A non American gem!. Review on An American Brat - Bapsi Sidhwa

This delightful novel by Bapsi Sidhwa is a must read for people wanting an insight into a teenage girls life in the early 80’s who has lived all her life in Lahore, Pakistan and is suddenly thrown into the audacious freedom of life in America.

I remembered Bapsi Sidhwa from the 1947 - Earth days, I knew this was based on her book ‘Cracking India’ (Originally called ‘The Ice candy man’). Though I never got a chance to read it, the movie left its mark and I had to pick this one just after seeing who the author is. I was far from disappointed - though it's supposed to be a light and humorous read, the essence remains to be a sensitive and earthy portrayal of the characters and the times.

The tone of the book/narration is easy and lucid. On the first look I felt it to be an account of the funny and charming view of America from a teenage girls point of view. What starts off as a worried mother’s ‘packing off’ of her daughter to America to avoid the influence of the growing Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan, moves on to become a funny and often interesting tale of various incidents and accidents in the girls life. In the process, 16 year old Feroza Ginwalla, a strong minded and spirited Parsee girl, goes thru an amazing phase of self finding, matures into a woman accepting the new world not altogether denouncing her tradition. She manages to find her own footing in a world which is so different from her own.

Her first impression after reaching the Kenedy airport – “She knew noone and no one knew her! It was a heady feeling to be suddenly so free – for the moment, at least – of the thousand constraints that governed her life.”

The story moves on in a charming and witty way, quite insightful most of the times. The tone takes a brisk even sizzling note while describing the relationship between Feroza and her 7 year older uncle and her guardian in America, Mr. Manek Junglewalla. The childhood rivalry takes the shape of some brilliant and almost graphical bickering and the clash between two very strong and impetus characters is very well portrayed.Yet none of them are inconsiderate when it comes to each other's time of need. The first time feroza returns home after a gap of 2 years, she realises – “Time had wrought alterations she could not have foreseen – while her memory had preserved the people and places she knew and their relationships with her, as if in an airtight jar.

One can not miss the subtle humor of Sidhwa’s prose making itself felt every once a while. E.g. when Manek visits Pakistan after staying in America for 4 years, he appears with a bandage on his face. After prolonging the effect and a long time of suspense among the family, he opens it only to say “speaking this wretched English all the time has worn my jaws and don’t anyone dare talk to me in English". Or while answering her mothers taunt about her 2 docile girl friends having no boyfriend thus concentrating on their studies, casually Feroza drops – they are lesbians and ‘don’t need no boy friends’.

The book keeps up to the socio-political obligations in the sense that the reigning political and social scenario, the religious beliefs and its impact on the protagonists and the society at large are all taken into account in a very effective way. Most of Sidhwa’s characters in this book are liberal, articulate (the frail 70 year old granny comments ‘hand-som is what hand-som does’), open and considerate – this is a time when the urban elite in Pakistaan is trying to adjust to the conservative policies of General Zia while hero worshipping the imprisoned Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for his policies regarding socialism and women’s rights. The very decision to send their daughter to America is a way for Zareen and Cyrus Ginwalla to keep her away from these conservative influences. The 16 year old daughter leaves her country with mixed feelings. Along with a sense of elation/joy and loss, she carries the poster of Mr. Bhutto to hang on the wall of her American residence. She understands the bullying foreign policy of America even if she is among friends who do not care about politics as it would not change anything for them and aptly analyses “In Pakistan politics concerned everyone – from the street sweeper to business tycoons – because it personally affected everyone, particularly women, determining how they should dress, whether they could play hockey in school or not, how they should conduct themselves even within the four walls of their homes..’

Also I noticed, the Parsee factor is highlighted in a subtle and beautiful manner. Thanks to Sidhwa and the likes of Rohinton Mistry, I have an idea about the prayers, the Sudra and the Kusti, the fire temple, the intricacies and the frailties of a faith so rare and 'fast disappearing'.

I found the end very realistic and mature even if sometimes it seems a little abrupt. It's justified than a conventional happy ending because its closer to real life which hardly provides easy choices and clear answers.

Overall, well worth the money and time. In fact, it certainly 'adds' to life..