, desires, wishes, what the various problems, fear, torture they face, and how they finally do their best to overcome from all the hurdles. She has drawn her female characters in various situations and circumstances.

Ethnic Organizations and Adaptation: A Case Study of Indian Immigrant Engineers in the US

The United States has witnessed waves of immigration throughout its history, with the current immigration policies regulated by the reforms enacted under President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. Immigrants now come from all over the world, with China and India supplying the largest numbers in science and engineering (S&E) fields. Although the US is seen as coping rather successfully with immigration from Europe, that is not the case with Asian immigration. Assimilation theorists have long argued that Asian immigrants face problems in adapting to the American culture and lifestyles; in contrast, multicultural theorists have hailed cultural diversity brought by Asian immigrants. Ethnic organizations can play an integral role in Asian immigrants’ adaptation and integration in the United States. Utilizing 40 in-depth interviews of Indian immigrant engineers working in the US technology companies, the present study examines if they belong to ethnic associations. If yes, why do they feel a need to belong to these associations? If no, why not? It further sheds light on their need to belong to such associations. The findings show that the need to belong to Indian associations varied with the stage of their lives, which can be depicted as a U-shaped curve.

A Diasporic Study of the Tamil Movie - Nala Damayanthi

bstract: ‘Nala Damayanthi’ is a Tamil movie, directed by Moulee which was released in the year 2003, starring R. Madhavan, Geetu Mohandas, Anu Hassan, Sriman, Moulee and many others. This movie projects the life and problems of an Indian immigrant who goes to Australia and almost loses everything including his own identity. The movie also represents and reflects some of the issues that an average immigrant would face in a foreign land. Alienation, racial discrimination, loss and lack of identity are some of the prominent issues that are addressed in the movie. Ramji, the protagonist faces quite a lot of differences in Australia yet, he tries hard to fit in and accommodate that culture. But, in spite of all his attempts to change his behaviour and manners, he ultimately remains as an Indian and therefore, he is eventually rejected. Thus, this movie handles diasporic issues of an Indian in Australia. Keywords: Alienation, Diaspora, Racial Discrimination, Lack of Identity, Indian Immigrant

Perceptions of the HPV Vaccine in Indian Immigrant Mothers

Each year, over 14 millions Americans are infected with human papillomavirus, or HPV. Yet, the 2020 US goal is to vaccinate 80% of all adolescents for HPV is over 25% higher than the actual vaccination rate of teens, which was 54.2% in 2019. In California specifically, Asians were found to have the lowest HPV vaccination rates compared to other ethnic groups. When looking at the major Asian subgroups, the Indian American population has grown by 76% between 2000 and 2010 in Santa Clara County. Yet, no previous studies have been conducted about the Indian immigrant population. Thus, this paper explores the following research question: How do Indian immigrant mothers in Santa Clara County, California perceive vaccinating their daughters for HPV? A phenomenological study using one-on-one virtual interviews was conducted using two question frameworks to structure the interview questions: the Socio-Context framework and Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services. Indian immigrant mothers’ were found to significantly prioritize their daughter’s safety. Another notable theme was that there was a strong trust in the overall science of vaccines to keep the daughters safe. Although many mothers believed that the HPV vaccine was a decision solely between the parents and the doctor, some mothers believed that their community would be influenced fairly strongly by the actions of their family and friends regarding vaccinating their children for HPV. Overall, this study examined the HPV vaccine perception in an understudied population, Indian immigrant mothers in California.

Transnational Habitus and Patriarchy in Indian Immigrant Fiction: an Analysis of the Immigrant By Manju Kapur

This major research paper is an analysis of a fictional novel,

Transnational Habitus and Patriarchy in Indian Immigrant Fiction: an Analysis of the Immigrant By Manju Kapur

This major research paper is an analysis of a fictional novel,

Negotiating cultural transmission : Asian Indian immigrant parents and children

The study examines parenting experiences of Asian Indian immigrant parents and their second generation adult children to understand how immigrant families negotiate differences and similarities between cultural values and beliefs within the family and dominant society at large. Participants in the study included seven first generation couples and their adult children who were born and brought up in Canada. Both parents and one child per family were interviewed separately using open ended in-depth interviews. The analysis of the interviews resulted in certain core themes: (1)Contextual factors; (2)Notions of family; and (3)Parenting as a process. The parenting experience of immigrant parents and children embedded within a socio-cultural context where cultural maintenance and cultural adaptation both serve as an important role in the adaptation and adjustment of these families. The study highlights the need for a cultural and developmental perspective to understand experiences in the context of immigration.