Two Ways to Belong

deuce Ways to Belong in America Tiffany Detter PRPE 108 October 3, 2012 Caparas Mukherjee states, In iodin family, from two sisters alike as peas in a pod, on that point could not be a wider divergence of immigrant experience. (p. 282). Bharati Mukherjee was born and raised in Calcutta, India and immigrated to the United States in 1961 to earn an M. F. A. and a Ph. D. in literature. In Two Ways to Belong in America, Mukherjee addresses the issues that confront immigrants in America. In this race we see how two of the same people can suddenly sense of smell or experience the same thing in two disparate ways.Mira and Bharati immigrants from Calcutta have sustaind in the United States for several(prenominal) 35 years. The Mukherjee sisters find themselves on different sides in the current debate over the status of immigrants. Bharati is an American citizen and Mira is not. When the Mukherjee sisters moved from India they were almost identical in appearance and attitude. Their or iginal architectural plan was to endure two years in America, secure their degrees, then surrender to India to marry the grooms of their fathers choosing.However, Mira ended up marrying an Indian student and acquired the labor certifications incumbent for the green card. Mira lives in Detroit, is nation bothy recognized for her involvement in the palm of pre- groom education and p arnt-teacher relationships. After 36 years as a effectual immigrant she clings passionately to her Indian citizenship and has hopes to return to India when she retires. Bharati married an American of Canadian parentage. She was fit to bypass the labor-certification requirements and the race-related quota system.The Mukherjee sisters have remained sisterly mingy by ph atomic number 53. They probably pitied wholeness another. Mira, for the lack of structure in Bharatis life, the erasure of Indianness, the absence of an consistent daily core. Bharati, for the narr giveess of Miras perspective, her un involvement with the mythic depths or the superficial consume culture of this society. Mira feels manipulated and discarded. She believes its such an unfair way to treat a individual who was invited to stay and work. Miras employer went to I. N. S. and petiti angiotensin converting enzymed for the labor certification.She believes that if America wants to make rules curtailing benefits of legal immigrants they should still apply to immigrants who arrive after the rules are in focalize. Miras interpreter is not just the voice of the South Asian partnership precisely of an immigrant community of the millions who have stayed rooted in single craft, one city, one house, one ancestral culture, one cuisine, for the entirety of their productive years. Nearly 20 years prior Bharati was living in her husbands ancestral homeland of Canada where she to a fault was always well-employed but never allowed to truly feel part of the Canadian society.Through a green paper that invited a nati onal referendum on the outcast side effects of nontraditional immigration, the government officially off-key against its immigrant communities, peculiarly those from South Asia. Bharati was able to feel the same feeling Mira currently has and exit never be able to forget the pain of that sudden turn. A sense of betrayal had its desired effects and drove Bharati and thousands others from the country.Although the Mukerjee sisters differ, Mira being happier to live in America as expatriate Indian than as an immigrant American and Bharati have the need to feel like a part of the community in which she has adopted. The price that the immigrant pays is the trauma of self-transformation. My sister and I came to face connatural hardships as the Mukerjee sisters only in a different way. There is one thing in life all kids eventually have to endure, that is unless you are home schooled. This place can be the most evil place or it can be fun and exciting. No matter what your mentality on this place is, you will have to go.We call this place advanced SCHOOL. It is the place of peer pressure, cliques, different classes and TONS of students roaming the hallways. My sister, Brittany, and I went by this process, and thats where the most evil thing happened. This is when our close relationship was turned upside down. Brittany was cool and popular. How could she not be? She had the looks, long flaxen hair, super model figure, and a dark tint to her skin. Plus she was a cheerleader. Everyone loved the cheerleaders, or so it seemed. I on the other transcend was tell apart as the brain or even sometimes dweeb.I had to everything to make it through those four dreadful years, only problem was everything was all up in my head and not in the looks. When we entered high school we promised each other that nothing would split us up. We ALWAYS did everything together. son WAS THAT A JOKE This promise was soon to be broken. I wasnt considered cool enough to hang out with Britta ny and her posse. No one wanted the little sister some or even the pulverization to be interfering. Brittany even asked one day at home, Why do you HAVE to hang out with me dont you have your own friends? So we parted our separate ways.I made friends and Brittany stuck to her group. We were still very close at home when it came to being around family but we were never caught around each other if her friends were around. It wasnt until Brittany had graduated high school that some of her friends realized that I was more than just the brain. It was as if they had opened up their eyes and realized that I was actually pretty cool in my own way. I had all the quirks and qualities Brittany had except I had none of the drama. It took them continuously asking well-nigh Brittany in order for them to realize this fact though.Although I had learned how to cope on my own through high school, Brittany and I still kept our close connection behind closed doors. in force(p) like the Mukerjee si sters, Brittany and I have stayed sisterly close (p. 281). We speak on the phone just about every week mostly about our families and children, and when we are with family we are always together. Brittany has showed me how to spice up my wardrobe as I have helped her learn to memorize and maintain her professional job as a nurse. Even though you may experience one thing two different ways you will always know how it feels when met with a situation that another is going through.