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The Hindi-Bindi Club
For decades they have remained close, sharing treasured recipes, honored customs, and the challenges of women shaped by ancient ways yet living modern lives. They are the Hindi-Bindi Club, a nickname given by their American daughters to the mothers who left India to start anew—daughters now grown and facing struggles of their own.
For Kiran, Preity, and Rani, adulthood bears the indelible stamp of their upbringing, from the ways they tweak their mothers’ cooking to suit their Western lifestyles to the ways they reject their mothers’ most fervent beliefs. Now, bearing the disappointments and successes of their chosen paths, these daughters are drawn inexorably home.
Kiran, divorced, will seek a new beginning—this time requesting the aid of an ancient tradition she once dismissed. Preity will confront an old heartbreak—and a hidden shame. And Rani will face her demons as an artist and a wife. All will question whether they have the courage of the Hindi-Bindi Club, to hold on to their dreams—or to create new ones.
An elegant tapestry of East and West, peppered with food and ceremony, wisdom and sensuality, this luminous novel breathes new life into timeless themes.
For Kiran, Preity, and Rani, adulthood bears the indelible stamp of their upbringing, from the ways they tweak their mothers’ cooking to suit their Western lifestyles to the ways they reject their mothers’ most fervent beliefs. Now, bearing the disappointments and successes of their chosen paths, these daughters are drawn inexorably home.
Kiran, divorced, will seek a new beginning—this time requesting the aid of an ancient tradition she once dismissed. Preity will confront an old heartbreak—and a hidden shame. And Rani will face her demons as an artist and a wife. All will question whether they have the courage of the Hindi-Bindi Club, to hold on to their dreams—or to create new ones.
An elegant tapestry of East and West, peppered with food and ceremony, wisdom and sensuality, this luminous novel breathes new life into timeless themes.
431 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 367 reviews
November 7, 2008
It was a fun read. Made think of the traditions and legacy I'm leaving for my daughters.
Made me so hungry for Indian food.
Made me so hungry for Indian food.
July 18, 2016
Maybe it's the Amy Tan fan in me, but this book was just too much of a copy of Joy Luck Club for me to really enjoy. It seems strange to me that the author chose the exact same format as Amy Tan (alternating chapters of the mothers, who are Indian immigrants, and their American-raised daughters), and even titled the book so similarly! That said, the writing is nowhere as good, so setting up the book for such an obvious comparison was really a mistake. The voices of the three daughters sounded exactly the same; I had to keep reminding myself which daughter was talking. The storyline was only so-so and highly predictable.
What was also frustrating was the fact that the book seemed to be geared toward readers who have little or no prior knowledge of Indian culture, clearly defining certain terms or cultural practices part of the time, but at the same time, leaving many of the Hindi terms undefined or unclear to the reader.
I did really enjoy learning some things about Indian history that I was completely unaware . . . like the whole Partition holocaust! Wow, if nothing else, it certainly made me want to read some books on Indian history now.
One more thing I had to add that made me crazy about this book was the use of smiley faces. Each chapter had several "email" exchanges between the characters, and every single character used every variation of the "smiley face" that you could possibly think of in their emails. It made me insane. I could see if one or two of them liked to use them occasionally, but ALL of them, EVERY time? Then, to top it off, when Meenal starts writing her daughter these very "meaningful" hand-written letters from India, she seems compelled to add a smiley face to the end of every paragraph! Maybe it's just because I'm not a smiley face kind of gal, but it really got on my nerves.
What was also frustrating was the fact that the book seemed to be geared toward readers who have little or no prior knowledge of Indian culture, clearly defining certain terms or cultural practices part of the time, but at the same time, leaving many of the Hindi terms undefined or unclear to the reader.
I did really enjoy learning some things about Indian history that I was completely unaware . . . like the whole Partition holocaust! Wow, if nothing else, it certainly made me want to read some books on Indian history now.
One more thing I had to add that made me crazy about this book was the use of smiley faces. Each chapter had several "email" exchanges between the characters, and every single character used every variation of the "smiley face" that you could possibly think of in their emails. It made me insane. I could see if one or two of them liked to use them occasionally, but ALL of them, EVERY time? Then, to top it off, when Meenal starts writing her daughter these very "meaningful" hand-written letters from India, she seems compelled to add a smiley face to the end of every paragraph! Maybe it's just because I'm not a smiley face kind of gal, but it really got on my nerves.
November 29, 2007
This is a book about love, marriage, family, food, and relationships.
Monica Pradhan did a great job of explaining the subtle layers of Indian culture for me.
In The Hindi-Bindi Club, three young (I'm 40; they're younger than me) Indian-American women learn through their relationships with their moms that living up to the expectations of their families can allow room for keeping their own individuality as well.
I also learned many things. Like:
If I choose to cook more, I can try the yummy-sounding Indian recipes found through out this book.
People are basically the same when it comes to family. Most of us want what's best for our families. Sometimes we're pushy but hey, it's what we know. :-)
Maybe arranged marriages aren't so bad. Marriage can be difficult at times. Having the two families who are willing to invest in the survival of one's marriage can be a good thing.
Tradition and ritual can be good things. Sometimes it helps to know what one is expected to do and to do it. Other times, maybe not. ;o)
I really really want to visit India. As many regions as possible. I want to experience it live and in person.
Monica Pradhan did a great job of explaining the subtle layers of Indian culture for me.
In The Hindi-Bindi Club, three young (I'm 40; they're younger than me) Indian-American women learn through their relationships with their moms that living up to the expectations of their families can allow room for keeping their own individuality as well.
I also learned many things. Like:
If I choose to cook more, I can try the yummy-sounding Indian recipes found through out this book.
People are basically the same when it comes to family. Most of us want what's best for our families. Sometimes we're pushy but hey, it's what we know. :-)
Maybe arranged marriages aren't so bad. Marriage can be difficult at times. Having the two families who are willing to invest in the survival of one's marriage can be a good thing.
Tradition and ritual can be good things. Sometimes it helps to know what one is expected to do and to do it. Other times, maybe not. ;o)
I really really want to visit India. As many regions as possible. I want to experience it live and in person.
January 18, 2010
This book had a few strengths and many weaknesses:
Strengths
(1) Primer of Indian Culture
(2) Scattered overview of recent Indian History
(3) Reminds us of the point that everyone has their own sh*t going on, people are not isolated in their problem/ more than one crisis can occur at a time in the same group of friends or family.
Weaknesses
(1) Abuses, instead of uses, multiple narrators. Six in total, and even with 400+ pages this leaves much unresolved. It is very frustrating at both the beginning and the end of the book. At the beginning you just start to become interested in one person when the narrator switches. It makes it hard to care. At the end, the author focuses on one event instead of covering/touching all six events that she has put into motion. Also, the various narrators all have the same voice in terms of tone, and usually also in terms of content. The occasional, and blatant, attempts to give them different voices create unnatural, strange results.
(2) Abuse, instead of use, of first person. The author falls into many of the traps that make first person dangerous. The narrators often tell you WAY to much, or show more introspection or insight than a normal person. It can make for a very tiresome read.
(3) Happy Happy Feel Good - if one of the strengths is that you show that everyone has problems, its kind of counter productive to make it seem like everything always can be resolved.
