Jayashree Thatte Bhat

Immigrants to Canada bring with them their own culture and traditions, which instill infinite patience and devotion. However, their artificial demands produce responses of unimaginable magnitude in various situations. From an award-winning writer, these stories depict a stunning portrait of real people, represented by various characters; take place in Canada; and shed light on real life experiences. We share in the pain of an arranged marriage; we feel the agony of the exploitation and degradation of an outwardly-assertive woman at the hands of her sadistic husband; we are humbled by the steadfast care of a highly-educated woman who faithfully and lovingly tends to her mentally-unstable and insecure husband. Although about immigrants from India, and the characters displaying an impact of only Indian traditions, these stories can be projected to represent experiences of most Canadian immigrants, for this commonality has no boundaries of any place, time, religion, color, creed or race. It inevitably draws upon shared human experiences of love, hate, work, worries, and dreams, and thus, to the predicaments of entire mankind.