Curious memories in a new courtry Bakul Banerjee, Illinois
I
was twenty-five years old when I immigrated to the U.S. and was fascinated by everything in the new country, from the excessively creamy taste of milk to the wideopen highways. I was surprised that my new home accumulated little dust. Unlike most Bengalis in India who lived with large families, I grew up in a nuclear family that moved often because of my father’s government job. Also, before coming to the U.S., I had spent
seve r a l years in graduate school dorms by myself while studying mathematics. I was accustomed to being alone and independent. However, when I arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in the late seventies, new experiences of being around others were waiting for me. My husband Pranab’s sister, Lekha, her husband, Deep, and their little boy were visiting Baltimore on their way back to India. Deep, a professor at Kolkata University, had come to the U.S. as a visiting professor. He took me under his wing explaining simple things and teaching me the basics, like door-locks and appliance mechanisms. He also told me that Pranab had invited his colleagues, neighbors, and friends from the small local Bengali community to a reception party to celebrate our wedding that took place about a month ago in Kolkata. Pranab was an important personality in the n
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