(4) While I did say that the primer of Indian Culture and History was a strength, its also a weakness. These "lessons" are not woven smoothly into the text. They are chunky and clearly the author saying, "look! here is what I want you to know about Immigrant Indians!", or "look! Here is a bunch of Indian words so you can know more".
So, overall, it was an OKAY read. I would recommend it to people who are really interested in Indian culture, but do not know much about it yet.
Strengths
(1) Primer of Indian Culture
(2) Scattered overview of recent Indian History
(3) Reminds us of the point that everyone has their own sh*t going on, people are not isolated in their problem/ more than one crisis can occur at a time in the same group of friends or family.
Weaknesses
(1) Abuses, instead of uses, multiple narrators. Six in total, and even with 400+ pages this leaves much unresolved. It is very frustrating at both the beginning and the end of the book. At the beginning you just start to become interested in one person when the narrator switches. It makes it hard to care. At the end, the author focuses on one event instead of covering/touching all six events that she has put into motion. Also, the various narrators all have the same voice in terms of tone, and usually also in terms of content. The occasional, and blatant, attempts to give them different voices create unnatural, strange results.
(2) Abuse, instead of use, of first person. The author falls into many of the traps that make first person dangerous. The narrators often tell you WAY to much, or show more introspection or insight than a normal person. It can make for a very tiresome read.
(3) Happy Happy Feel Good - if one of the strengths is that you show that everyone has problems, its kind of counter productive to make it seem like everything always can be resolved.
(4) While I did say that the primer of Indian Culture and History was a strength, its also a weakness. These "lessons" are not woven smoothly into the text. They are chunky and clearly the author saying, "look! here is what I want you to know about Immigrant Indians!", or "look! Here is a bunch of Indian words so you can know more".
So, overall, it was an OKAY read. I would recommend it to people who are really interested in Indian culture, but do not know much about it yet.
July 29, 2010
The Hindi-Bindi club was very disappointing compared to it's Indian-American chick-lit peers. The book jacket compared it to the Joy Luck Club. While the structure is similar and both focus on mothers and daughters, Pradhan lacks the writing and storytelling abilities of Amy Tan. And Hindi-Bindi actually suffers from one of Joy Luck's major flaws, a lack of positive representations of same-ethnicity romantic relationships. All the daughters in the book exclusively date white American men. I found this both boring and unlikely. Meanwhile, the mothers' marriages all appear deeply flawed, except the one mom married to an Irish-Italian man. Some of the descriptions of these idealized, ultra-sensitive yet manly American men were truly cringeworthy.
None of relationships, positive or negative, had much depth, nuance or interesting surprises. But then, neither did any of the characters. This book felt like the author was trying really really hard to write a book that would be interesting to both her clueless non-Indian sorority sister and her mom's book club. I think she would have been more successful if she stopped thinking about the audience and simply wrote what was meaningful to her without trying to use the characters as a literal explanation of her ideas. Such an unsuccessful first attempt...but I hope Pradhan tries again because there were tiny kernels of possibility in this book.
None of relationships, positive or negative, had much depth, nuance or interesting surprises. But then, neither did any of the characters. This book felt like the author was trying really really hard to write a book that would be interesting to both her clueless non-Indian sorority sister and her mom's book club. I think she would have been more successful if she stopped thinking about the audience and simply wrote what was meaningful to her without trying to use the characters as a literal explanation of her ideas. Such an unsuccessful first attempt...but I hope Pradhan tries again because there were tiny kernels of possibility in this book.
December 13, 2022
3.5***
This was highly reminiscent of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club . We have two generations of three immigrant families – mothers Meenal Deshpande, Saroj Chawla, and Uma Basu McGuiness; and daughters Kiran Deshpande, Preity Chawla Lindstrom, and Rani McGuiness Tomashot. The interconnected stories begin when newly divorced Kiran comes home (without any advance notice) to the Washington DC area where her parents and their friends have settled. Kiran has focused on her career as a surgeon, but she’s missing a life partner. She sees how her childhood friends have prospered in the marriages their parents arranged for them, so she has decided to ask her parents to find her a mate. Let the fireworks begin!
Pradhan alternates narrators from chapter to chapter, sometimes focusing on one of the daughters and sometimes on one of the mothers. The older generation struggled with leaving their homeland, coming to America and learning both the language and how to fit in. Their daughters consider themselves American first, and while they may have learned to make a few of the traditional Indian dishes their mothers are famous for, they’ve concentrated on education and careers. There is a constant push/pull between cultural tradition and modern sensibilities.
I enjoyed learning a bit more of the history of India, of the disparate cultures within the subcontinent, and particularly of partition and the resultant cultural/religious wars between Hindus and Muslims. I understood the mothers’ reluctance to relate some of their past experiences, but also felt the relief of secrets finally revealed and the understanding and healing that came from those discussions.
There comes a time in every mother/daughter relationship when the child matures to the point where they can relate to one another as two women and not just mother/child. As I was reading this novel I was reminded – and could easily recognize – when that dynamic changed for me and my mother.
Just as in real life, it’s not all drama and angst. There is plenty of humor, tenderness, laughter and tears of joy.
Oh, and there are some wonderful recipes included throughout the book. I want to try one or two of them myself.
This was highly reminiscent of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club . We have two generations of three immigrant families – mothers Meenal Deshpande, Saroj Chawla, and Uma Basu McGuiness; and daughters Kiran Deshpande, Preity Chawla Lindstrom, and Rani McGuiness Tomashot. The interconnected stories begin when newly divorced Kiran comes home (without any advance notice) to the Washington DC area where her parents and their friends have settled. Kiran has focused on her career as a surgeon, but she’s missing a life partner. She sees how her childhood friends have prospered in the marriages their parents arranged for them, so she has decided to ask her parents to find her a mate. Let the fireworks begin!
Pradhan alternates narrators from chapter to chapter, sometimes focusing on one of the daughters and sometimes on one of the mothers. The older generation struggled with leaving their homeland, coming to America and learning both the language and how to fit in. Their daughters consider themselves American first, and while they may have learned to make a few of the traditional Indian dishes their mothers are famous for, they’ve concentrated on education and careers. There is a constant push/pull between cultural tradition and modern sensibilities.
I enjoyed learning a bit more of the history of India, of the disparate cultures within the subcontinent, and particularly of partition and the resultant cultural/religious wars between Hindus and Muslims. I understood the mothers’ reluctance to relate some of their past experiences, but also felt the relief of secrets finally revealed and the understanding and healing that came from those discussions.
There comes a time in every mother/daughter relationship when the child matures to the point where they can relate to one another as two women and not just mother/child. As I was reading this novel I was reminded – and could easily recognize – when that dynamic changed for me and my mother.
Just as in real life, it’s not all drama and angst. There is plenty of humor, tenderness, laughter and tears of joy.
Oh, and there are some wonderful recipes included throughout the book. I want to try one or two of them myself.
March 15, 2011
A generous three stars because the author struck me as intelligent and genuine. She even included a bibliography! :) Even the recipes included at the end of each chapter didnt annoy me. I found them a sweet addition. Although not a new approach, and very risky since if done the wrong way could really become trite. But in this book, it was appropriate since Indian culture is very much about food. And they were Americanized enough for me to think 'hey, we like curry, maybe I will try that!'
