Anurag Mathur's Hilarious Take on the 'Inscrutable Americans'

chillibreeze writer — Lavanya Anant

“The Inscrutable Americans” opens on a comical note with an extremely hilarious letter that Gopal, our “Fresh off the boat” protagonist writes to his brother on his arrival into the world of Uncle Sam. From here on, it takes you through Gopal’s whole year in the little known University of Eversville, where he encounters several of what he calls the “inscrutable “symbols of America like Randy, his one constant companion in the Lala land, Peacock, who shows him that discrimination and poverty co-exist with the prosperity that envelops the rest of white America, and a series of romantic misadventures with Sue, Bernice, Ann and Gloria to name a few. Armed with a masters degree and the experience of having spent a year discovering the intrigue that is America, he goes back rejuvenated to the sojourns of hometown Jajau.

There are several instances where his gentle innocence leads him into some pretty hilarious conclusions like at the customs, where one of the baggage handlers tells Gopal “Watch your ass,” and Gopal quickly assumes that the man was referring to the two donkeys the family had bought before his departure. He wonders how they know about the two donkeys and believes it is all part of a bigger conspiracy of the CIA that collects all the data they can about everyone coming to America. He sees himself as a cultural ambassador and tells another Indian friend that because of India’s superior culture, they must set an example so that the Americans will improve their behavior and therefore, India’s bilateral relations with America will drastically improve.

Gopal’s character has a rustic undertone to it while the other characters in the book are sophisticated in their American ways as far as food, women and dating are concerned. The author’s comic timing holds you through the rest of the book. For instance, Gopal waxes eloquent on the changing favorable balance of payment situation of India in order to charm his way into finding love with a blonde woman he just met. All’s well with this story, which is a comic satire on the stereotypes and prejudices of Indian migrants in their adoptive land, except that this is precisely all that the book has to offer.

One keeps wishing the end does not come so soon, before Gopal comes of age or into his own, and that somewhere along the way, Gopal tries to find greater meaning and depth in his perceptions about America. All the while, the reader is tempted to believe that a higher calling awaits Gopal other than the pursuit of female conquest. After all, he has been the recipient of the ‘Most Promising Young Man of The Year’certificate that the All India Association of Hair Oil Dealers issues to him back in Jajau.

One wishes that he matures into a reasonably suave personality and takes back with him a little more than superfluous impressions of America, that he evolves into a thinking individual willing to make a difference to his life in India based on his learning in the U.S. These aspects are markedly conspicuous by their absence. All in all, “The Inscrutable Americans” is a good read for all the funny episodes it has to offer but here’s wishing a more relevant sequel will soon follow. Hopefully, Mr. Mathur is listening?

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in August, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Lavanya works as a financial analyst with one of the Big 4 consulting firms. She is an MBA and has worked on projects in multiple sectors across banking, IT and financial services. She has experience in presenting her papers on various research topics at national forums during her studies at business school as well as part of her profession. She is currently based in Hyderabad.

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