Motiba's Tattos

Mira Kamdar was born in the United States to an Indian father and a Danish-American mother. In this fascinating memoir, she sets out to rediscover her family's story by tracing its journey from an isolated corner of India to theWeb-wired world of twenty-first-century America. Delving into the history of Motiba-the Gujarati word for grandmother-she follows the family's emigration from feudal India to Bombay where, in the city's ArtDeco movie houses, they are introduced to postwar American life-Hollywood-style. Kamdar's father's journey to the U.S. in the '50s marks the beginning of the family's great westward Indian migration, and their subsequent struggle with multiethnic identity in postmodern California. Deftly evoking lost times and places, Motiba's Tattoos explores the borderless world of Indian-Americans today. Told in rich, lyrical language, Kamdar's story becomes the story of every family who has ever assimilated into a new culture.Kamdar, Mira is the author of 'Motiba's Tattos', published 2001 under ISBN 9780452282698 and ISBN 0452282691.