But around the halfway point of the book things go a bit bland, preachy and sometimes even intellecutally insulting. Note to author: If you do not think your readers politically aware enough or informationally savvy enough to know who Benazir Bhutto is, then don't mention her. Or you can explain breifly who she is in a footnote. But it is highly insulting to readers who DO know who she is to be told about her in a precursory dismissive way.
Bottom Line: I skimmed the end of the book.
But around the halfway point of the book things go a bit bland, preachy and sometimes even intellecutally insulting. Note to author: If you do not think your readers politically aware enough or informationally savvy enough to know who Benazir Bhutto is, then don't mention her. Or you can explain breifly who she is in a footnote. But it is highly insulting to readers who DO know who she is to be told about her in a precursory dismissive way.
Bottom Line: I skimmed the end of the book.
September 27, 2012
I just spent a good chunk of time writing a review as to why I LIKED this book (as in "it was okay") but why I didn't LOVE it.....and some glitch within Goodreads ERASED IT.
I hate you Goodreads. *insert expletives here*
Here's the recreated version:
Monica Pradhan - decent writer. But no Jhumpa Lahiri so _do not_ expect something on that level.
Story - told in the first person by three American-born-Indian daughters and their immigrant mothers.
Problem - trying to tell the narratives of SIX women, while also exposing the reader to Indian culture, customs, food, dress, language, history (esp Partition), mythology, religion, etc. Technical information overload, at times akin to reading a text book.
Result - Too much information crammed into not enough pages, taking up space where the narratives should have been. The individual stories started off strong but in the end some of the women's tales were somewhat lacking. For example, you find out one of the mothers is having an affair with her first love - and that's it. Like, hello? That's pretty significant and yet as a reader, you get nothing more in terms of emotions/thoughts/storyline.
What annoyed me - The realism of it all (that was sarcasm, btw). ALL the daughters are professionally "uber successful" (one's a doctor, one's a rocket scientist-turned-successful-artist, one's a corporate something-or-other). Two of the girls have "great marriages", one of the two also has "great kids". Side note: the mothers life-stories seemed a bit more believable (even the mother who married the white guy).
Of course there has to be SOME issue which is provided by Kiran (one of the daughters), who has gotten divorced and decides she MUST meet a man, get married and have a family ASAP because she is 32 years old - therefore she's willing to settle for an 'arranged marriage' with an Indian man (as in looking for compatibility of life goals, not true love).
WHAT I HATED THE MOST - During the search for an 'arranged husband' it *just so turns out* that there's a TALL, BLONDE, BLUE-EYED, TEXAN who's living IN INDIA (hence no custom barrier), who speaks perfect Marathi (hence no language barrier), who has lost his wife who was KOREAN (hence no family barrier on his end regarding 'marrying someone of a different race/culture') and....(drum roll please).....they fall madly in love.
And while the book is 426 pages long, this all happens in the LAST 87 (!!!) PAGES. Not only that, you don't get to READ about the falling-in-love process but you're 'told' via phone call when Kiran tells her mother. And of course this culminates into the "perfect wedding" at the end of the book along with all the other characters wrapping up their stories (and their individual issues) "happily ever after".
Do you see the problem I had with all this?
I like books and storylines to be consistent. When you read Like Water for Chocolate you know from the first page it's going to be a whimsical fairytale-like story. When you read Bridges of Madison County the gentle theme, pace and tone carries throughout - even as the two characters fall in love over a matter of days.
The Hindi-Bindi Club is set up under the umbrella of REALISM (putting aside the fact that none of the daughters had regular office cubicle jobs or marriage problems or "oops babies" etc). It's realistic - from the first generation immigrant experience to the second generation experience of straddling two cultures to the stories of the grandparents in the old country. It's chock-full of 'real stuff' - historical, cultural, etc.
But then...in the end...there's this FANTASY BULLSHXT that gets thrown in to create a "happily-ever-after ending" tying up all the loose ends. *frown* That part SUCKED and I blame the editor . I don't know what the author was thinking (although at the back of the book there is a 'Letter To the Reader' in which she admits she wanted to keep working on the novel). Nonetheless it was the EDITOR'S JOB to nix such a fake ending.
The reason this book got three stars - because like I said before, Monica Pradhan is a decent writer. And she had some really great things to say about life and living (mostly voicing it from the mother's perspective). I felt like I learned something about Indian culture/history that I never knew about before (though it was excessive).
If you read this (overlooking the gag-me-with-a-spoon, eye-rolling, bullshxt ending), I think you would enjoy it too. Plus there were all these YUMMY sounding Indian recipes at the end of each chapter and it made me want to cook them! :)
I hate you Goodreads. *insert expletives here*
Here's the recreated version:
Monica Pradhan - decent writer. But no Jhumpa Lahiri so _do not_ expect something on that level.
Story - told in the first person by three American-born-Indian daughters and their immigrant mothers.
Problem - trying to tell the narratives of SIX women, while also exposing the reader to Indian culture, customs, food, dress, language, history (esp Partition), mythology, religion, etc. Technical information overload, at times akin to reading a text book.
Result - Too much information crammed into not enough pages, taking up space where the narratives should have been. The individual stories started off strong but in the end some of the women's tales were somewhat lacking. For example, you find out one of the mothers is having an affair with her first love - and that's it. Like, hello? That's pretty significant and yet as a reader, you get nothing more in terms of emotions/thoughts/storyline.
What annoyed me - The realism of it all (that was sarcasm, btw). ALL the daughters are professionally "uber successful" (one's a doctor, one's a rocket scientist-turned-successful-artist, one's a corporate something-or-other). Two of the girls have "great marriages", one of the two also has "great kids". Side note: the mothers life-stories seemed a bit more believable (even the mother who married the white guy).
Of course there has to be SOME issue which is provided by Kiran (one of the daughters), who has gotten divorced and decides she MUST meet a man, get married and have a family ASAP because she is 32 years old - therefore she's willing to settle for an 'arranged marriage' with an Indian man (as in looking for compatibility of life goals, not true love).
WHAT I HATED THE MOST - During the search for an 'arranged husband' it *just so turns out* that there's a TALL, BLONDE, BLUE-EYED, TEXAN who's living IN INDIA (hence no custom barrier), who speaks perfect Marathi (hence no language barrier), who has lost his wife who was KOREAN (hence no family barrier on his end regarding 'marrying someone of a different race/culture') and....(drum roll please).....they fall madly in love.
And while the book is 426 pages long, this all happens in the LAST 87 (!!!) PAGES. Not only that, you don't get to READ about the falling-in-love process but you're 'told' via phone call when Kiran tells her mother. And of course this culminates into the "perfect wedding" at the end of the book along with all the other characters wrapping up their stories (and their individual issues) "happily ever after".
Do you see the problem I had with all this?
I like books and storylines to be consistent. When you read Like Water for Chocolate you know from the first page it's going to be a whimsical fairytale-like story. When you read Bridges of Madison County the gentle theme, pace and tone carries throughout - even as the two characters fall in love over a matter of days.
