Fasting Feasting Summary

“Dadi’s Family” observes what a “traditional” family in Haryana, India is like and the issues / concerns the family faces in “modern” times. In the documentary "Dadi 's family", the film explores the concept of family and the roles that a woman play in life. The roles are daughter, sister, mother, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law. These roles are portrayed to us via various members of Dadi 's family. In this family, we have Dada and Dadi (grandmother and grandfather) as the head of the family. We have the two older sons, Meherlal and Mohinder who are married to Darshini and Sita respectively. The youngest son, Rajinder gets married to Kanta in the film. Dadi and Dada also have two daughters Anguri and Saroj who aren’t shown too much in the film but are married in other villages.

Dadi refers to the grandmother, "manager" of an extended family living in the Haryana region of Northern India. When dadi days family, she meant the male lineage with all their wives and children living as one economic unit. With everyone’s income managed by the oldest couple. This film explores the extended family and its problems, particularly through the women of Dadi 's family. The film also addresses the different roles women play in her lifetime, daughters, daughter-in-law, mothers, mother-in-law, sisters, sister-in-law, wives. It also reveals the difficult to fulfil each role. Some important aspect that the film touches on is also patriarchy and the influences of education in changing the status of women.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth is comprised of eight short stories about different Indian families’ struggles in America, many of them going through the immigrant experience. The conflicts are with friends and family, and also with themselves, as each of them attempt to find their own identity along with fitting in with the rest of society. One of the causes of these struggles that because the families in the stories are mixed in terms of generation. Many of the adults in the stories were first generation immigrants from India, while many of the children were raised in the United States, which is the second generation. This led to blending of culture and at the same time, clashes between the immigrant mentality of living and the American mentality of living. In Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri demonstrates to the reader the important influence of environment, specifically culture and how it impacts parental teachings, on the personality and development of an individuals’ identity, and how the actions and development of characters can affect one’s family and friends; the impact of environment and culture is shown especially by the characters and stories “Hell-Heaven” and “Hema and Kaushik”.

They conclude with the huge difference that is being live between the two generations. But what they reflect is the importance that the Indian culture gives to the family, they say that the family is very important and whether they young folks are entering to a new world they still keep their roots with them.

Fasting is a body cleansing procedure during which food is restricted and only liquids are consumed. Strictly water fasts are the most brutal; herbal teas and juices made from fresh fruits and vegetables are consumed during a more liberal fast. Juice fasting is the preferred method amongst many doctors and European fasting clinics, perhaps because it is less harsh than other treatment plans.

An analogy has been drawn about how she was in the past and how is she now. She was a carefree person, demanding love in her life, wanting to take care of her children and become a house wife and now she works as a schoolteacher, has become a responsible person concerned about her husband and child, struggling for her son’s life, bearing tantrums of her sister-in-law and living in a small house in a small city. On the other hand, Komal, sister-in-law of Anjali is a character shown who seems to be frustrated from her life from the time she has lost her husband. The book has depicted another face of an Indian woman, who lives her entire life following the customs that the society has decided for a widow. Anjali tried to make her first marriage successful by taking care of small things like making her husband, his favorite cardamom chai and best of meals while Prakash’s second wife Indu was never concerned about any of his likings and gave priority to her own personal

The narrator, a young girl named Nea, starts the story in the middle of action. She told that she stabbed a man with knife at eleven years old in order to release her older sister, Sourdi, from the man. “I charged and stabbed the man in the sleeve” (9). This situation is not only a introduction of this story to the readers, but the further explanation of the events explains each of the characters involved in this story. The main character of this story is Ma, who willing to sacrifice Sourdi’s happiness in order to please the man in the society. Next, Sourdi is another main character in this story. She has beautiful face that attracted the attention from admirers throughout this story. Then, Nea is also main character in this story. She is impulsive young girl who reacts in rash to protect her sister from the men that can threaten their relationship.

In the novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian”, author Sherman Alexie shares a compelling story representing racial issues among communities and families in cultural areas today, and a boy’s journey to find who he truly is, while being torn between two cultures. In this novel the main character, young Junior finds himself truly understanding that he is more than just an indian. In order to know more about the plot behind the novel, author Alexie takes the reader into Junior’s perspective to bring the story to life and let the reader understand how racial issues along with family problems make a play into today’s society. The novel shows a countless number of situations Junior encounters that impact his life throughout the novel.

First, this novel showcases acts of caring for family and friends, during a rough time for all the Indians bringing them closer into one community. The protagonist Sabine displays acts of caring among her friends and family. For instance, near the end of the novel, Sabine helps her mother’s friend, Lalita, despite having a sour relationship with her. Sabine saves Lalita from being arrested by lying to a military officer, thus making Sabine a more confident and brave person. Sabine faces her fear of the military and gains the power she

The heat wave of the summer of 1952, Djinda wiped her hands against her dress. Her mother would kill her, it was dirty and the pink had faded. Her feet were bare and she hurried across the burning sand toward the small house her father had built. They’d both compromised each of their cultures; her father could do whatever he wanted that involved his culture but as long as he built her mother a house. This had been before she was born; her mother had also wanted to go to the hospital for her birth but had compromised to let the women of her husband’s tribe in there with her – much to the doctor’s protests.

Finally, Jayanti’s first exposure to the world outside her Aunt’s house and the events that lead after, changes who she really is,

The relationship between mothers and daughters influence the conflicts that each character experiences throughout the novel. Consequently, conflicts such as oppression and identity crisis play a key role in developing the female characters in the novel. Throughout the novel, Tan discusses these themes in several different ways. These themes are evident in the ways that the mothers, daughters, spouses are seen and how each character is characterized by their roles in their relationships throughout the novel. In addition, the environments and social setting of each relationship that is depicted in the novel plays a significant role in defining and determining the fate of the relationship. Tan focuses mainly on mother daughter relationships, and how conflicts such as oppression and overcoming adversity arise when mothers and daughters are placed in unfamiliar

I think the theme of this is about chaos and how Mr. Kapasi feels about this chaotic family. Everyone’s home life is different, so I think it’s a combination of what Mr. Kapasi see’s and how the family behaves. It’s obvious that these parents were either too young or too immature for children. The way that they act proves that the impression that Mr. Kapasi has could be true. It seems as if these people are so wrapped up in their own problems that they can’t get beyond what it might actually mean to be a family. It literally seemed like Mrs. Das was

Fasting and Feasting is a novel written by Anita Desai that narrates the story of the protagonist, Uma, and her family’s life. The novel is divided in two parts. Part one deals with Uma’s life in India until the tragic death of her cousin Anamika, and part two tells the story of Uma’s brother, Arun, as he spends his summer with the Pattons, a typical American suburban family. Throughout the novel, Desai explores the theme of family life and uses the novel’s two settings, America and India, to compare and contrast the values and customs that constitute each respective culture’s family life. At first glance, American and Indian families are foils of one another because of the relationships between the family members that composed them. As

It was overwhelming for me to see the whole family together, crowded around the television, possessing the same amount of excitement. “The US will be starting their fast at the start of sunrise”, stated the man. I had fallen asleep, listening to the news. Next thing I knew, I awoke to the sounds of my mom making our special breakfast specials, consisting of ‘Halwa’, ‘Parathas’, eggs, and tea; it was time for ‘Sehri’, the