Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake

The opening of Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel finds Ashima Ganguli standing in her kitchen in the latter stages of her first pregnancy. Ashima tries to satisfy her cravings with concoctions that imitate the flavours of home. She mixes Rice Krispies with Planters peanuts, chopped red onion, salt, lemon juice and green chili peppers. It is an inadequate substitute for the Indian snack but a valiant attempt to stall the slippage of sensual familiarities that accompanies removal from Calcutta to Cambridge, Massachusetts.