The Hindi-Bindi Club is set up under the umbrella of REALISM (putting aside the fact that none of the daughters had regular office cubicle jobs or marriage problems or "oops babies" etc). It's realistic - from the first generation immigrant experience to the second generation experience of straddling two cultures to the stories of the grandparents in the old country. It's chock-full of 'real stuff' - historical, cultural, etc.
But then...in the end...there's this FANTASY BULLSHXT that gets thrown in to create a "happily-ever-after ending" tying up all the loose ends. *frown* That part SUCKED and I blame the editor . I don't know what the author was thinking (although at the back of the book there is a 'Letter To the Reader' in which she admits she wanted to keep working on the novel). Nonetheless it was the EDITOR'S JOB to nix such a fake ending.
The reason this book got three stars - because like I said before, Monica Pradhan is a decent writer. And she had some really great things to say about life and living (mostly voicing it from the mother's perspective). I felt like I learned something about Indian culture/history that I never knew about before (though it was excessive).
If you read this (overlooking the gag-me-with-a-spoon, eye-rolling, bullshxt ending), I think you would enjoy it too. Plus there were all these YUMMY sounding Indian recipes at the end of each chapter and it made me want to cook them! :)
April 19, 2013
This is a book that jumped out at me at a used book store but for whatever reason, I didn't buy it. A few months later I came back looking for it because I couldn't stop thinking "why didn't I buy that book?" Surprisingly, it was there and I bought it only to leave it on my book shelf for years! I finally read it while I was sick and looking for some relief from academic research for a class and it was great.
The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of three first generation Indian-American girls and their mothers. The alternating viewpoints threw me at first but after a few chapters you become more interested in the stories and can easily keep up. The three daughters have grown up in a kind of forced friendship (more like cousins) derived from their mothers' friendships. Though all three families hail from different parts of India, their parents found common ground as Indian immigrants and remained close over a period of years--gathering frequently in what their daughters dubbed "The Hindi Bindi Club"--the sole place where they find comfort and understanding and support each other through an immigrant's struggle's. The Hindi Bindi Club is also the only place where they can freely enjoy their Indian heritage and speak Hindu.
As indicated on the back cover, the book weave's a similar tale to Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. If you liked that (as I did), you will enjoy this book. It's a light read--entertaining, sometimes sad, sometimes funny--but over all worth your time.
The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of three first generation Indian-American girls and their mothers. The alternating viewpoints threw me at first but after a few chapters you become more interested in the stories and can easily keep up. The three daughters have grown up in a kind of forced friendship (more like cousins) derived from their mothers' friendships. Though all three families hail from different parts of India, their parents found common ground as Indian immigrants and remained close over a period of years--gathering frequently in what their daughters dubbed "The Hindi Bindi Club"--the sole place where they find comfort and understanding and support each other through an immigrant's struggle's. The Hindi Bindi Club is also the only place where they can freely enjoy their Indian heritage and speak Hindu.
As indicated on the back cover, the book weave's a similar tale to Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. If you liked that (as I did), you will enjoy this book. It's a light read--entertaining, sometimes sad, sometimes funny--but over all worth your time.
November 15, 2009
I am very fascinated by Bollywood movies, but do not know a whole lot about Indian culture. Consequently I feel a lot of the movies I have watched have not been enjoyed as much as they could have due to my lack of eduction in this part of the world's history. So, one day in Costco, when I saw this book among the other stacks I added it to my cart hoping to learn a little and be entertained. Well, I know there is so much I don't know, but I feel like I got to look through a key hole to a beautiful and fascinating culture. This novel was very entertaining and a lot of fun. The characters were complex and realistic. The plot was engaging. I would love to try the recipes, but am terrified due to the complexity and my complete lack of knowledge when it comes to Indian cuisine. My only complaint was the end. It felt rushed. I think she could have taken more time. She had all these interesting plots that had been built up and they just seemed to end in a perfect little bow. I am not complaining as much about the perfect bow though as I am about how quickly she tied it. It felt like she just wanted to get it finished and no longer spend the time with the characters. But, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone. Oh, and if you have any aversion to "chick lit" you might want to pick up another book. It is sappy and sugary, but it won't cause any cavities and does have some definite meat to it.
October 4, 2009
The only reason this book got two stars instead of one was the presence of recipes. It's about three Indian families who moved to the US, and focuses on the mothers and their (American-born) daughters. Let's start with the title: an awkward stretch, supposedly based on what the three girls called their mothers because they were Hindi and sometimes wore bindis (forehead decorations). Please!!! (Not to mention how derivative it is of "The Joy Luck Club.")
The characters were so undifferentiated that I couldn't keep track of who was who. They seemed to be mouthpieces for information about Indian culture and politics. The writing was lazy. This is probably the worst instance: " 'A brush with death changes the way you look at things. It's made me more philosophical. Less judgmental.' She makes an analogy about sunlight hitting a cut crystal, the multitude of prisms. 'That's how I see things now.' "
'Nuff said.
The characters were so undifferentiated that I couldn't keep track of who was who. They seemed to be mouthpieces for information about Indian culture and politics. The writing was lazy. This is probably the worst instance: " 'A brush with death changes the way you look at things. It's made me more philosophical. Less judgmental.' She makes an analogy about sunlight hitting a cut crystal, the multitude of prisms. 'That's how I see things now.' "
'Nuff said.
April 21, 2008
Wonderful book to understanding mother/daughter relationships and also surprisingly very informative about Indian history and culture. Pleasant, fun, read full of great quotes like this one: Irish Diplomacy is the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to making the trip.
August 25, 2008
I thought it was about time that I read some adult fiction, so when I saw this on sale at my library (for a quarter! can you believe it!) I thought I'd give it a try. I am fascinated by the Hindu/Indian culture, and this book didn't disappoint. It even had recipes after each chapter! I love that for any culture, family, etc. food plays such an important role in sustaining life, strengthening bonds, making memories, etc. etc. So I loved that the author noted that by putting in recipes for the food mentioned in each chapter. What a great idea!
This book was a little hard to get into just because it had 6 different narrators. So I would just get to know one person's life history and then had to readjust to another's and another's and then all of their mom's, and get to know 3 different family heritages!! And then try to pronounce in my head the Indian names!!! Wow, that was hard for me. But even with that I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Indian history, culture, families, as well as lessons like how to look past family members shortcomings and just love them for who they are, etc. etc. A good read!
This book was a little hard to get into just because it had 6 different narrators. So I would just get to know one person's life history and then had to readjust to another's and another's and then all of their mom's, and get to know 3 different family heritages!! And then try to pronounce in my head the Indian names!!! Wow, that was hard for me. But even with that I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about Indian history, culture, families, as well as lessons like how to look past family members shortcomings and just love them for who they are, etc. etc. A good read!
June 28, 2010
This is a good beach/plane/waiting for the bus book. It's easy to read, and it's not complicated by any real emotional exploration by any of the characters. The plot is predictable, and the conversations between the characters are superficial. However, I enjoyed it. It's a great break from whatever serious stuff you've been reading.
