Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) In the new generation of Pakistani immigrants to the US, the ties that bind youngsters to their Asian homeland are fast disappearing, says Jabeen Akhtar, writer and policymaker of Pakistani origin from the US.

“We cannot be expected to speak about what’s happening back home in Pakistan and India all the time,” Akhtar, who drafts policies for the People for Ethical Treatment to Animals (PETA) in the US, told IANS.

“I know of many immigrant friends who don’t want to return home,” she said. “Personally, I don’t want to go back.”

Akhtar, who has made her debut as an novelist with the much-talked-about Welcome to Americastan, is in India to promote her book.

She said she wanted to provide an alternative perspective on the young South Asian Islamic diaspora in Washington, DC.

“Every book on South Asia has arranged marriages and this idea of the home country being an exotic locale,” Akhtar said. “The protagonist takes his exotic odyssey back home… it involves an identity crisis. The ‘goras’ (whites) may like it but the idea is a bunch of crap!”

Her book provides an irreverent snapshot of Pakistani immigrants in the US through the eyes of young Samira, a Pakistani-American woman.

It has been hailed by critics and senior writers like Bapsi Sidhwa and Moni Mohsin as a funny, original and thoughtful look at her community.

The writer said a family reunion at Akhtar’s older sister’s wedding inspired the novel.

“I had read out a short story I had written about my family at the wedding feast to a rather academic crowd,” she said. “And I knew that I wanted to tackle a novel. There were so many Pakistani writers everywhere. The only way I could share my experiences of being a Pakistani and entertain readers was to write a book.”

The writer said, “South Asian literature and movies present a very romanticised view of the community. The books just keep repeating the western views of what Pakistanis are like.”

She said that the west found South Asians more political minded than the average American.

My parents’ generation is different, but the second generation does not spend a lot of time thinking about their ethnicities. They spend their time thinking about their jobs, relationships and cars,” Akhtar said.

“In one way, my generation of Americans are very irreverent, funny and self-deprecating-a product of living in my age,” the writer said.

Dark humour creeps into her story as well.

Samira, a Pakistani-American, returns home to her family in North Carolina after being dumped by her boyfriend of eight years. She is fired from her job, goes to jail and finds herself on the FBI’s terrorist list after trying to run over her boyfriend.

At home, in her dysfunctional family, she learns to cook aloo kofta curry, entertain cousins from Pakistan and has the Pakistani American Council thrust upon her by her father. Samira finds her escape routes blocked.

“In reality, Pakistanis are very funny, lively and hypocritical. People expect us to be ambassadors on call; they expect us to know everything, culturally and politically, about what is happening in Pakistan. I have no insider’s perspective on Pakistan. There is resentment. My generation, at times, gets sick of it,” Akhtar said.

The resentment comes across in several ways, the writer said.

“With some, resentment means rebellion against parents and culture - like sneaking out, drinking, dating boys and wearing shorts. TheGenNext from Pakistan just doesn’t care,” Akhtar said.

What haunts Akhtar post-9/11 is “the unfounded suspicion in the Pakistani community towards the US government”.

“Despite the expectation that it had impacted everyone adversely, the truth is that 9/11 did not impact a lot of Muslims in America,” Akhtar said.

(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)