This research paper explores the experiences of Indian immigrants, particularly women, navigating cultural displacement and nostalgia in Uma Parameswaran's literary work 'What Was Always Hers.' Through the narratives of her characters, the paper highlights the struggles of accepting a new culture while maintaining ties to their homeland. Parameswaran, as an Indo-Canadian diaspora writer, articulates the complexities of identity and acculturation faced by immigrants in Canada.

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Research Paper- English
Theterm 'diaspora' isderivedfrom theGreek
word "diaspeiro", which means the dispersion of the
populationfrom theirhomeland. Manypeoplemigrate
from originalnativelandtodifferentpartsoftheworld
under 'forced exiles' or 'self-imposed exiles' and feel a
sense ofdisplacement and dislocation that become the
reasonforyearningtogobacktotheirhomeland. Some-
times people move to another country for business,
trade, higher education, and better prospects.
Inanalienland,theyalwaysliveinthedilemma
oftwocultures:thecultureofnativelandandtheculture
of host land. It is difficult for a migrant to reside in an
alien soil with a different culture, location, language,
and identity and always expresses socio-cultural ties
towards his ethnic land. "Diaspora connotes all exo-
duses,settlements,expeditions,andmovements-"vol-
untary or forcible"- of people and communities "from
theirhomelandsinnewregions". (Brah68)Inthepresent
time, the diaspora populations also take interest in the
influence of Indian culture, and in foreign countries,
theyareassimilatingandimitatingIndian culture.
The culture of India refers to a collection of
thousands of distinct and unique cultures of all reli-
gionsandcommunitiespresent inIndia. InIndia, there
is a mixture of different languages, religions, dance,
music,architecture,food,andcustomsprevalent there.
EveryIndian wants to keep their culture, custom, and
cultural identityin their life. Theyare always very at-
tached to their ancestral culture. When many people
move toother countries for their better and secure life,
they always feel cultural diaspora and feel an attach-
Acculturation And Diasporic Influence In
Uma Parmeswaran's "WhatWasAlwaysHers"
*AnjuMehra
*ResearchScholar, DepartmentofEnglish,S.S.J. CampusAlmora, Uttrakhand
A B S T R A C T
Theresearch paperfocusesontheIndianimmigrant'sexperiencesofimmigration,nostalgia,language,
tradition, and acculturation in thehost land with reference toUma Parameswaran's literaryfiction, "WhatWas
Always Hers". As a diasporic writer, she has seen and experienced immigrant life in the host country, Canada
andinherdiasporicworks;shehashighlightedIndian immigrants'cultural displacementin theadoptedcountry,
Canada. Inthepresentbook,shehasexploredtheimmigrantlifeofIndiansespeciallyimmigratedwomenintheir
adopted country. Her characters are always live in confusion to accept the culture of the native countryor host
countryand express their socio-cultural ties towards their homeland.
Keywords: Nostalgia, immigration, acculturation, diaspora, Uma Parameswaran,
displacement
mentfortheirethniccultureandremembertheirpastlife
in India. They always connected with their homeland
andexpress their views through their dailylife experi-
ences.
ManyIndiandiasporicEnglishwritersasV.S.
Naipaul,BharatiMukherjee,AnitaDesai,JhumpaLahiri,
and Uma Parameswaran have delineated their immi-
grantexperiencesin theirliteraryworks.Throughtheir
literary characters, they express their love for Indian
culture and its influence.
Uma Parameswaran is an Indo-Canadian
diaspora writer. She was born in Madras, India, and
raised in Jabalpur where her father was a Professor of
Physics. She has got a bachelor's and master's degree
inEnglishfromthecollegeinNagpur.ShewasaFulbright
ScholarandreceivedanM.A.in CreativeWritingfrom
Indiana University. She went to the United States to
studyAmerican Literatureat Indiana Universityearn-
ingher MAin CreativeWriting. In 1972, shehascom-
pletedherPh.D.inEnglishfromMichiganStateUniver-
sity. She is currentlya retired Professor of English at
the University of Winnipeg. In her creative writings,
she has explored the immigrant experience of South
AsianCanadian Diaspora.
She has experienced cultures of two coun-
tries,for instance,shewasborninIndia,hasspentsome
timethereandaftermigrating,shehasalsoexperienced
theculturalhybridityinCanadaandinherliteraryworks,
she has focused on the Indian diaspora in Canada and
expressed her views on the influence of Indian culture
through her characters.