The book jacket advertises this book as following the tradition of "The Joy Luck Club" and "Like Water for Chocolate." The former is true, except that this is an Indian "Joy Luck Club". The latter is rather insulting to Laura Esquivel. Yes, the Hindi-Bindi Club has recipes, and they look excellent. However, the recipes are not integrated into the story in the same way that they propel the story forward in "Like Water for Chocolate." And Esquivel is a much better writer than Pradhan.
The book jacket advertises this book as following the tradition of "The Joy Luck Club" and "Like Water for Chocolate." The former is true, except that this is an Indian "Joy Luck Club". The latter is rather insulting to Laura Esquivel. Yes, the Hindi-Bindi Club has recipes, and they look excellent. However, the recipes are not integrated into the story in the same way that they propel the story forward in "Like Water for Chocolate." And Esquivel is a much better writer than Pradhan.
September 1, 2009
Story had potential but in the end fell flat. Some of the prose was gagging--for example, the emails between Kiran and Preity at the end regarding her wedding. They were supposed enemeis as kids but now all of a sudden best buds, because Preity tells Kiran she had an eating disorder so was far from perfect. Just really disappointed. Another silly plot--Preity looks for and finds the boy "that got away" on a semester-break trip to India, only to send him some cryptic letter that the reader doesn't even find out whether he understood. Also, every single daughter marrying a non-Indian? That was a little far-fetched for me. Disappointment all the way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2022
This book was amazing. For me, it was a great encapsulation of what it means to be a daughter of immigrants, and the culture clashes and wars that can come alongside that. I enjoyed this exploration of culture (east vs west) and loved how every female character was given their own chapter for narration. I would very much recommend this book for anyone looking to gain appreciation into the experience of somebody who belongs to two cultures, and perhaps never feels that they truly belong to either.
April 24, 2022
This book is so delicately written. As the daughter of an Indian American immigrant, I felt this book hit so many issues bang on - feeling the tug of two cultures, wanting to rebel but also respect your elders, coming from two worlds but identifying with one more than the other at times… the author really wrote as a friend more than a writer. I also loved the recipes! The book got a little predictable towards the end, but I enjoyed the ending overall 😃
September 24, 2022
What *can* i say about this book? It’s so well written and heart rending and easy to identify with at so many turns. This is a book I keep coming back to and consistently recommend to all my Indian-American girlfriends. Even though some themes may not be as relevant for those of us born in the 90’s or later, the vibe is the same and mothers and daughters have challenging dynamics as ever. Truly The Joy-Luck Club for Indian-Americans!
October 19, 2007
I loved that this book dwelled on the Indian heritage, and the recipes included are certainly ones that I want to try. The prose and dialogue felt forced though.
The book cover insinuates that it's on par with "The Joy Luck Club." With the exception of the mother-daughter stories told through different voices and the use of a non-Wonderbread family, it's not, but it's not a bad read either.
The book cover insinuates that it's on par with "The Joy Luck Club." With the exception of the mother-daughter stories told through different voices and the use of a non-Wonderbread family, it's not, but it's not a bad read either.
March 7, 2009
Chick lit Asian Style. I didn't care for this book - many of the emails did not ring true to character and the story was confusing at times. The Asian history was the best part of the book. The recipes looked interesting but, to be honest, I didn't read it for the recipes. My book club read this book, 2 girls didn't finish it and the rest of the consensus was lukewarm.
September 23, 2017
The writing was stellar, the story was awesome. I found the characters super relatable and the ending was adorable. If you loved joy luck club, you would love this -- and love the "desi" or Indian additions.
April 22, 2022
Wonderful read. I love the cultural/generational interplay between the females in the families. Such a rich and vibrant storyline.
April 24, 2019
'The Hindi-Bindi Club' is a tale of six women - three mothers and their three adult daughters - all living in the USA. The mothers were born in India and moved to the USA for education or marriage, whilst the daughters are all Americans born and bred. Whilst they were still children, the daughters nicknamed the group of friends of which their mothers were all members as the Hindi-Bindi Club.
All six women have ‘issues’. Saroj is having an affair, Meenal is recovering from breast cancer, and Uma yearns to see her old pre-Partition home in Lahore but fears to go to Pakistan as an Indian-born traveller. And of course, they all worry about their daughters, some with more reason than others. The daughters are all successful women a marketing exec, a rocket scientist turned artist (yes, I found that one a bit hard to swallow) and a doctor; fine examples of the Indian immigrant dream come true. But like their mothers, the daughters have their problems too. Kiran the doctor has divorced her American musician husband who had ‘commitment issues’ which is a nice way of saying he screwed around. Rani the rocket scientist has just had her first solo art exhibition but is a long term sufferer of the severe depression that dogs the women of her family and killed her grandmother. She thinks she has lost her ‘muse’. Preity, the perfect girl with a perfect blond god Scandinavian husband and gorgeous fair-skinned children, still years for the boy her parents wouldn’t let her see when she was a teenager. The six are brought together by a quest to ‘semi-arrange’ a marriage for Kiran. She’s tried doing it her own way and made a hash of it, so it’s time to get the Hindi-Bindi club and their daughters roped in to find her a man in the more traditional way.
There are of course some men in the book but their role is pretty secondary. They are husbands, ex-husbands, suitors and fathers. Kiran’s father Yash is perhaps the most significant a man who can’t come to terms with the idea of being a warm, loving, nurturing American dad when all his upbringing and instincts are to be hyper-critical disapproving Indian father.
'The Hindi-Bindi Club' was recommended to me by my husband's pal Dal, a roughty toughty British-born Punjabi with a fiery temper and a license to break bones at work (he works in a high-security prison so he only breaks them when he has to). He’s not the type of person I expected to read, let alone recommend something that was quite such ‘chick-lit’. Clearly, there’s a romantic soul in every Punjabi boy who’s been forced to watch too many Bollywood blockbusters.
This is Indian-American chick-lit, pure and simple. The names may be exotic, the locations as they flit back and forth to India are colourful and well painted but at core, it’s just another story of girl meets boy, girl divorces boy, girl gets family and friends to find her a new boy. There’s a twist in how she finds her Prince Charming and how he manages to both be simultaneously perfect and completely wrong and most readers will spot what’s going to happen way in advance, but it’s still a pleasant, gentle tale of belonging and fitting it, fighting your demons, finding ways to bring the old ways and the new ways into harmony and taking solace in the power of friendship and of understanding your roots.
Between each chapter we’re given a recipe, sometimes several, usually relating to one or more of the dishes that’s been mentioned in the previous chapter. I found these utterly redundant and annoying and skipped every one. If I want an Indian cookbook I’ll buy an Indian cookbook I won’t go looking for recipes in the middle of a novel. My sister, by contrast, picked up the book, ignored the story and just read the recipes. Nature or nurture, I’m not sure but it’s hard to believe we share the same genetic material!
It’s not entirely clear who the target audience for the Hindi-Bindi Club is supposed to be. Surely American-born Indian women will not be interested in the recipes and will be a bit shocked that so many of their ‘sisters’ seem to be marrying out. They’ll also surely find some of the over-explanation of Indian ways a bit annoying. For the general non-Indian audience, the book is sometimes over-detailed and at other times skips explaining things that probably won’t make sense if you aren’t already au fait with how such things work. However, if you keep it light, don’t expect too much insight or social commentary, it’s a nice gentle, not too intellectually challenging story about the immigrant dream, what can go wrong, and the redemptive power of family and friendship. It’s not great literature but it’s a good solid read that will please many and won’t offend those who normally loathe chick-lit as much as I do.
