Panthera Imprint, Cochin, India

Nepantla is a grandmother’s story. It tells of her attempt to bridge two cultures, the conflict of which is even present in the generations that grow up in alien cultures. Questions arise in the mind—How will our youngsters growing up away from India cope up with cultural dichotomies and parallel ways of living? Will they forever be searching for their roots and cultural identities?
A grandmother longs to find some Indianess in a grandson growing up in the U.S.A. A tinge of sadness creeps into her heart when she realizes what a great deal her grandson misses by living so far away from India. At the same time she is aware that her impressions during her visit to the U.S. has been an education for her too.

Her grandchild, in turn, faces the dilemma of whether he should look upon himself as a Malayalee or as an American of Indian origin. During his visits to India and home tours of his parents and grandparents in Kerala, he tries to cope up with the unfamiliar and in the process finds his identity and is comfortable, too, therein. When he returns to the familiar milieu of a U.S. suburb, he misses the warmth and feeling of oneness – through his grandparents and cousins – that he experienced in India.

‘How will our youngsters growing up away from India cope up with cultural dichotomies and parallel ways of living?’ ‘Will they forever be searching for their roots and cultural identities?’ are questions that come naturally to mind

In Nepantla, which means ‘between two worlds’, Susheela Menon grapples with these problems in her heart warming story of a Malayalee grandmother who tries to understand the differences in the two cultures – the one she was brought up in and the one her grandchild faces and is likely to face in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy – and tries to bridge the gap.

A product of University College, Thiruvananthapuram and M.S. University, Baroda, and convent schools in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, Susheela now lives in Baroda, where as a qualified and experienced teacher, she is deeply concerned about the difficulties facing students and the differences that seem to have divided society, especially after the tragedy of 9/11 and its potential to lead to a holocaust.

In Nepantla, which means ‘between two worlds’, Susheela Menon grapples with these problems in her heart warming story of a Malayalee grandmother who tries to understand the differences in the two cultures – the one she was brought up in and the one her grandchild faces and is likely to face in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy – and tries to bridge the gap.
In the process she brings to light several aspects of Kerala’s history, culture and way of living.
A product of University College, Thiruvananthapuram and M.S. University, Baroda, and convent schools in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, Susheela now lives in Baroda, where as a qualified and experienced teacher, she is deeply concerned about the difficulties facing students and the differences that seem to have divided society, especially after the tragedy of 9/11 and its potential to lead to a holocaust.