Portrayal of Immigrants in The Novels of Chitra Banerjee Diwakaruni

Food is a significant element which reflects the culture and the traditional practices of a country. Jonathan Safran Foer says 'Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving, and identity'. It is an effective symbol of nostalgia for the first generation immigrant people. And they consider it an instrument to preserve their past. The first generation immigrants love to eat their native food items. They find it difficult to adapt to the food of the host country. They are supposed to follow the food style of the immigrant country due to lack of availability of ingredients. Whereas, the second generation immigrants are used to the host habit of eating. Fusion cooking is the product of a diasporic cooking method. Immigrant people fuse their native style of cooking with the new one. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in Queen of Dreams has portrayed the difference in the food habits of the first generation Immigrants and the second generation immigrants. Belle who was born and brought up in America was already used to the American way of having food like muffins, chocolate chips, lemon glazed danishes, and crumby sugar and cinnamon cookies. She is not at all aware of Indian food items. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni put, 'Belle, you don't know how to make roti Indian food, for that matter. And I have never seen you wearing anything remotely resembling a salwaar kameez'. In another situation, Rakhi's mother feels very strange to hear Rakhi's fondness for Indian food and says,'Since when did you start wanting to eat my Indian food countered my mother, who believes in offensive play. ‘It was always pasta and pizza and oh mom, not aluparathas again! When you were growing up''. Through their food habits and cooking their alienness towards the practices of their native countries can be witnessed. The second generation immigrants easily accept the food of their host land and sometimes they did not know about the native food and cooking. In Mistress of Spices, Bougainvillea girls approached Tilo to know about the Indian recipe for their competition. Even though the first generation immigrant had accepted and adapted to live in the new land, the influence of their native is inflicted within them. Its reflection can be witnessed in their daily activities. Rakhi says, 'At home, we rarely ate anything but Indian. That was the one way my mother kept her culture'.

The second generation immigrants often consider themselves a citizen of their host land. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in her novels has very beautifully portrayed the psychological dilemma of the second generation immigrants when they are supposed to acquaint with their denial in the land which they so far thought as their native. In Queen of Dreams Rakhi, Belle, and Jespal Singh consider them the children of America. When group of Indian immigrants come to Rakhi’s “Kurma House” she feels like she is not belonging to them. After the bang of World Trade Centre by terrorist, emergency situations prevailed in California. When Rakhi and Belle come to know about the terrorist attack in America it is annonunced that it is unsafe for the a non American to open the shop in prevalent sitution but Rakhi and Belle as they consider themselves as a children of America decided to open their shop. Mr. Soto, the owner of the next door restaurant advises them to put up a flag of America in front of the shop to express their patriotism towards America. But Rakhi and Belle refuses to do soo. Belle says, 'I don't have to put up a flag to prove that I'm American. I'm American already. I love this country – hell, it's the only country I know. But I'm not going to be pressured into putting up a sign to announce that love to every passerby'. But they are put in an ultimate shock when four men burst into their shop and attacked them thinking them as terrorists. Jespal Singh innocently says, 'We're Americans, just the way you are'. But the response that came for that from the attacker's side haunts them like a nightmare and shake their idea of themselves. The attackers reply 'you ain't no American. It's fuckers like you who planned this attack on the innocent people of this country. Time someone taught you faggots a lesson'. This upsets Rakhi and arises a question within her. She reveals her agitation by saying, 'But if I wasn't American, then what was I?”. In addition to that, they are identified as terrorists by the Native American because of their ethnic origin and status of being an immigrant. Their love and loyalty towards America has been challenged by the Native Americans. On writing about the second generation immigrants Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni says:

I share an interest in the lives of the Second Generation – the children of Indian ancestry who are born in America. How do they relate to India? How are they different from their parents? What happens when they make the reverse journey back ti the country of their orgin? This is the focus of several of my stories...

As a Diaspora both the first generation and the second generation immigrants went through lots of complexities in their life. Cultural conflicts, alienation, issues of assimilation, racial discrimination were faced by both the generation immigrants. The first generation immigrants seem to be mature and conscious of their state. They are aware of their past and the present. The second generation immigrants are facing more problems rather than the plights of the first generation immigrants. The second generation immigrants are removed from the reality. They are ignorant of their past. They are doubly alienated both by their own natives and the natives of their host land. Awareness and the acquaintance to the reality is the only thing which can help them find peace and identity. The second generation immigrants are unknowingly trapped in a critical situation. They must face it boldly. Integration is the only thing which can bring peace in the life of the second generation immigrants. Unity and confidence among the second generation immigrants help them forge an identity for themselves.