All six women have ‘issues’. Saroj is having an affair, Meenal is recovering from breast cancer, and Uma yearns to see her old pre-Partition home in Lahore but fears to go to Pakistan as an Indian-born traveller. And of course, they all worry about their daughters, some with more reason than others. The daughters are all successful women a marketing exec, a rocket scientist turned artist (yes, I found that one a bit hard to swallow) and a doctor; fine examples of the Indian immigrant dream come true. But like their mothers, the daughters have their problems too. Kiran the doctor has divorced her American musician husband who had ‘commitment issues’ which is a nice way of saying he screwed around. Rani the rocket scientist has just had her first solo art exhibition but is a long term sufferer of the severe depression that dogs the women of her family and killed her grandmother. She thinks she has lost her ‘muse’. Preity, the perfect girl with a perfect blond god Scandinavian husband and gorgeous fair-skinned children, still years for the boy her parents wouldn’t let her see when she was a teenager. The six are brought together by a quest to ‘semi-arrange’ a marriage for Kiran. She’s tried doing it her own way and made a hash of it, so it’s time to get the Hindi-Bindi club and their daughters roped in to find her a man in the more traditional way.
There are of course some men in the book but their role is pretty secondary. They are husbands, ex-husbands, suitors and fathers. Kiran’s father Yash is perhaps the most significant a man who can’t come to terms with the idea of being a warm, loving, nurturing American dad when all his upbringing and instincts are to be hyper-critical disapproving Indian father.
'The Hindi-Bindi Club' was recommended to me by my husband's pal Dal, a roughty toughty British-born Punjabi with a fiery temper and a license to break bones at work (he works in a high-security prison so he only breaks them when he has to). He’s not the type of person I expected to read, let alone recommend something that was quite such ‘chick-lit’. Clearly, there’s a romantic soul in every Punjabi boy who’s been forced to watch too many Bollywood blockbusters.
This is Indian-American chick-lit, pure and simple. The names may be exotic, the locations as they flit back and forth to India are colourful and well painted but at core, it’s just another story of girl meets boy, girl divorces boy, girl gets family and friends to find her a new boy. There’s a twist in how she finds her Prince Charming and how he manages to both be simultaneously perfect and completely wrong and most readers will spot what’s going to happen way in advance, but it’s still a pleasant, gentle tale of belonging and fitting it, fighting your demons, finding ways to bring the old ways and the new ways into harmony and taking solace in the power of friendship and of understanding your roots.
Between each chapter we’re given a recipe, sometimes several, usually relating to one or more of the dishes that’s been mentioned in the previous chapter. I found these utterly redundant and annoying and skipped every one. If I want an Indian cookbook I’ll buy an Indian cookbook I won’t go looking for recipes in the middle of a novel. My sister, by contrast, picked up the book, ignored the story and just read the recipes. Nature or nurture, I’m not sure but it’s hard to believe we share the same genetic material!
It’s not entirely clear who the target audience for the Hindi-Bindi Club is supposed to be. Surely American-born Indian women will not be interested in the recipes and will be a bit shocked that so many of their ‘sisters’ seem to be marrying out. They’ll also surely find some of the over-explanation of Indian ways a bit annoying. For the general non-Indian audience, the book is sometimes over-detailed and at other times skips explaining things that probably won’t make sense if you aren’t already au fait with how such things work. However, if you keep it light, don’t expect too much insight or social commentary, it’s a nice gentle, not too intellectually challenging story about the immigrant dream, what can go wrong, and the redemptive power of family and friendship. It’s not great literature but it’s a good solid read that will please many and won’t offend those who normally loathe chick-lit as much as I do.
Read
July 21, 2016For decades they have remained close, sharing treasured recipes, honored customs, and the challenges of women shaped by ancient ways yet living modern lives. They are the Hindi-Bindi Club, a nickname given by their American daughters to the mothers who left India to start anew—daughters now grown and facing struggles of their own.
The Hindi-Bindi Club
Meenal
Survived breast cancer this year and has found that this experience has opened her mind to things that she would have rejected in the past
Saroj
Had to flee her beloved hometown of Lahore as a child during Partition. Now is considering traveling back to Lahore to find the childhood friends left behind.
Uma
Disowned by her father after marrying an Irish man, she wants to translate her late mother's poetry from Bengali to English if she can get her relatives to give her access to the journals
The Daughters
Kiran
Meenal's daughter disappointed her family by marrying a man they disapproved of and then getting a divorce. Now, 5 years later, she is considering a semi-arranged marriage.
Preity
Saroj's daughter was always the perfect one but she's haunted by a romance that her mother put a stop to because the man was Muslim.
Rani
Uma's daughter left her prestigious job to be an artist. Now she isn't sure that she made the right choice.
The women would have never been friends if they hadn't ended up in the same university when they came to the U.S. and then all moved to the outskirts of Washington D.C. Their daughters were never friends despite being thrown together all the time. Each of them is now struggling with major life decisions and finds that they need each other.
I expected this book to be much lighter than it was. There are some serious issues here but there are also funny moments.
There are some amazing sounding recipes here. I want to try the rice dish. I can never get rice to taste as good as it does in Indian restaurants.
This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
The Hindi-Bindi Club
Meenal
Survived breast cancer this year and has found that this experience has opened her mind to things that she would have rejected in the past
Saroj
Had to flee her beloved hometown of Lahore as a child during Partition. Now is considering traveling back to Lahore to find the childhood friends left behind.
Uma
Disowned by her father after marrying an Irish man, she wants to translate her late mother's poetry from Bengali to English if she can get her relatives to give her access to the journals
The Daughters
Kiran
Meenal's daughter disappointed her family by marrying a man they disapproved of and then getting a divorce. Now, 5 years later, she is considering a semi-arranged marriage.
Preity
Saroj's daughter was always the perfect one but she's haunted by a romance that her mother put a stop to because the man was Muslim.
Rani
Uma's daughter left her prestigious job to be an artist. Now she isn't sure that she made the right choice.
The women would have never been friends if they hadn't ended up in the same university when they came to the U.S. and then all moved to the outskirts of Washington D.C. Their daughters were never friends despite being thrown together all the time. Each of them is now struggling with major life decisions and finds that they need each other.
I expected this book to be much lighter than it was. There are some serious issues here but there are also funny moments.
There are some amazing sounding recipes here. I want to try the rice dish. I can never get rice to taste as good as it does in Indian restaurants.
This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
July 21, 2011
The Hindi Bindi Club comprises of Indian women, who migrated from India in early post Independence days to settle down in the United States of America. They are the women who despite being so far away from their motherland have tried to maintained their identity in the foreign country (now their home) by their language(Hindi) and attire(Bindi). They have tried their best to imbibe the traditional values, customs in their children who are born there and are brought up as Americans. But, have they succeded?
