Page 68 - Seniors Today June2020
P. 68
Communities
The
Fafda
Files
Introducing an all-new monthly series – Communities. We kick it off with
Minoo Shah writing on the very enterprising Gujaratis
Those elite intellectuals who are reading this Take for instance Jethabhai from Karamsad,
article with forehead furrowed and brows Gujarat, India who migrated on a student
raised – phooey to you! What world are you visa to USA in 1972. Jetha as fondly known
living in? Are you even an Indian? Do you to his Indian classmates at Trenton State
know Gujaratis? Because if the answer is yes, College shared a 2-bedroom apartment with
no or maybe to the above then here are a few 3 other classmates. Duties were divided so it
home truths that should clear the fog which fell upon Jetha to cook. He did this with great
I see billowing over your heads. zest and served varying varieties of khichdi
A Gujju is genetically fostered from the and ‘ringan-bataka nu shak’ (translated for
Western region of Gujarat and has wandered those whose culinary focus erstwhile has
all over the globe and beyond with a few been ‘chhole’ is an eggplant potato curry).
priorities. Foremost, multiplying wealth and Well, Jetha with great aplomb took his lunch
raas-garba with food not too close behind. (he was a vegetarian, you see) to the cafeteria
This native inhabiting the land of milk and and would eat it with his fingers with
honey comes in many forms and shapes. nary a care for the American eyes staring
The one picked by scholars is the roly-poly him down. He was typecast as a vulgar,
bald-headed pot-bellied male sans an inch mannerless migrant and treated as such
of sophistication. Why? Because if you come even by other fellow Indians. When he was
across this species he probably owns about not quite so politely asked to leave campus
20 motels, 10 gas stations and has helped within 2 semesters, Jetha not to be outwitted
migrate an entire village to the USA. took the rest of his tuition money (students
on I-30 visa status had financial aid for a
The Student Visa Start year’s worth of tuition deposited into their
Let’s look into some of the yet-to-be-released free checking account) and made a beeline
Wikipedia files. for Hoboken, NJ. Hoboken, in the 70s was
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