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| Photo Credit - Amazon |
Raj Bhatt doesn't know where he belongs. He moved to America from Bombay as a child. He knew very few Indian kids. He is now a middle-aged man living
happily married in California. He is mostly happy with life and is
teaching at a university. It seems to him that his wife who is white is
fitting in better than he does, especially at their tennis club. He
loves their tennis club and what it means to be a part of it.
During one week, his life starts unraveling. During a
meeting for potential new members, Raj notices that there is an African
American couple on the nominee list. He always dreamed of a more diverse
tennis club. To fit in, he makes a racist joke and the committee turns
on him. He feels betrayed since he has put up years of prejudice. To
make matters worse, a group of his students reports him as
"anti-Western".
As a person of color and of Indian descent, I have often found myself in Raj's shoes too. I find myself sometimes stump
on certain social situations. I can understand how he needs to fit in
while honoring his heritage. I thought the book was a fun and engaging
read. I couldn't help but, think about my anthropology professor from my college days who was also of Indian descent. I now
realize that someone can look put together but, have a host of
insecurities and issues that they keep to themselves. The book details
events in a week and it was easy to see how one event can lead to a
spiral of an unfortunate week. I am looking forward to reading other
books by the author.
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