Reading Response #2

The first resource I chose was a specific article that details suicide and the main reasons behind a suicide attempt. In Londonstani, Arun committed suicide because of all the tension his family was giving him regarding his wedding. In this article, it states that half of all suicides occur because of depression or bipolar disorder. Arunʼs mother caused such huge tension for him when she was critical of Arunʼs future wife, Reena. This huge drama in his life, made him highly depressed, which resulted into his tragic suicide. This particular resource would help you to understand why Arun might have killed himself. It gives a lot of detail and insight into why people commit the act. With the information in this resource, the reader can make sense of an unfortunate circumstance in the novel.

Web address of resource 1: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?

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Another article which helps explain an issue of my novel would include the document that talks about teen wealth. The article that I received off eLibrary talks about how teens nowadays are richer than theyʼve ever been. This connects to Londonstani, because Jas and his crew worked together in a small business. They took cell phones and unlocked them from their current network, and sold these unlocked phones to customers. This article talks about how older teenagers, like the ones in my novel, work part time jobs to make big time money for their age group. In addition, they also mention how most of the money teens spend are for sources of entertainment; Jas and his boys used their extra cash on music, movies and girls. This resource could help a reader see that it is possible for young adults to make enough money to support their extravagant lives. If someone read Londonstani, and doubted how the young men could make money at such a young age, this article will clarify their apprehensions.

Web address of resource 2: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?

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The next resource which I found useful in comparison to my book was an article about race and culture and how the two differentiate from each other. The main theme that emerges from Londonstani is the race-culture issue. Throughout the novel, the main protagonist struggles with this concept in his everyday life. Although he is a Caucasian male, he feels like and accepts South Asian culture as his own. This articles talks about what race and culture really are and how the two are definitely not alike. After reading this article, I myself could understand the issue within Londonstani far more clearer than I understood it to be before. For a greater understanding of the main theme, I would recommend one to read this article because it gives more detail to explain how or why someone of a particular race may accept a culture contrary to their race.

Web address of resource 3: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?

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The final resource I used for my novel was an article regarding race relations and how individuals can improve these relationships in every community. I think this article links to my novel because thereʼs a huge issue with racism in the text. For example, in the very first chapter Hardjit was beating up a white male because he called him a “Paki.” In addition, there was huge racial tension when Jas fell in love with Samira because she was Muslim and he was not. I believe this article really helps with racism and how we could all eliminate racism with our own actions. Reading this article could help the reader to see how the many conflicts that arose in the book could be prevented. For instance, it states in the article that order to reduce discrimination in our society, we should “...refuse to use or tolerate degrading words or names...” Referring back to the fight Hardjit had with the Caucasian man, if the man would have learned from this quotation he might not have caused that argument. In conclusion, I believe this article would assist the reader in seeing how conflicts that are evident in the text, could be avoided.

Web address of resource 4: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=29&edition=&ts=8C6FD1DCA87070FE73BC98747C0D639C_1259269991275&start=26&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B173465349

Reading Response #1

Theme

The theme of my book relates to race and how the different cultures you grow up with affect the way you live you life. The main character of my novel, Jas, is assumed to be a South Asian boy because his best friends are all South Asian, the way he lives his life, and the things he values in life are similar to a typical South Asian teenager living in Britain. When in reality, Jas' real name is Jason Bartholomew-Cliveden, a Caucasian male. In the novel, Jas talks to his "homies" Hardjit, Amit and Ravi in Punjabi slang and would change his mentality about life to theirs. For example, before Jas was friends with the "rudeboy" crew he was a bit of a nerd who hung out with other white people. When he started hanging out with Hardjit and the rest of them, he started to dress more "gangster" like his friends, talk Punjabi, and even fall for the same kind of girls as them. In conclusion, when you are influenced by other cultures whether it is because you live in the same area as them, or you go to school with them, the way you live your life will change due to these influences.

Another theme is the conflict between children growing up in the West (U.S.A, U.K, Canada) and their traditional parents from the East, and how this clash of two worlds can cause a lot of family drama. In most South Asian households abroad, the clash of Western culture and Indian culture is a huge factor regarding family conflicts. "Respect" is of huge importance in Indian culture. Before Arun's wedding, his mother believed that Reena's family wasn't giving them enough "respect." Arun and his mother fought constantly about the issue, the fact that Arun couldn't understand his mother's beliefs, drew Arun to suicide. In Western culture, there isn't this need for an abundance of respect when two families unite. Respect is definitely important but it isn't to the extent existant in South Asian culture.When you mix these cultures together it can cause HUGE issues because both parties strongly believe in the values installed within them all of life. When you live in a different place, it's human nature to adapt to your surroundings. The offspring of many immigrant families go through this transition and this causes the sort of problems I outlined.

