Diasporic Interface of Colliding Minds and Cultures: Psychological and Emotive Dimensions of Two Ways to Belong in America

Abstract

Bharati Mukherjee demonstrates the complexity of the effects of immigration by underlining the universally acknowledged importance of the nation of immigration, America. The country and the immigrant establish a bond that enables the former to develop as a result of the latter’s migration, rather than just upsetting or altering it. The transformation is brought about through interaction with the outside world, and consequently energizing and revitalizing the host nation. The immigrant, as a recent arrival from a foreign culture, clashes with American culture and pinpoints the flaws underlying its past and present giving rise to the cultural interface. He traverses the borders of the new terrain and tries to assimilate in the foreign soil lending his own cultural aroma to it. According to her, cultural exchange between natives and immigrants in a country fosters a fusion and growth for both the groups. Unlike other migration authors who go nuts over the loss and degradation of the home culture, Bharati Mukherjee ardently defends the advantages of shifting to a new region or greener pasture. She urges the immigrants to break free from the bonds of cultural conflict and alienation and to embrace and establish their new identity as citizens of the United States. For her, it really simply boils down to attitude and propensity. Everyone may flourish and realise their aspirations in America, a nation of chances. Two Ways to Belong in America, which appeared in The New York Times in 1996 is a tale of two sisters, Meera and Bharati, who move to America largely for their education. Bharti Mukherjee addresses the topic of multiple identities in the immigrant community throughout the narrative. This story explores the personal changes that being in America has made on the author as she embraced it as her new home, as well as Meera's determined resistance to those changes, who wishes to take advantage of the benefits that living in America has to offer while remaining steadfast to her country of origin. As it addresses the two distinct ways in which the immigrants in America establish their sense of identity, the story's title is self-explanatory.