The American Nightmare. Daughter of Bombay Indians who immigrated to Toronto (Canada) where she was born in 1970, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, who today lives in Los Angeles, is the perfect example of what is considered “integration into the American”. She belongs to a “exemplary minority”, Asians (in the broad sense) who work, get rich, offer their children the best education. They do not make waves and do not, a priori, suffer discrimination because of the color of their skin – swarthy, but not black like that of George Floyd, whose murder in Minneapolis, by white police officers, in 2020, sparked the global Black Lives Matter movement.
Both very Indian in its culture and its way of thinking, but very conditioned byAmerican way of lifeincluding in her writing, Shilpi Somaya Gowda was inspired by all these elements – as well as an internship she did during her studies at the Minneapolis police station (you can’t make this up) – to construct this novel bushy, sensitive and disenchanted.
Three Indian families live in Orange County, near Los Angeles: Vikram and Veena Sharma, Gujarati Brahmins, who live in the (fictitious) very middle-class neighborhood of Pacific Hills, Vikram being the boss of a large company; Shrikesh and Archana Dhillon, Punjabis more middle class, and their children, who live in the Irvine neighborhood; and their best friends Shah, Ashok, Priya and their three children, Deepa, Maya and Ajay. Deepa, the eldest, rebellious, anti-establishment, has as her best friend Paco, a young gay Mexican whose parents are undocumented immigrants. His father, a construction worker, died in an accident. His mother, a housekeeper, did not receive any compensation. Deepa and Paco demonstrate their solidarity with the migrants in Tijuana, at the border. Maya, the youngest, brilliant, well integrated, hangs out with the Baker family, WASPs, whose father is the boss, responsible for the death of Paco’s father. Maya is friends with their daughter and flirts with their son. Finally, Ajay, the youngest, is a slightly autistic gifted person, passionate about computers and particularly drones. He made one for himself, which he decided to test one day near the airport. But the plane crashes, the police intervene and take away, not without beating him, this big, confused boy, who could well be a Pakistani Islamist terrorist! In truth, he is Hindu, he is 12 years old but looks older. Here he is arrested, taken to the station, then to the state prison, by particularly paranoid, obtuse, and borderline racist police officers. One especially, O’Reilly. Then Ajay is released on bail.
Then begins for the Shahs a real ordeal of several weeks to help Ajay, elucidate the circumstances of his arrest, what he is accused of. We will have to wait for the hearing, the start of the trial, for the justice system, sensitive to the public outcry caused by the Justice Pour Tous association, to cancel all proceedings. The Shahs were able to count, during their ordeal, on the solidarity of their loved ones, but they also felt the limits of their Americanness. After this, nothing will ever be the same again, especially for Priya, the courageous mother. She is the one who convinces Ashok to leave Pacific Hills and “come back down” to Irvine. Quite a symbol.
Shilpi Somaya Gowda
A wonderful country
Mercury of France
Edition: 6,000 copies.
Price: €23; 336 pp.
ISBN: 9782715263109
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