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In her story collection, "What Was Always
Hers" there are five short stories included in it and in
theseshort stories,shefocuseson theimmigrant lifeof
Indianwomen inCanadian societyandshowshowthey
suffer a lot after migrating there. 'What Was Always
Hers' is thefirst short storyofthebook entitled, "What
was Always Hers", and in this short story, she depicts
theimmigrantexperienceofVeeru,anIndianimmigrant
in the host country, Canada. Like other Indian female
immigrants,shealsomovestoCanadaafterhermarriage
withher husband,Niranjan. Shehastwosons,Vikram,
andAdarsh. Firstly, she is fulfilled with manydreams
and aspirations from the adopted land but when she
knowsherhusband'saffairwithhisworkmateJitin, she
feels totally uprooted and restless.
Oftensheremembersherpasthappylifeinher
nativelandandyearnstogoback.Byhearingthisnews,
like an Indian wife, she feels a sense of displacement.
Her husband always threatens her and finallytells his
decisiontoleaveherforlivingwithJitin,andsheisfilled
with sorrows. "She'dbroodedallnight andeverynight
sincethen.Duringtheday,theroutinehelpedher block
out the baby, the physical pain that had healed, the
otherpainthatwouldneverheal."(Parameswaran,What
WasAlways Hers 10) Like an Indian lady, she doesn't
likeherhusband'sillicitrelationshipwithanother lady
but her husband divorced her and she lives alone with
herchildreninthemulticulturalismofCanadiansociety.
She always faces a clash of culture and identityin her
lifeandtriestoassimilateherselfculturallyandpsycho-
logically in the host country.
It is a universal fact that the feeling of home-
sicknessisfoundineveryIndianimmigrant'slifeinboth
ways i.e. physically and psychologically. In the host
land, theytrytolivewiththeirhomelandbycelebrating
festivals and family gatherings and sometimes they
makefamilytripstovisittokeepintouchwithhomeland.
ItisVeeru'semotionalandculturalattachment towards
hernativeland,Indiawhereshealwaysthinksherhappy
life in the native land. When she goes to India to visit
her son and familymembers, she realizes their impor-
tanceinherlife,takescareofthemasadutiful daughter-
in-law.Foralongtime,inCanada,shelivesfarawayfrom
hisson,Vikram. Shethought; "everydayshehadspent
in Canada, her heart had cried at their separation. She
spent six weeks with her parents. Then she had gone
againtoDelhiwithVikram,forashortvisit,shethought,
so Vikram could be with his other grandparents for a
short time." (Parameswaran, What Was Always Hers
11)
UmaParameswaranportraysimmigrantexperienceand
clash of culture. In the short story, 'Maru and M. M.
Syndrome' shedepictsMaru,an Indianimmigrant and
her sense of displacement and cultural sensibilities in
the adopted culture, language, and identity. She is the
narrator of this story and always expresses her socio-
culturaltiestowardsIndiancultureandremembersher
lifeinIndia.
Thissenseofdisplacementisbeautifullystated
byBhikuParekh: ThediasporicIndianis"liketheban-
yantree, thetraditional symboloftheIndianwayoflife,
he spreads out his roots in several soils, drawing nour-
ishment from one when therest dryup. Far from being
homeless, he has several homes, and that is the only
wayheincreasinglycomestofeelathomeintheworld"
(Parameswaran, What WasAlways Hers 106).
Parameswaranhasclearlydescribedimmigrant
women in Canada how they live in a different culture.
When Maru is in the hospital for deliveryof her baby,
without her family members, she feels exiled and iso-
latedandalwaysremembershernativeland,India.Inthe
hospital, she stood at the window and continuously
lookingat the green pipesofthehospital, andfeel deep
nostalgia for her native place, as she narrates; "What
thehellwasIdoingleavingall thisfor Ottawa,that city
of bureaucrats and bullshit? What would I do
there?"(Parameswaran, What WasAlways Hers 80)
Her husband, Sivaraman always expresses her emo-
tional andsocial tiestowardshishomelandina foreign
country. Itishisattachment forIndian culturewherehe
alwayschantsGayatriMantra regularly."TheCrossing
of the Lights, Siv explained, that is what the Brahmin
ritual of sandhyavandanam was - the recognition that
whenthelightscrossedtheskyatdawn, noonanddusk,
somethinghappened, somemagical affluence;andthat
is whythe learned ones faithfully saluted the crossing
oflightswiththesacredsyllablesoftheGayatrimantra."
