false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256116412m/5979374.jpg 5979374 2 An inspiring personal saga that explores the collisions of choice and history that led one unforgettable family to become immigrants. In this groundbreaking work, Minal Hajratwala mixes history, memoir, and reportage to explore the questions facing not only her own Indian family but that of every immigrant: Where did we come from? Why did we leave? What did we give up and gain in the process? Beginning with her great-grandfather Motiram's original flight from British-occupied India to Fiji, where he rose from tailor to department store mogul, Hajratwala follows her ancestors across the twentieth century to explain how they came to be spread across five continents and nine countries. As she delves into the relationship between personal choice and the great historical forces--British colonialism, apartheid, Gandhi's Salt March, and American immigration policy--that helped to shape her family's experiences, Hajratwala brings to light for the very first time the story of the Indian diaspora. This luminous narrative by a child of immigrants offers a deeply intimate look at what it means to call more than one part of the world home. <i>Leaving India</i> should find its place alongside Michael Ondaatje's <i>Running in the Family</i>and Daniel Mendelsohn's <i>The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million</i>. 6152705 18 3 2009 Leaving India: My Family's Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents total:30|5:9|4:12|3:9|2:0|1:0| 30 120 119 17 0 1 false false Thu Feb 19 04:55:13 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 08:02:49 -0800 2009
So far, even though I normally find history dull and hard to read, am enjoying this. In part because I know Minal, of cours...more...]]> 5 4 false false Sat May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 10:59:35 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 18:01:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 11:26:27 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 23 18:01:17 -0700 2009
And I didn't realize it until maybe the third chapter or so. Minal's thesis is clear -- she's summarizing her own family's experience and off...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 20:07:32 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 20:17:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed May 27 18:14:49 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 18:24:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 01 15:09:30 -0800 2009 Sat Jul 25 13:34:53 -0700 2009
At the end, however, I wasn't able to see a common th...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 19:35:23 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 19:36:10 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 10:31:33 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 11:08:17 -0700 2009
I tore through the narrative because of the beautiful portrayals of the Hajratwala's family members. She has pieced together their stories through oral histories and written record with a journalist's fairness and a po...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 10:47:15 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 10:48:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Apr 05 16:42:36 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 16:42:56 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Mar 15 08:15:46 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 19:17:04 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Sep 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 11:59:57 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 22:29:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jul 16 13:21:08 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 13:21:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu May 07 13:17:59 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 15:26:06 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 06:46:21 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 05:04:46 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 22:42:35 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 23:11:59 -0700 2009
I enjoyed this book, particularly the way in which the author told a personal family tale while simultaneously telling the story of one of the world's great disaporas.

]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 22:28:21 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 21:48:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 17 14:29:43 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 14:29:43 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 17 09:22:17 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 09:22:17 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Nov 12 01:22:02 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 01:22:15 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5979374