Smita tells Mohan that her India is not his India. What does she mean?

Smita tells Mohan that her India is not his India. What does she mean?

The Indian culture treats men differently from women. For example:
1. Smita is concerned about riding the bus because strangers feel entitled to touch her.
2. Meena brothers kept the sisters' full wages that they earned at the factory.
3. Within Meena's family of two brothers and two sisters, the brothers eat first.
Culture is a strong influence. Meena even believed that culture meant more to her brothers than their sense of family. Indian culture promotes male entitlement.

The India Smita sees is ugly and abusive. Women violated with no repercussions, women have no voice or freedom, neighbors judge. Mohan sees friends and beauty.

Smita had endured disgrace and betrayal by her friends and neighbors. The group think meant more than the friendships in the community. Smita was a victim of the bad side. Mohan had had a very good life of privilege so saw only the good side of India.

Her India became a nightmare from which her family had to flee. Mohan's India was one of privilege, not only because of his family's wealth, but because he was a male. I think there were times when Smita may have been a little too hard on Mohan about "his" India, causing him to become defensive.

I think the main difference between Smita's India and Mohan's India is that Mohan was a member of the dominant religious group. He was removed from the uprisings against Muslims and was never persecuted because he had different beliefs. Mohan's friends and neighbors never would have had to make a choice between supporting him or staying quiet. He was not humiliated in the street, physically and sexually abused, and then forced from his homeland.

As a man in India, Mohan definitely experienced more privilege. He could rent hotel rooms, walk through crowds, drink a beer after a long day, ride public transportation, and threaten men who had just murdered someone with little or no consequence! He didn't necessarily see anything wrong with SOME of these things... It was just this way because it had always been this way. Mohan was willing to use his privilege to make it easier for Smita to do her job- -at least he was modern enough to believe she could work outside of the home!

Spending time with Smita and meeting Meena, Mohan had the opportunity to see how the old ways were affecting women daily in modern times. I think that now that he is aware of the problems, Mohan will be a better advocate for women in India.

Smita saw India through her experience when her family was ostracized and humiliated, and she was assaulted (tho we do not know that when she first says this). Mohan had lived a privileged life, both as a man and as a member of a religion that was not attacked. (Before the Muslims were attacked, I suspect Smita saw India much as Mohan did.)

India through the eyes of Smita is much different than the India through the eyes of Mohan for primarily two reason first and foremost Smita is a woman and the role and place of women is very strictive even in India today. For example when the two are traveling in rural India she was allowed to rent a motel room in her name. Also, her view of India is always through the India she and her family left from. Plus Mohan family is wealthy and lives the life of the privileged but as they spend time together he sees the differences and they grow to a mutual appreciation and understanding of their differences.

All the above comments answer this question well. I might expand that when Smita first rounded on Mohan, she was feeling a tug from the familiar smells and sights, of good memories of living in Mumbai. Then memory surfaced the obvious inequalities between the genders and the extreme "honor" killing she would be investigating in the rural community. It was a brutal killing that had its roots in time-worn religious and cultural traditions, in addition to gender prejudices. This tension between Mohan's male, wealthy class privilege India and Smita's India (what we come to learn about her past) made her realize that "her heart ached and she felt a different kind of homesickness...-the loss of something that had never fully belonged to her."(125)

Smita's experiences with India were mostly good childhood memories, until the incident where she was assaulted, her brother was humiliated and the family was forced to do convert to Hinduism. I think that that is what she was referring to when she said their Indias were not the same. When she returned years later, after moving to and coming of age in the U.S. and being an independent career woman, she was somewhat shocked to find out just how different their Indias were: in the rural villages, she couldn't rent a motel room, had to pretend to be married to Mohan, used her status as an American citizen to ensure the thugs wouldn't touch her. She also saw how Mohan used his status as a Hindu man from a wealthy family, further evidence of a misogynistic caste-based socity.

Smith’s India is not Mohan’s India for several reasons:
1) She is female, he is male
2) She was born Muslim, he was born Hindu
Additionally, while her family was well-off relative to many Indians, Mohan came from a privileged family. In a country whose people are defined by an institutionalized caste system, Smita is at a disadvantage for any of the reasons above - let alone all all three.

Mohan’s India is one of privilege. People defer to him, they back off and treat him with respect because he is wealthy and male. Smita’s India changed from that of inclusion to being persecuted. As a female she was assaulted as a youth and seriously disrespected as an adult. They live in different worlds. In the U.S., the rich and powerful live in a different world from the poor and marginalized.

Mohan comes from a very privileged India and, as a man, does not have the limitations that females have. Smita, as a Muslim, was an outsider and her family did not come from extraordinary wealth as did Mohan's family.

Her India is based on violence and betrayal and repression. His on diversity and beauty.

Smita had experienced shame and disappointment in India. Although she felt safe and happy in her early years, she was shocked and hurt by the treatment of her family when they were persecuted because of their religion. The betrayal of her neighbors and mistreatment of her brother and father changed her family dynamics forever. Moran was Hindu and of a high caste. He was therefore protected from the ugliness around him.

Smita’s family left India under duress. When she returns as a journalist, she must depend on Mohan to provide access to people she wants to interview. His life is privileged due to his gender, caste, money and education. For her, India represents shame and betrayal.

Smita, who has lived in America, sees India as a place of extreme unfairness to women, those of other religions and financial situations. I honestly find it hard to believe that Mohan can change his entire belief system and way of living, even if he does love Smita and the baby they have decided to raise. That will be very difficult for each of them to adapt to and change their entire way of living.

Smita was sexually assaulted when she was a child because she was a Muslim and female. Mohan grew up in a wealthy Hindi home and was used to things going his way just because he was a Hindi male.