Book Review - Amereekandesi by Atulya Mahajan

Title: Amereekandesi (Maters of America)

Author: Atulya Mahajan

 Published by: Random House India in 2013

Genre:  Fiction

Price: Rs. 199

Pages: 309

Rate: 3/5

After I got this review copy, the cover picture didn't attract me much. I was little unwillingly started this book. But then took a break until I finished the book. Yes I enjoyed the book. After a long time I revelled a very light and hearty read. Books on diasporic culture are my weakness. Being in USA for 6 yrs, when I started digging deep in the novel I was drown along with it recalling my journey to the foreign land.  The circumstantial facts are so well narrated that it became more a real life story rather than a fiction. 

The book’s blurb reads: “Akhil Arora, a young, dorky engineer in Delhi, can’t wait to get away from home and prove to his folks that he can be on his own. Meanwhile in a small town in Punjab, Jaspreet Singh, aka Jassi, is busy dreaming of a life straight out of American Pie. As fate would have it, they end up as room-mates in Florida. But the two boys are poles apart in their perspectives and expectations of America. While Akhil is fiercely patriotic and hopes to come back to India in a few years, Jassi finds his Indian identity an uncomfortable burden and looks forward to finding an American girl with whom he can live happily ever after.

Laced with funny anecdotes and witty insights, Amreekandesi chronicles the quintessential immigrant experience, highlighting the clash of cultures, the search for identity, and the quest for survival in a foreign land.” 

The genre of the book may come under comedy but it is actual a satire that focuses the society of the migrated Indian who made America - Amreeka. The culture of the Indian student society, the typical Indian notion about America, The world of erotica, everything projected with a very minute detail. One will have a story of pure love and also a story of boy who after meeting each girl thinks he finds the love of his life.  The notion about America ‘where dreams come true’ projected very well through the characters. Mainly I loved reading the student culture and their day to day living story. Atulya very minutely pinpointed the facts that the Indians face for the first time in America. I so much assimilated myself with the book as I have experienced sort of same scenario during my stay in US. Though the book is a bit lengthy with elaborate descriptions and few editing mistakes, overall it’s a very good light read and can be devoured during the leisurely hours.