The need to label is very strong in the human species. It apparently makes it very easy to
understand the context in which the person is operating in. Or so it seems.
This is very obvious in communities based outside their normal space. The
Indian diaspora is found all over the world. In conditions both geographical
and psychological very far from what they would consider what is normal in
India. The urge to find oneself is very strong amongst those especially from
the second generation. Born and raised in strange lands they have to find their
way in order to mark out their space and communicate in their own voice.
Derek Mascarenhas who was in Goa recently for GALF has been a
visitor to the state, where his roots lie. His book Coconut Dreams explores the
lives of the Pinto family through seventeen linked short stories. Starting with
a ghost story set in Goa, India in the 1950s, the collection weaves through
various timelines and perspectives to focus on two children, Aiden and Ally
Pinto.
Commenting on the psychological environment was something that
he had taken a keen interest in for a while. When asked if he was a writer of
Canadian Indian hue or of Indian Canadian extraction, he smiled and said he
considered himself Indian Canadian but he also considered himself Goan. He
smiled and said that Goans even based here had their own queries about their
identity. The characters in his stories had their questions because many of
them were Goan but now living away from it. Many of them were battling their
own demons. Growing up, he said he did not recognise himself in any of the
characters he read. He began to read literature by writers like Arundathi Roy
and Jumpa Lahiri. Reading their books made him realise what great literature
could be, literature written by people just like him.
Like many people who leave home, its memory plays a very
important role in their lives. The memory of Goa plays a very important role in
the lives of the members of the diaspora. Derek’s characters grow up in a very
white town and it was a very strange relationship that developed on both sides.
Many of them had never seen anyone like the character before with his strange
foods and strange smells. In his book, one of his characters does not want to
eat chicken curry but wanted to eat food that his white neighbours ate. This
was an attempt to fit in. It was always important to fit in because it would
then mean they were not standing out, which would invariably result in abuse,
much of it racist.
He along with his siblings grew up in the Canada of the 90’s and
the 2000’s and it was interesting given the fact that Canada was changing. He
had the opportunity to visit Goa and see the home of his parents which helped
him a lot in understanding himself. It also helped him understand the milieu
from which his parents came, their motivations as well as their passions and
dreams.
Derek
intends to continue to write and explore more subjects as a member of the
diaspora as well as someone who could have a viewpoint of the other.
