Writing Across Cultures: Capturing the Indian-American Experience
One of the defining aspects of Different Worlds is its cross-cultural setting. The novel moves between two homes—West Los Angeles and Vile Parle, Mumbai—just as its characters navigate the delicate tensions between two cultures. Writing this story required a nuanced understanding of the Indian-American experience, not only as an observer but as someone shaped by both worlds.
Ramesh and Vandana represent a generation of immigrants who built lives in America while holding tight to the traditions and values of India. They achieved success, respect, and stability. But assimilation is not always synonymous with integration. And in their private lives, they carry the invisible weight of adaptation.
For Ramesh, success is measured in external terms: real estate deals, professional standing, and the ability to provide. For Vandana, it is more internal—how much of herself she has managed to retain despite years of emotional sacrifice. Their children are American in education and sensibility, yet still tied to their Indian heritage. This generational dynamic mirrors countless families I have known.
Writing across cultures means honoring complexity. It means portraying cultural pride without ignoring cultural tension. In Different Worlds, I aimed to show how identity is not a fixed point, but an evolving negotiation—sometimes between languages, sometimes between belief systems, and often between what is expected and what is desired.
Cross-cultural fiction is not simply about diversity. It is about truth. And truth, as I’ve discovered, lives in the spaces between worlds.