The Inscrutable Americans
(Anurag Mathur)
Hilarious linguistic limitations, pretty American girls, concern for granny?s ground rules, search for an identity and attempts at mingling with an alien society- Anurag Mathur?s ?The Inscrutable Americans? is a comical concoction of all these and more. It describes what happens when an Indian student from a remote suburb in Madhya Pradesh lands up in the dazzling city of New York for a course in Chemical Engineering. The Author celebrates the essence of the two nations, their striking disparities, the stereotyped notions and ultimately the sublime human nature that transcends anthropogenic boundaries.
The protagonist Gopal hails from a small town that he proudly sates is the ?Paris of Madhya Pradesh? and runs a family owned Oil Factory. In him the author creates a likeable character who is understandably self conscious and yet is determined to make a mark. He feels he is sticking out like a sore thumb at a party or a restaurant but is very much at home in the classroom widening his horizons with new vistas of knowledge. The story kick starts with a rib tickling letter that Gopal writes to his younger brother on arriving in America. The readers can savour the true Indian spirit in Gopal?s use of the English Language, his love for coca cola, his triumph at managing to bargain at a shopping mall and his constant wonder at the American language. A few weeks in USA and Gopal meets his reverend Grandmother?s instructions ?of eating strictly vegetarian food cooked only by Brahmins and strict avoidance of girls and alcohol? not with contempt or defiance but with gradual acceptance of life at it is led in a new society. Mercifully, the book does not preach or advise, it does not compare and contrast cultures and value systems. It simply and aptly describes a year spent in USA and the metamorphosis of a young boy into a complete man
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