The Hindi Bindi Club tells the story of two generation of Indians, parents and their children, more specifically mothers and their daughters living in America ~ their differences as the children grow taking in bits from both the cultures, growing up as beings of dual identity! The novel addresses how difficult it is for them to live up to the expectations of their parents and still remained grounded and and be true to themselves. Another big part of this novel is food. Food is a major part of any culture. To learn about a culture, you have to learn about the food. So, Monica Pradhan takes us to a tour of Indian Cuisine with her mom's mouthwatering recipes.
The novel starts with Kiran once married to her Italian boy friend much against her parent's wishes and now divorced. She is afraid of the time ticking by and seeks refuge in the old traditional custom of arranged marriage, a custom she once vehemently dismissed as backward and orthodox. In the process she tries to mend her strained relationship with her parents. There is Preity whose first love was dismissed by her mother on religious grounds. Despite being happily married now, her memory often slips into those old times and she tries to fight back her anger and despair. And last of all is Rani, an artist, who has her own demons to exorcise. As all of these and their mothers struggles to hold on their dreams and aspirations, the readers are taken through their life, values and subtle layers of Indian cultures.
I liked the book, but I also had some issues with it. I loved the recipes given in the book and will surely try them eventually. The plot and premise is fine with its own twists and turns that makes the novel a good read in the long run. However, there were some portions I felt were a big too detailed and pointless as if the author included them just for the sake it. There were details of the kitty parties, new year party which did not really add up to the big picture. In the end the detailed description of an Indian marriage custom was really boring and unwanted for. The best thing I liked about the novel was how subtley the author described the healing of relationship between Kiran and her mother in particular, how they were there for each other in the times of their need.Overall the author has tried to give an account of the first and second generation Indian in the USA with all their struggles and difficulties in combining traditional Indian culture with modern American values. I also felt that this novel caters to only a limited audience. However, it would be a good read for all those people who are keen on knowing about Indian culture and cuisine.
The Hindi Bindi Club tells the story of two generation of Indians, parents and their children, more specifically mothers and their daughters living in America ~ their differences as the children grow taking in bits from both the cultures, growing up as beings of dual identity! The novel addresses how difficult it is for them to live up to the expectations of their parents and still remained grounded and and be true to themselves. Another big part of this novel is food. Food is a major part of any culture. To learn about a culture, you have to learn about the food. So, Monica Pradhan takes us to a tour of Indian Cuisine with her mom's mouthwatering recipes.
The novel starts with Kiran once married to her Italian boy friend much against her parent's wishes and now divorced. She is afraid of the time ticking by and seeks refuge in the old traditional custom of arranged marriage, a custom she once vehemently dismissed as backward and orthodox. In the process she tries to mend her strained relationship with her parents. There is Preity whose first love was dismissed by her mother on religious grounds. Despite being happily married now, her memory often slips into those old times and she tries to fight back her anger and despair. And last of all is Rani, an artist, who has her own demons to exorcise. As all of these and their mothers struggles to hold on their dreams and aspirations, the readers are taken through their life, values and subtle layers of Indian cultures.
I liked the book, but I also had some issues with it. I loved the recipes given in the book and will surely try them eventually. The plot and premise is fine with its own twists and turns that makes the novel a good read in the long run. However, there were some portions I felt were a big too detailed and pointless as if the author included them just for the sake it. There were details of the kitty parties, new year party which did not really add up to the big picture. In the end the detailed description of an Indian marriage custom was really boring and unwanted for. The best thing I liked about the novel was how subtley the author described the healing of relationship between Kiran and her mother in particular, how they were there for each other in the times of their need.Overall the author has tried to give an account of the first and second generation Indian in the USA with all their struggles and difficulties in combining traditional Indian culture with modern American values. I also felt that this novel caters to only a limited audience. However, it would be a good read for all those people who are keen on knowing about Indian culture and cuisine.
May 18, 2019
Nice easy going read with fun recipes. Amanda recommended it to me
August 4, 2011
A light and pleasurable read. We follow the life of 3 American born Indian girls and their mothers who emigrated to the States in the 60s.
The novel touched on a number of topics that are close to my heart: family bonding, cultural differences, when the East meets the West, Soulmates, follow one's heart to chase the dreams that our dear to us, and to seek and patch an ancient(?) relationship and the ripening of friendships.
How many times have you been asked the question "Where are you from?" and how many times have you wondered how you should answer this question? ... like Kiran, What appeared to be a simple question entails more complexity in the answer to me. Is the person asking for my current residential location? or My place of birth and all the geographical progression along the way up to now? or My heritage? or about My Maiden/Married Name/skin colour? or is the question triggered by my accent in Cantonese, or my accent in English??.... And just how much time does the questioner have to listen?
HOME, there is a Home where we reside and find sanctuary, and there's the HOME where everything seems to fall into place and back to the root kind of feeling, but at which we don't reside at anymore. Like Preity, "I can dress the part, but the accent gives me away." .... I love my Shanghai Tangs & jade pendants, but "Are you a foreigner? "... They appear foreign in the eyes of local Chinese in Hong Kong and they are definitely foreign in the 'Sun burnt Country'. So, where is Home? anywhere where my Heart is!
And yes, with much laughter and tears, I am blessed for I've found my soul mate... "Then one (day), out of nowhere, the past whispered in (my) ear. (I) remembered. Memories of (my) past life, (my) past love came to (me), as messages in bottles, thrown out to sea, finally washing ashore, reaching their intended destination..... "The princess loved the prince before she had any concrete concept of love. She had no
need to label her feelings, knew that whatever she felt, the prince felt. A mirror reflection. That’s how it is when two souls connect. No insecurities, no second-guessing. You just know...."
There are also many yummy Indian recipe in the book.
A few recipe for my personal reference:
Meenal's Mango Lassi: P111
Meenal's Masala Chai P.166
Tamarind Chutney P.134
Ghee P.246
The novel touched on a number of topics that are close to my heart: family bonding, cultural differences, when the East meets the West, Soulmates, follow one's heart to chase the dreams that our dear to us, and to seek and patch an ancient(?) relationship and the ripening of friendships.
How many times have you been asked the question "Where are you from?" and how many times have you wondered how you should answer this question? ... like Kiran, What appeared to be a simple question entails more complexity in the answer to me. Is the person asking for my current residential location? or My place of birth and all the geographical progression along the way up to now? or My heritage? or about My Maiden/Married Name/skin colour? or is the question triggered by my accent in Cantonese, or my accent in English??.... And just how much time does the questioner have to listen?
HOME, there is a Home where we reside and find sanctuary, and there's the HOME where everything seems to fall into place and back to the root kind of feeling, but at which we don't reside at anymore. Like Preity, "I can dress the part, but the accent gives me away." .... I love my Shanghai Tangs & jade pendants, but "Are you a foreigner? "... They appear foreign in the eyes of local Chinese in Hong Kong and they are definitely foreign in the 'Sun burnt Country'. So, where is Home? anywhere where my Heart is!
