The Taste of Ginger Quotes

“my”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Everyone wants it to be that simple. That immigrants have two homes and can seamlessly pass between them. I”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Had I lost my culture? I felt like I was constantly reminded that I was Indian—at work, at a store, when talking to white friends—some part of me was always aware that I wasn’t like the other people around me. It crept into every facet of my life, whether it was someone mispronouncing my name and me grinning and acting like it didn’t bother me, or people assuming I knew every other person with the last name Desai and not understanding it was as common as Smith and in a country far more populated than America. It followed me as I moved about my day, mentally tallying whether I was positive or negative on the karma scale, because while I wasn’t sure what the afterlife entailed, in the event reincarnation was our fate, I wanted to make sure I was on the right end of it. I still understood our native language, wore the clothes when needed, and ate the food mostly without complaint. I certainly never felt like I had “lost” it, but I wondered what made my mother think I had.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“One thing is certain: you don’t understand her life, and she doesn’t understand yours. Until you both start trying the ginger, you never will.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Acceptance and belonging were moving targets.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Only white people say they’re color blind like it’s a good thing. I’ve known what color I and everyone around me were since the day I moved to America. When you’re not at the top of a social hierarchy, you notice everything about the ones who are. So when a white person says they are color blind, it makes me feel like they are treating me as if I’m white rather than what I am. Like I’m not going to be demoted for being brown. It’s not the same as saying my brownness is equal to your whiteness.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Being adrift was the plight of any immigrant, and it was foolish to think that I could somehow circumvent that. But I now felt like I belonged in the only place that mattered. I inched closer and rested my head on my mother’s shoulder as the hichko swayed back and forth, the scent of jasmine all around us.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“With nothing planned, it meant that anything was possible.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“A sense of culture and family are important as well. Those things never go away, even if you try to ignore them. I realize they are a part of who I am, and even if my future partner doesn’t have the same background, he has to respect and appreciate mine just as I would his. You can’t trade in your culture for another. A leopard doesn’t change its spots,”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Countries are like people - you have to accept all sides of them.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Because in the end, it was their sacrifice that allowed me to have the life I had.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“America didn’t allow immigrants who retained their home cultures to be accepted as American. The only way to be convincing in the workplace was to transition into American values and customs and hold them as your own.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Maybe the rest of us were so restless because we were searching for that feeling of belonging that Tushar already had.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“camera again, as if my failure was somehow its fault rather than my own. It wasn’t until Alex had encouraged me to start again a year ago that I had. I began slowly, bringing it out when traveling or at the occasional family event I was guilted into attending. Like Dipti’s baby shower. With the cold war between my mother and me in effect, I would never have come were it not for Neel. It was important to him, so no matter how uncomfortable it made me, I had to suck it up. Besides, even I knew not showing up would be crossing a line with my mother in a way that I couldn’t take back. My family was no different from every other Indian family we knew, and putting on the pretense of being a happy family was more important than actually being one. There would have been no greater insult than the shame of her having to explain to her friends why I wasn’t there.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“Not surprisingly, an arranged marriage coupled with a culture that didn’t accept divorce did not result in many romantic gestures between my parents.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“I smiled at her. “I know. The greatest privilege of being born at the top is that you never have to think about how to get there.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“I never knew you felt that way. I always thought you were color blind, just like I am.” I looked at her, knowing she meant well. “Only white people say they’re color blind like it’s a good thing. I’ve known what color I and everyone around me were since the day I moved to America. When you’re not at the top of a social hierarchy, you notice everything about the ones who are. So when a white person says they are color blind, it makes me feel like they are treating me as if I’m white rather than what I am. Like I’m not going to be demoted for being brown. It’s not the same as saying my brownness is equal to your whiteness.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“It is better to fail at the right thing than to succeed at the wrong one.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“When I was growing up, my dad always said, “In life, the priorities should be Bhagwan, family, health, and then job.” Sitting here, I realized that my work had jumped to the top of that list. And I had let it.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“My mother and I got along much better with thousands of miles separating us.”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger

“out”
― Mansi Shah, The Taste of Ginger