(Parameswaran, What Was Always Hers 89)
When she startstowrite her magnum opus, "Maruand
Maple Leaf"', she expresses her views firstly for her
native land. " I wroteabout mycommunitywork expe-
riences-thetimeFolklorama first startedandmywork
fortheIndiaPavilion,thetimeIhadaweeklytelevision
show"helpingIndo-Canadiansstandtall"sortofthing,
andthentheheadydaysofmyworkwiththeImmigrant
Women's Associations which took me Ottawa and all
that, andthen, wow, theheadiest perhapsofthem all in
thatit gavemethemost humungousheadacheever-the
timeIwasChairofalocalliteraryguild."(Parameswaran,
What Was Always Hers 94)
EveryIndian wantstolooklike an Indian in a
foreigncountry; theydon't wanttoremovetheir culture
from their life. In this story, Maru alsotakes interest in
Indian traditions and celebrates the Indian feast in her
own life. Occasionallyshe meetswith Indian people to
share their feelings and discuss different topics of the

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homeland. When her aunt, Chikkamma comes in her
home to visit her, Maru is very happy to see her in
traditional Indiancostumes.Asshenarrates;"her grey
hair wascurlyandtightlyknottedintoalittlebunat the
backandsheworethegenericConjeevaramsilksarithat
she had always worn, very small checks of white and
some nondescript colour that changed with each sari.
She must have owned a dozen ofthese checkered saris
but I had always thought of them as one generic
sari."(Parameswaran, What WasAlways Hers 98)
In another country, every Indian shows their
emotional and social ties towards Indian people. They
sharetheir happinessthemselves. Marualsoexpresses
her views for the favour of India and Indian customs,
when she meets a man with a white woman; theystart
totalkabout RajShah, storeowner.Theywanttoknow
howthebest waytousethepackage ofsambar powder.
Raj told her to advise them, "Hearing my obviously
Tamil name, the old man perked up right away.
"Namaskaram,amma",hesaidgreetingme,andcontin-
uedinTamil,"Howareyou?Itissowonderful tobeable
totalkinTamiltosomeone".(Parameswaran,WhatWas
AlwaysHers117)TheconversationoftheIndianpeople
reflects their bonding for maternal language howthey
feel verycomfortable tomeet Indian people in another
country. All the people know that language ofthe host
country may be the language of prosperity but the
language of native land is considered as the language
of the heart.
WhenMaru'sfamilymasterscook,Mr.Sripati
Iyer's son came toCanada, he met her in her home and
converseabouttheirnativeland, India.Healsotoldher
about his family members and his father and family's
mastercook,"whohadbeeninchargeofeverywedding
lunch and dinner for years. That made myday. What a
smallworld.AndwhenIswitchedonthecassette,which
had Lalgudi Jayaraman's violin, his daywasmade. He
sat back, closed his eyes, his fingers kept beat on his
thigh,andtherewasthe"ha, ahh,"andshakingofhead
of a true Rasika."(Parameswaran, What Was Always
Hers118)TheirconversationonIndianlifestylethroughs
lights on the importance ofIndian culture in their cul-
turaldiasporiclifeinCanada.
"Darkest Before Dawn" is the story of the
Indianimmigrant,Jayant,andhiseldersisterJyoti.Their
father Sharad left India and settled in Canada for their
better futurein theadoptedcountry, Canada. Beingan
Indian immigrant, Jayant always feels exiled and iso-
latedintheforeignlandandheisalwaysattachedtohis
grandmother,sohewantstoreturntohishomeland.He
always expresses his anguish for his father's decision
to settle in Canada but Jyoti is always in favor of her
father's decision and she always explains her brother
about her father's decision tosettle in Canada and quit
Indiafortheirbettermentandsecurelife.Jyotiexplained
to him "it couldn't have been easy for him to pack up
everythingandmove out at thirty-five.Andit isnobed
ofroseshere, mowingthelawn,paintingthehouse, and
a hundred menial chores which were done byservants
in the luxury of his ancestral home."(Parameswaran,
WhatWasAlwaysHers154)BeforemigratingtoCanada,
Sharad was an atomic energyscientist in India but for
better perspectives, he moves toCanada but he doesn't
get things according to his aspiration.
