In 1998 Divakaruni moved from San Francisco to Houston with her husband and two sons. "I always want to connect with women and women's groups," says Chitra. South Asian women's groups such as Sakhi and Manavi are active across America. Some of them offer shelter homes for battered South Asian women. She does not like the idea of separate shelter homes for battered South Asian women. The proponents of such homes believe that many South Asian women are uncomfortable living with other battered women from other cultures.
"Many of these are women who have had very little intercourse with the outside world," says a volunteer. "They needed a sheltered home of their own before they have the courage to interact with the wide world." However, Divakaruni says unless these women learn to adjust to living with other women in a similar plight right from the beginning they will never adjust with others.
Adjustment is not an easy thing. But one should not further isolate these women. By living …show more content…
Most of the stories are about Indian immigrants in the United States. They capture the experience of recent immigrants, mostly from professional classes such as electronic engineers and business people, and also a few from the working class, such as auto mechanics and convenience-store clerks. There are several immigrant brides who are “both liberated and trapped by cultural changes” as Patricia Holt puts it in her “Women Feel Tug of Two Cultures” (1995) and who are struggling to carve out an identity of their own. Divakaruni says the stories deals with issues such as domestic violence, crime, racism, interracial relationships, economic disparity, abortion and divorce. “Marriage in the United States is about finding the ‘right mate’, an attractive person to fulfill one’s fantasies. However, in India, people marry to perpetuate the culture and strengthen family
"Many of these are women who have had very little intercourse with the outside world," says a volunteer. "They needed a sheltered home of their own before they have the courage to interact with the wide world." However, Divakaruni says unless these women learn to adjust to living with other women in a similar plight right from the beginning they will never adjust with others.
Adjustment is not an easy thing. But one should not further isolate these women. By living …show more content…
Most of the stories are about Indian immigrants in the United States. They capture the experience of recent immigrants, mostly from professional classes such as electronic engineers and business people, and also a few from the working class, such as auto mechanics and convenience-store clerks. There are several immigrant brides who are “both liberated and trapped by cultural changes” as Patricia Holt puts it in her “Women Feel Tug of Two Cultures” (1995) and who are struggling to carve out an identity of their own. Divakaruni says the stories deals with issues such as domestic violence, crime, racism, interracial relationships, economic disparity, abortion and divorce. “Marriage in the United States is about finding the ‘right mate’, an attractive person to fulfill one’s fantasies. However, in India, people marry to perpetuate the culture and strengthen family