Return to India
Return to India
is the tale of a young lady, fascinated by things American, who left Madras to study in the US, and came back for an arranged marriage....“Although the author does not address it directly, the book highlights two of life’s major questions: Who am I? What are my values?”
Deccan Herald
For those wanting to know
about an Indian's life abroad, this is the book. For all those Indians living abroad and wanting to come back to India, this is the memoir to be read.And, for those just wanting to have a read of a brilliant book, Return to India is a must. Shoba Narayan has indeed given a voice to all those who have been dealing with ‘an immigrant’s dilemma’ – to be or not to be is the question!” Blogadda
The relevance of the book
lies in the fact that Narayan represents a vast multitude of Indians who go through that dilemma day in and day out....The memoir is also about how we handle our urge for ‘freedom’…. The reason for our escape also becomes the reason for our return. And that’s reason enough for this reader to recommend it for all children who want to leave our shores in search of a ‘better’ life.” Business World
Profile in Khabar
Longing to Belong By Deepa Padmanaban February 2013 Shoba Narayan is living in India and loving it. Why did Narayan, a successful author who spent some of her “best years” in the United States, go back to her homeland—and what was her life like in this country? She has written about her experiences in a new book that was released in India recently. Another India returnee spoke to Narayan. In her recently released second memoir, Return to India, renowned journalist and author Shoba Narayan poses this question to herself in a Shakespearean fashion, with an immigrant twist: “To be American or Indian, to return or stay?” She elucidates the challenges of an [...]
r2iclubforums
I have been following r2iclubforums for years and years. I have written about this forum in my book, Return to India. When I posted in the forum recently to publicize my book, the organizers came back to me with a barter arrangement. They would help publicize my book and I would help publicize the forum. There is no legal agreement or fee from either party. It is a shared cause that we both believe in. This made eminent sense because it is both transparent and useful. For anyone who is caught in the r2i dilemma, I highly recommend this forum as a place to engage in. There are countless people who are [...]
Selling on Gumroad
A friend told me about this website that allows writers to sell directly without middlemen. What this means is that if you buy my book for $10, I will get about $9 instead of the $5 or so that other sites give. So if you'd like to buy my book from Gumroad, please click on the link below and it will take you there. Return to India: a memoir
Blogadda
Blogadda is a wonderful site. I dip into it to get a pulse on who's reading what. I have discovered some new writers through it. So when Shail commented here about this post, I had to link to it. Indians are drawn to addas and perhaps blogadda is our version of the Indian verandah or "thinnai".
Singapore coverage
I am competing with svelte models but Singapore's Pardesi Pulse has a piece on the book here.
From New York to Bangalore
Coverage in the New Indian Express here. They all use this same photo!!
Reviews of Return to India
Thank you, bloggers Book Reviews by DDS So it is safe to say that, no matter who you are and what is your life like, you will be able to relate to this story because at the end of the day this book is about the journey of a young girl to becoming a mother, from seeing the life as a party ground to seeing life as an adult who is responsible for another life. It is all about maturing through the years, adjusting to whatever life has to offer and seeing your priorities change Destination Infinity I feel that people who are about to leave the Indian shores in search of [...]
Should I stay or should I go? How an Indian family decided to return home
Excerpt in Quartz, the digital arm of The Atlantic Monthly, one of my favorite magazines. EX PATRIA Should I stay or should I go? How an Indian family decided to return home Shoba Narayan November 17, 2012 Dressing up for an Indian party in New York was, for me, a complicated exercise fraught with rules and miscues. Dressing up for a party at Zahid’s house made it doubly so. On the one hand, I didn’t want to seem too Indian, dressed like my mother in a traditional sari and dime-sized bindi. On the other, I didn’t want to show up in a cocktail dress or pantsuit and confront a sea of women [...]
Review of Return to India in the Deccan Herald
My kids tease me that I am congenitally in favor of the underdog; that I reflexively support, yes, the underdog. This single word has been used as an accusation towards me. For example, I'll say something like, "Oh, come on. That band is not all that bad," and my daughter will yell, "Underdog." I am part of a mailing list called "Silk List" and I reflexively defend Arundhati Roy in this (largely male) group, not because I've read her stuff beyond "The God of Small Things" which I loved, loved, but because she is, in my view a maligned underdog. The Deccan Herald is after my heart. Their Spectrum supplement is one [...]
Business World review
And a good one here. Business World book review Title: Return to India Author: Shoba Narayan Publisher: Rupa Publications Price : Rs. 395 Most young Indians desire is to go and make a career outside India. Surely, the most sought after destination is the United States of America. Every youth would love to escape the education system in India and complete the graduation and beyond in USA. Affordability is one important deterrent. One other way to get in is to do very well and get an admission with as much scholarship as one could get. The other way is to get a graduation from a good institution in India and [...]