And yes, with much laughter and tears, I am blessed for I've found my soul mate... "Then one (day), out of nowhere, the past whispered in (my) ear. (I) remembered. Memories of (my) past life, (my) past love came to (me), as messages in bottles, thrown out to sea, finally washing ashore, reaching their intended destination..... "The princess loved the prince before she had any concrete concept of love. She had no
need to label her feelings, knew that whatever she felt, the prince felt. A mirror reflection. That’s how it is when two souls connect. No insecurities, no second-guessing. You just know...."
There are also many yummy Indian recipe in the book.
A few recipe for my personal reference:
Meenal's Mango Lassi: P111
Meenal's Masala Chai P.166
Tamarind Chutney P.134
Ghee P.246
June 4, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. Much more than I expected, it was such a sweet surprise. I was truly expecting an Indian chic-lit novel and instead I stumble upon a simply deep didactic fiction about a group of Indian immigrants and their first generation Indian American children. I would have given it 4 stars but I remain firm and satisfied with 3.5 because as I mentioned earlier it was simply deep.
What I loved most was the fact that I could relate to it so much, being a child of immigrant parents myself. It didn't matter that my immigrant parents are Nigerian while this book features Indians. I could still relate so much to everything and it made me appreciate what my parents did for us even more.
I love that it opened my eyes to the differences (in upbringing) that (immigrant) parents experienced in their lifetimes apart from the ones their children have as the American raised generation. It also enlightened me to the many mistakes, misunderstandings and sacrifices (with multiple doses of wisdom gained) that a parent from a different culture raising their children in another culture (not their own) encounter. And the struggles faced in doing everything they can to instill their culture and beliefs into their children's lives while trying not to be overbearing about it.
Just such a simple yet beautiful read. My favorite mother/daughter relationship would have to be that of Meenal and Kiran's, I enjoyed the growth that eventually came out of their cultural/personality differences. I think I gained the most about life (philosophically) and the power and the strength of love from their stories the most. History and culture wise I learned the most from Saroj and Uma.
There were a few oddities, but not bad or broad enough to ruin the entire story. For example, the rift between two of the mothers that's never explain in terms of what caused it or how it was resolved. I found it interesting that at the end of each chapter she included the recipes to the Indian foods mentioned.
Learning that it is written in the tradition of The Joy Luck Club and Like Water for Chocolate makes me interested to read these other novels as well. If you enjoy didactic fiction or you just have a fascination with learning about other cultures I would recommend reading The Hindi Bindi Club.
What I loved most was the fact that I could relate to it so much, being a child of immigrant parents myself. It didn't matter that my immigrant parents are Nigerian while this book features Indians. I could still relate so much to everything and it made me appreciate what my parents did for us even more.
I love that it opened my eyes to the differences (in upbringing) that (immigrant) parents experienced in their lifetimes apart from the ones their children have as the American raised generation. It also enlightened me to the many mistakes, misunderstandings and sacrifices (with multiple doses of wisdom gained) that a parent from a different culture raising their children in another culture (not their own) encounter. And the struggles faced in doing everything they can to instill their culture and beliefs into their children's lives while trying not to be overbearing about it.
Just such a simple yet beautiful read. My favorite mother/daughter relationship would have to be that of Meenal and Kiran's, I enjoyed the growth that eventually came out of their cultural/personality differences. I think I gained the most about life (philosophically) and the power and the strength of love from their stories the most. History and culture wise I learned the most from Saroj and Uma.
There were a few oddities, but not bad or broad enough to ruin the entire story. For example, the rift between two of the mothers that's never explain in terms of what caused it or how it was resolved. I found it interesting that at the end of each chapter she included the recipes to the Indian foods mentioned.
Learning that it is written in the tradition of The Joy Luck Club and Like Water for Chocolate makes me interested to read these other novels as well. If you enjoy didactic fiction or you just have a fascination with learning about other cultures I would recommend reading The Hindi Bindi Club.
March 7, 2010
Okay, I know, I actually gave a book 3 stars. Don't fall down, I know I NEVER give a book 3 stars. I'll explain why in a minute. I loave the stories of this book. It's the stories of 3 Indian immigrant mothers and their 3 first generation daughters. I shows the differences in Indian and American cultures while weaving us through the struggles of life. I actually REALLY LOVED the story. I always love a book that has multiple authors/storylines. It always intrigues me to see how they can be woven together. The reason I gave this book 3 stars is because there was the "F" word twice and about half a dozen other swear words, and there were a few too many conversations about sex for me (nothing descriptive, just talking about it between girlfriends). If you can get past the above mentioned things, it's a great book, if not, don't read it. I loved learning more about the Indian culture. If I can pick up a book, even a fiction one, and learn something, I love it. It however reminds me that I am far too uneducated on history and other countries. Even my geography knowlege is limiting. I don't feel too bad having bought this book, I paid a dollar for it at the used book store, but I would have been upset if I had paid full price. Take my review for what it's worth. It really was a fabulous story about the heartache and love that exists between a mother and her grown daughter. Oh! I almost forgot the recipes! Every chapter has at least one or two recipes at the end of it. I have to say, my hat is off to the women who make such wonderful food in India. Their cullinary skills are astounding to me. I loved reading about all the amazing cuizine these women prepare (apparently all the recipes are from the author's mother, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!)
October 9, 2008
A sextuple of mothers and daughters muse about what it means to be Indian American. The story includes some historical and culture lessons, along with plenty of recipes. Sounds promising enough, but the story runs into some major problems.
First, the narrative voices are completely indistinct. Six characters shouldn't be too many for a reader to keep straight, but I was constantly confused when the story returned to a thread after five chapters elsewhere. Was this the woman who was disowned by her father? Or the one who had a secret Muslim best friend? And is this supposed to be informing her current affair, or her rocky relationship with her daughter? It's unnecessarily difficult to remember what details belong to which character.
Also, the dialogue was pretty grating. The characters speak in monologues about their ethnic identities, like they're all entering the same essay contest. They pause occasionally so other characters can inject cringe-worthy quips, then roll onward until they've sorted through life's troubles.
And, this is a minor point but one that bugged me, one character is a literal rocket scientist who abandons her job at NASA or whatever to pursue her art, which turns out to be commercially successful. Maybe when I quit my job curing AIDS so I can dedicate myself to composing symphonies, I'll empathize with that gal a little better.
I'm still giving the book three stars, because I had fun and learned something, but I wouldn't force it on others.
First, the narrative voices are completely indistinct. Six characters shouldn't be too many for a reader to keep straight, but I was constantly confused when the story returned to a thread after five chapters elsewhere. Was this the woman who was disowned by her father? Or the one who had a secret Muslim best friend? And is this supposed to be informing her current affair, or her rocky relationship with her daughter? It's unnecessarily difficult to remember what details belong to which character.
Also, the dialogue was pretty grating. The characters speak in monologues about their ethnic identities, like they're all entering the same essay contest. They pause occasionally so other characters can inject cringe-worthy quips, then roll onward until they've sorted through life's troubles.
And, this is a minor point but one that bugged me, one character is a literal rocket scientist who abandons her job at NASA or whatever to pursue her art, which turns out to be commercially successful. Maybe when I quit my job curing AIDS so I can dedicate myself to composing symphonies, I'll empathize with that gal a little better.
I'm still giving the book three stars, because I had fun and learned something, but I wouldn't force it on others.
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