Indian by choice tackles the complex theme of identity it is a journey of self discovery through the myriad human relationships that help us see things in perspective and in context.
Written in the form of a graphic novel it tells the story of Mandy a second generation Indian born and brought up in Chicago. He is as American as they come hot dogs, French Fires, baseball and the love of all things American especially blonde. He is of course no different from his clones who are in several other parts of the world England and Australia the Netherlands and Canada. They blind with their surroundings by assimilating the culture of their adopted home and denying their Indian roots and heritage. In the case of the hero of our book he has even changed his name from Mandeep to Mandy!
He is required under duress to travel to India for a family wedding and despite his fears and his doubts his distaste and his abhorrence of all things Indian he finds himself drawn into a world that he was familiar with only though his relationship with his parents and sister. These had to do with strong and pervasive family ties and bonding. All this appeared to be so normal and natural in India. Through candid discussion he confronts his fears and ignorance about India. When it is time for him to leave he finds that there is much about India he simply did not know and a great deal he would like to know more. He increasingly reconciles with his suppressed identity. He willingly makes the choice of not denying his Indian roots. He is an Indian by choice.
Amit Dasgupta is a serving Indian diplomat whose professional work has taken him to several countries where he has had the opportunity to meet and interact with a number of persons of Indian origin. He is an Indian by birth and by choice his hobbies range from cooking to photography and chess to writing.
Neelabh Banerjee works with the times of India as the national arts and illustration editor. He is best known for his humorous and immensely popular daily comic strip Dubyaman, of which he is co-creator along with jug Suraiya. Born in the Indian city of Lucknow in 1963 he has held exhibitions in India and Japan. For the last four years his works have been selected for the Nice Carnival, France.
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