#Book Review
Fiction| Diaspora| Family| Culture
Rating: 4.5
Sometimes I feel like a book chooses me rather me choosing it, and The Namesake is one such book that arrived precisely at the right moment in my life. It deeply resonates with my current state of mind, that diasporic feeling of not fully belonging anywhere, the quiet feeling of identity crisis, and confused decisions. Jhumpa Lahiri in The Namesake perfectly captures the immigrant experience and emotional turmoil of leaving behind one’s motherland, family, and friends to start a new life in a new country.
This “big move” is a process of experiencing happy times, difficult times, and questionable times, which often involve uncertainty and fear. And of course, there’s always hope of things getting better as time passes. But there is never a time when we stop wondering “Was this the right decision?”
Through Ashima and Ashoke, the author portrays the quiet resilience required to build a life from scratch. Despite these numerous feelings, Ashima tries her best to adapt to the American lifestyle with her husband, Ashoke. The Ganguli family forms friendships within the Indian community, spends weekends together, and gradually creates a small world that feels like home. Ashima terribly misses her family when their son is born. She waits for years for her grandmother to send her a telegram naming the baby as it has been their age-old tradition. But when no message arrives, Gogol which was initially meant to be a placeholder becomes the official name of their son.
As the story progresses, we see life through the eyes of the children, Gogol and Sonia. Their childhood is marked by frequent trips to India for festivals, for the loss of loved ones, for spending time with the family, or to stay connected to the familiarity of their culture and traditions. For the children, this dual existence is confusing and, at times, burdensome. They struggle to relate to a culture that feels both theirs and not theirs. But as they grow old, Gogol realizes the hardships that their parents had to face upon uprooting their lives. A sacrifice he cannot imagine doing himself.
The Namesake is not simply a story with a beginning and an end, it is an experience. It is a story of a family that I got to know in a few pages of this book. I can see myself getting to know the Ganguli family if I ever lived on Pemberton Road. I can imagine sharing their feelings of loneliness and trying to recreate a mini India just to feel at home. Just to have that sense of familiarity and comfort. As I complete reading this book on my flight from India to Pennsylvania, I fondly close the book and my eyes with a warm feeling, processing the emotions, and remembering all the times that I spent with my loved ones. I take these memories along to a country that I now call my home.
PS: The Namesake is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. It is a beautifully written novel with an intriguing story that speaks not only to immigrants but to anyone who has ever felt suspended between worlds. A definite must-read!
Nuraine Sadaf 