Who is Katherine Newman? A few years ago, very few academics in India had heard her name. As for MELUS, we in India had heard of it, but only in passing and with scant interest. But now MELUS can boast of an Indian Chapter that is all of five years old and a steadily growing membership that runs into hundreds. MELUS-India has successfully conducted four conferences two national and two international and published two anthologies of essays. No mean achievement! This article focuses on the growth of American Studies in India, leading to the awakening of interest in the multi-ethnic literatures of the United States and the formation of the |ndia Chapter of MELUS. It begins with the big-bang advent of American Studies in the mid-twentieth century and ends with the present scenario which may not seem too bright at the moment but still contains reasons for hope. Scholarship, like trade, follows the flag (Mulder 74). American Studies in India inadvertently gets affected by fluctuations in US foreign policies and the changing relationship between India and the US. Over the last few years, with practically no financial support at all from Indian governmental sources, and with the US government pulling out of all funding commitments to organizations like the American Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad (ASRC), there is little or no incentive for the further progress of the discipline in India. Inevitably the question arises: what is the relevance of American Studies (and the study of multi-ethnic American literature) in India? What is its future, given the lack of state sponsorship? And how would one justify the existence of MELUS in India? The India Chapter of MELUS must confront these issues and make a concerted effort to keep Newman's spirit alive in regions beyond the US, to create an international network of scholars with the common interest of promoting a spirit of academic camaraderie unfettered by narrow prejudices of race, color, nationality, or religion. I In the 1950s there were several reasons for the growth and proliferation of American Studies. T.C. Bose lists three related causes: Indian goodwill towards the US during the mid-twentieth century, the emergence of the US as a superpower after World War II, and the role of US agencies in disseminating information on the culture and civilization of America in India (Bose 3-5). Going further back in time, the advent of American Studies in India may be traced to the rise of the Indian Nationalist Movement. B.K. Shrivastava, one of the earliest professors of American Studies in India, believes that the spirit of Indian nationalism led to the opening up of frontiers and a broadening of vision, enabling the Indian mind to turn with interest and curiosity towards events in the international arena (see Shrivastava). With the widening of perspectives came a revisioning of the world, the impact of which was felt on the Indian academic scene. Earlier, university and college teaching had been structured on the British model, but in the wake of independence, in 1947, came a questioning of the existing pattern of education and the need for a broader-based system. Attempts were made to transcend national concerns and open the doors to global issues. American Studies, by opening one possibility for Indian scholars to move beyond nationalist confines, seemed a step in this direction. In the US, a formal program for the expansion of American civilization and culture abroad began with the passage of the Fulbright Act (Public Law 584) in 1946. Fulbright Commissions were established in different countries to foster peace and mutual understanding through the United States Information Agency (USIA). The Fulbright Agreement in India (February 2, 1950) began an exchange of scholars and teachers between the US and India. The United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) played a major role in this exchange by supporting scores of young and more established scholars on fellowships to study at US universities, providing teachers to Indian universities for teaching specific courses on American Studies, organizing annual seminars for college teachers to familiarize them with American civilization and culture, and supporting intensive university programs at the postgraduate and doctoral level. …