Character

The characters of "Londonstani" are personally the most relatable characters I have ever read in a novel. I get this vibe from the teens in this book because they're so similar to a typical young adult. I could probably look around in the hallways of J. Clarke and easily pick out some guys who have lives similar to those of the "rudeboys" from Hounslow. The language use plays a huge roll in portraying the boys in this way. I would have to agree that 80-90% of South Asian males living in the West talk the way Jas, Hardjit, Amit and Ravi speak. They use a lot of slang and popular Punjabi words when they're communicating with each other. For example, when they're amongst themselves they call pretty girls "soni kuriye" and call a commotion a "nakra." In addition, the sort of lifestyle the characters have, contribute to this idea. For instance, the gang listens to Bollywood Bhangra music and they go out with their friends to party like a young South Asian boy. Being Punjabi myself, the way they talked and the things they did in their spare time were really humourous to me because they remind me so much of my own cousins and really good friends

The main protagonist of the book, Jas ,is a character who developed hugely as the novel progressed. When Jas was first introduced to the book he as sort of an outcast that wasn't really considered "cool" until he became friends with Hardjit and his crew. When he started hanging out with the "rudeboys" he began to feel more confident and sure of himself. The power of being friends with "cool" people like Hardjit gave Jas the confidence to do many things he doubted he could do. For example, Jas had a huge crush on Samira and with this new found confidence he asked her out and she turns into his girlfriend. However, this confidence he gained from this power caused a lot of negativity. He started to question South Asian culture when Arun was having family troubles. After Arun committed suicide, he lost his bond with his "boys" because they felt it wasn't his issue to interfere. The fact that he was confident was really good but when his confidence made him cross the line, the results were negative.

Mood/ Atmosphere

The mood of "Londonstani" is very young and trendy. Like I've mentioned before its very youthful because of the language use that consists of a lot of Punjabi slang. The use of the Punjabi and British street talk develops a sense of realism in the characters. In addition, the sort of race vs culture issues that are presented are very modern because they're issues that erupt every single day in the U.K. In conclusion, the mood/atmosphere is modern because all of the aspects involved directly related to recent issues.

Conflict

The huge conflict in "Londonstani" is the race-culture issue. Jas is the biggest example of this race-culture struggle because although he's caucasian, he's friends with and romantically inclined to South Asians. In a way, his involvement with South Asians is positive because he's being open minded with the type of people he's around. For the most part, he was influenced by his friends in a positive way because he started listening to Indian music and learning some Punjabi which is great, because that's a sign of cultures uniting. But no matter how much you mix the cultures and try to find a balance between the two, there will always be a conflict. Jas is a white male who hangs around Indians and is in love with a Pakistani. Since he's white he can somewhat but not fully understand the culture of South Asian people. This created a conflict between Jas and Arun's mom which ultimately caused him his friendship with the "boys" and his love with Samira.

In addition, like I've mentioned before, this race culture issue exists between kids from abroad and their traditional parents. The culture the child grows up in consumes them and it's difficult for the child to understand why their parents believe in things that don't exist in Western culture.

Setting

The setting of this novel takes place in London, England in predominately South Asian communities. I believe the setting is important for the book because if the setting was elsewhere the story wouldn't make sense. The entire race-culture conflict wouldn't exist if the setting was in India for example. In addition, the setting sets the mood of modern street life for a South Asian teen. Also, the setting tells the reader what kind of characters are in the book. If the book was in a city in China, you would expect it to include a story about oriental teenagers, if it was in Spain, you would expect it to include a story about Latino teenagers. The setting of Hounslow, (a hugely South Asian suburb of London) gives the reader the impression that the characters will probably be South Asian British Kids.

My First Blog Task

The name of the book I chose for my ISU is Londonstani by Gautam Malkani. Londonstani is a book about racial tensions in London, England. The book revolves around a gang of "rudeboys" of South Asian decent and the different struggles they encounter in life as a South Asian teenager. It's a book that highlights the tension between South Asians and the "goras" (white people) and South Asians among themselves. I chose to read this book because I'm a South Asian myself so the themes within the book relate to my life. Also, I'm a fan of books that include slang because they make the text more interesting and fun to read. http://www.campusbookstore.com/image.aspx?isbn=9781554681198&size=Large