Thefeelingofnostalgiaalsograspstheimmi-
grantsfromthenativecountryandin anadoptedcoun-
try; Indian immigrants feel rootless and nostalgic for
theirhomeland.Likethem,Jyotiisalsonostalgicforher
homeland and deeply remembers her past going days
inhernativeland,India.SheremembersherlifeinIndia;
She was about ten. Jayant, whose school, even though
run bythe same Roman Catholic Mission as hers, had
a longer December vacation sohewas visitingcousins
in Delhi. In an interclass recitation competition, Jyoti
had been chosen to represent her section. She was
already known for her talent for memorizing poems
overnight and this was not the first time she had
competed."(Parameswaran, What Was Always Hers
155)
Jayant expresses his emotional and cultural
tiesfor his homeland; heiseager toreturn tohisnative
country and wants to live with his grandmother. He
memorizes hisAji (grandmother) and the time that he
spentwithher."ItwasasceneetchedinJayant'smemory,
a scene to which his spirit returned in quiet moments,
a scene which he sought out when storms came up. A
scene where everything was in place, exactlyin place.
Aji playing her violin every day just after her three
o'clock tea." (Parameswaran, What Was Always Hers
156)
Herwritingsbasicallydeal withIndian immi-
grants especially women and their plight in the new
countrytoreside there. In the short story"The Icicle",
shedelineates theculturallydiasporiclife ofan Indian
immigrant, Deepa who left her husband Ranjit for his
carelessness towards her in the host country and her
husband, Ranjit always lives lonely and restlessness
withouthiswifeanddaughter.Healwaysremembershis
daughter,Anji heartedly.
In Canada, there is a different culture and
custom where Deepa leaves her husband and lived
alone with her daughter by doing the job in Physio-
therapy. Ranjit tells his life secret to her sister Maru
about hisproblemsofmarital life.Canada isknown for
itsmulticulturalismandthere,manytimes,Indianimmi-
grantsfaceracialdiscriminationduetotheirethnicland,

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culture,language,anddualidentity.Inthepresentstory,
Ranjeet has also experienced racial encounters in his
life, he is very dissatisfied when Deepa's educational
degree from native land is considered inferior to the
white people. "It burns me up, Maru," he had said, "to
seeherworkinginHenryArmstrong'sInstantPrinting.
For god sake, I mean, she is a straight-A stu-
dent andtheyaresayingher Delhidegreesdon't count,
so she ends up replacing toners in bloody photocopy
machines. Sometimes Ithink I should run for the Leg-
islatureandget someaction going,really.Pissesmeoff,
allthisracism.Say,didIshowyouhergradpicsfromlast
fall? I took them with this tripod and my Canon."
(Parameswaran, What WasAlways Hers 181)
Indifferentcountries,immigrantsfromdiffer-
ent countries always meet to discuss with others for
their secure lif. They are compelled to assimilate the
different cultures and lifestyles of alien countries. Be-
ing Indian immigrants, Ranjit and Maru always con-
verseontheimmigrant lifeofIndiansin thehost coun-
try,Canada;Maruisnotsatisfiedwithimmigrationpolicy.
1 Bhabha, Homi K. TheLocationofCulture. London: Routledge, 1994.
2 Brah,Avtar.CartographiesofDiaspora:ContestingIdentities. Routledge,1997P.68.
3 Mishra,Vijay.TheLiteratureoftheIndianDiaspora:TheorizingandDiasporicImaginary.Milton Park,
Abington:Routledge, 2007.
4 Parekh,Bikhu.SomeReflectionson theIndianDiaspora.Baroda; JournalofContemporaryThought, 1993.
5 Parameswaran, Uma. "WhatWasAlwaysHers". Fredericton, N. B: Broken JawPress.1999.
6 ---.WritingtheDiaspora: EssaysonCultureandIdentity. Jaipur &Delhi: Rawat publication.2007.
SheexplainsRanjit;
"In our days, ifwehad brains, wecould come
help both ourselves and the countryget ahead. I mean
what futurewas independents? Soour people, "he still
said 'our people' even though he had spent more of his
life outside India than in, post-Docs, as most ofus did.
No, not even for a Ph.D. because, ofcourse, noonehad
grants to support them. Only as grad students in the
Master's program," so he chooses these bright young
men from middle-classfamiliesand givesthem a foot-
hold into the country. (Parameswaran, What Was Al-
ways Hers 184)
Inanutshell,Uma Parameswaranshowshow
rich cultureandtraditionsofher homeland, India, and
in these short stories, she has displayed the relation-
shipofSouthAsian women in Canada andtheir immi-
grant experiencesin thehost land, Canada. Evidently,
she has described the highest degree of cultural sensi-
tivityand acculturation, tradition, andlanguage in the
foreign land and feeling of rootlessness.
R E F E R E N C E