The journey of life passes through the five levels nonage, childhood, juvenile stage, adulthood and old age. Among them, longevity is full of challenges. It is considered the age nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings. People who are above the age of sixty are described as old age people or senior citizen or aged people or elderly people. The biological aging is termed as senescence. Senescence is the fate of all organisms. At this period cells automatically loses its potentiality and growth. It leads to physical downturn. Old age people usually undergo a lot of physiological, psychological and emotional changes and problems. At this moment, the feeling of insecurity, loneliness, weakness, dependency and anxiety will fill their heart like smog. The apathetic behaviour of the family members aggravates their feeling of negligence. Their social relationships are also narrowed down due to the death of their friends, relatives, health issues and migration. As the social relationship gradually declines for the old folks, family becomes their centre. The loss of spouse increases the sense of solitude within him. Supposition of being in others dependency for financial support increases their emotional pain. Dejection, dependence, disappointment, deterioration, and disease diminish the peace of the senior citizens.

Every society has its own concept of caring the senior citizens. In India, the joint family culture prevailed in the past to take care of the elders in the home. But nowadays, due to the nuclear family system they are subjected to alienation and segregation. They suffer due to the lack of love and care within their families. Romita Datta writes that according to the 2015-2016 AISCCON survey, 60 per cent of the elders living with their families faces abuses and harassment of which 66 per cent are either very poor or below the poverty line and 39 percent have been either abandoned or live alone. So that United Kingdom appointed a minister for loneliness this year. On the other hand, the case of elderly people who are forced to leave their home or left in old age home is the very worst experience in human life. But in present the situation has been changing it can be witnessed through the increase in the number of old age homes. The increasing number of old age homes is an alarming issue today.

Displacement is the very hardest thing people have to undergo in their life. Especially, displacement which occurs in twilight years is an awful experience. It forces displaced people to face the hardship of separation. People who have been displaced from their place have to lose their relations, friends and neighbourhood. It distances the people from their native place, culture, traditions and practices. Voluntary displacement happens due to the economic need, educational chances, etc. Some displacements are forced owing to various situations. Displacement put the people in psychological, physical, cultural snags. Though the effect of displacement affects all the immigrants its wavelength varies with age and experience. Most of the expatriates who move to America from India encounter opposing cultures, and a feeling of alienation which is followed by the immigrants attempt to adjust, to adapt and to assimilate the alien culture. The degree of this adaption differs according to the generations.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni being an expert in displaying the hitches of the immigrants had portrayed the experiences of immigration among the different age groups. She has presented the aberrations, oddity in the immigrant experience in a realistic way. Devika writes about her writing style as:

She captures the socio-psychological problems of the aged who are uprooted from their native environment and transplanted in an alien one in the closing years of their lives. She reiterates that migration and the consequent necessity of acclimatising to a strange social environment causes anxieties that manifest in psycho – somatic ailments, obsession with self, social withdrawal, behavioural changes like aggression and violence and stress related problems.

Almost in all the immigrant novels of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni like The Mistress of Spices, Queen of Dreams, Vine of Desire, Oleander Girl, and Before We Visit the Goddess, the theme of the dynamics of life in the alien land for the elderly immigrants who have been in widowhood or due to family situation living with the help of their children is dealt within the subplot. Her famous short story, “Mrs. Dutta Writes the Letter” is based on the experience of immigrant namely, Mrs Dutta in America in her old age. In the novel The Mistress of Spices, Geeta’s grandfather was characterized to describe the conflicts faced by the old age immigrants in understanding, accepting and assimilating their own offspring who are leading the American way of life. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni introduces Geeta’s Grandfather character in The Mistress of Spices. She writes:

Geeta’s grandfather still walking like a military major though it has been twenty years. His shirt ironed stuff with pointy collars, his steel-grey pants perfect-creased down the front. And his shoes, his midnight – black Bata shoes spit- polished to match the onyx he wears on his left hand for mental peace. 

The stress and the adjustment problems they are facing in the alien land are very distressing to the old age immigrants. To seek attention from the family members they will exaggerate their weakness like kids. It is common among the old age immigrants to behave stubborn, rigid, conserved to return to their comfort zone. These behaviours can be observed in the deeds of Geeta’s grandfather, Mrs. Mehta, and Bela (who assimilated to American culture in their young age). Margaret Neville Hills’ writes: “First therapeutic effort to revive the mental energy of old patients should be to turn their attention outwards, away from themselves and their experiences of the past and towards the life of the present”.

In conclusion, Chitra Banerjee Diwakaruni's novels portray immigrants with depth, nuance, and complexity, allowing readers to understand the experiences of people who have left their homelands to seek better lives in foreign lands. Through her vivid depictions of immigrant characters, Diwakaruni emphasizes the importance of empathy, compassion, and understanding in bridging cultural divides and creating a more inclusive and equitable society. Her stories serve as a powerful reminder of the human cost of immigration and the courage and resilience of those who undertake such a journey. By shedding light on the diverse experiences of immigrants, Diwakaruni's novels help us to appreciate the richness and complexity of human experience and to recognize the common humanity that binds us all.