I Am A Naturalized U.s. Citizen, Which

[on Her Writing Agenda:] Make The Familiar Exotic; The Exotic Familiar.

In Other Words, My Literary Agenda Begins By Acknowledging That America Has Transformed Me. It Does Not End Until I Show How I (and The Hundreds Of Thousands Like Me) Have Transformed America.

There Was No Audience For My Books. The Indians Didn't Regard Me As An Indian And North Americans Couldn't Conceive Of Me Of A North American Writer, Not Being White And Brought Up On Wheat Germ. My Fiction Got Lost.

One Of The Early Tip-offs To Me About The Enormous Changes That Were Going On With Being In A Bangalore House, Home, Where The Young Woman From A Nearby Village, Who Had Been Hired To Baby Sit Newborn Twins, Suddenly Said After Two Weeks Of Work: 'i'm Sorry, This Is Too Much Work, I'm Going To Try Applying For Call Center Jobs. The Pay Is Better.'

But, Christ, There's A Difference Between Exotic And Foreign, Isn't There? Exotic Means You Know How To Use Your Foreignness, Or You Make Yourself A Little Foreign In Order To Appear Exotic. Real Foreign Is A Little Scary, Believe Me.