Suburban Sahibs
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Book Overview
From movie theaters showing the songs and gyrations of "Bollywood" to valedictorians named Patel and Shah, signs are everywhere that Middlesex County, New Jersey is home to one of the largest Indian populations in the world outside India. By tracing the migration of three families, this book delves into how immigration has altered the American suburb, and how the suburb, in turn, has altered the immigrant. In this updated edition, journalist S. Mitra Kalita shows that although the reception from long-time residents has not been entirely welcoming, Indians have come to achieve economic success and their desire for political and social parity continues to grow stronger. She traces the evolution of the suburb from a destination for new arrivals to a launching pad for them. In the late nineteenth century, tourists descended upon Edison to gawk at its Christmas lights displays. Today, thousands of Indians from all over the United States arrive in the same bedroom community to celebrate their own festivals of lights and colors. Suburban Sahibs attempts to answer the question of how and why they arrived, and offers a window into what America has become: a nation of suburbs as well as a nation of immigrants.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0813536650
ISBN13:9780813536651
Release Date:September 2005
Publisher:Rutgers University Press
Length:192 Pages
Weight:0.60 lbs.
Dimensions:0.5" x 5.6" x 8.6"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
a multi-generational perspective on immigration
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
it reads like a novel but you come away actually learning something. by the end of the book, i felt like i had really gotten to know each of the characters, the place they lived and gotten some real insight into a community.
For residents of Edison and beyond ...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Growing up in Middlesex County in the 1980s and early 1990s, I was always curious about the seemingly sudden and rapid entrance of Patels, Mehtas, and Guptas into my community. Where did they come from? How could they leave their families and their native country? Why did they choose 'here?' Why did 'our' stores on Oak Tree Road close? Kalita's 'Suburban Sahibs' provides that much needed insight with an eloquent and expressive narrative that should be required reading for anyone of any ethnicity living in Middlesex County now or then.
A beautiful and honest look into the immigrant experience.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Kalita evokes a sense of familiarity with the families while taking the reader through a breadth of immigrant experience. The writer tells a story of nonfiction with candor that is at once tender and witty. A must read for anyone with a desire to look through the window into the immigrant experience -- an experience rife with turmoil and triumph.
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