Through the eyes of an Immigrant By Madhuri Sharma Vantage Press New York. 220 pages

Review by Mahadev Desai


Albany, New York based Madhuri Sharma has written an engrossing, heart-warming and well researched debut memoir cum travelogue, Through the eyes of an Immigrant. The book is divided into three sections: Transition; Travels and Reflections.


Madhuri’s transitioning to American culture begins in 1970, when she and her two daughters Shobha and Nita join her husband doing residency in a teaching hospital in New York. They arrive with bags full of spices, cooking utensils, and sundry household effects. Her preconceived notions of America being a land of milk and honey, her high hopes and expectations of a very comfortable life in America are soon shattered when she steps into a tiny, bare and sparse apartment in a high-rise building. She sorely misses her spacious bungalow, garden, and servants she has left behind in Chennai, South India. She has to learn to run the household on her husband’s meager salary. But she soon settles down with help of her neighbors and friends. She gets her daughters admitted to an all-girls convent school, learns to use various gadgets, and gets a driving license, and secures a job in a bank to supplement family income. Years passed. Both her teenage daughters had to be guarded against generational and cultural conflicts and also to be guided through the mainstream of American culture as they graduated from High School.


Madhuri and her husband become U.S.citizens and sponsor Madhuri’s widowed mother in India to join them for the rest of her life. Her mother was raised in a ‘Brahmo’family, so Madhuri briefly describes the postulates of ‘Brahmoism’and also the basics of Hinduism. She .describes celebrations of highly popular festivals of ‘Durga Puja’ and ‘’Diwali-the festival of lights, elaborate rituals, and important Mantras (with English translations) recited during the ceremonies. Madhuri goes to India to escort her mother to the U.S. Madhuri is full of praise for her mother’s gracious and hospitable nature and her cooking. She sums up her love for her, “…to me she was the world.”

The author describes how Hindu marriages are traditionally arranged and further describes the marriage rites. Her younger daughter Shobha after earning her Engineering degree marries before her elder sister Nita.. It was not totally an ‘arranged marriage’ as she had to accommodate preferences of her husband, her mother and Shobha, Madhuri goes to India, and finds a suitable boy. Shobha agrees with mom’s choice and the wedding takes place in India. The groom joins the family in U.S. in two months after the wedding. Madhuri's elder daughter Nita who was studying in a Medical College met her prince charming there- a “…tall, handsome young man, raised in the U.S. and hailing from an eminent Brahmin family of South India.” Their wedding was held at Sri Venkateshwara Temple in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

In Section 2 of her memoirs, she narrates in detail the seven annual travel vacations to exotic, alluring and far away places her and her physician husband took from 1993 to 2,000. Both loved traveling because, “Travels to numerous countries enabled us to widen our horizons, invigorate our psyche and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow travelers” They preferred package tours during all the trips they took to Australia, Greece, Hungary, Tahiti, Hawaii, and Morocco, to name a few. She peppers her fascinating and informative travel descriptions in florid language with poems, musings and humorous anecdotes. She humorously recounts the vigorous and forceful Thai massage in bed by four uniformed ladies.”…It had me feeling pretty faint and I wondered if I was headed for an out-of-body experience. My husband seeing my condition started to check me out for paralysis.” She is also invited to try belly dancing in Morocco! She describes churches, museums, art galleries, gardens, etc.they visited and international cuisine and luscious fruits and vegetables they ate on their travels.

In the final section, entitled ‘Reflections’, she is full of appreciation and admiration for American generosity and philanthropy. Madhuri herself is a very compassionate woman. “I do believe that one has to be extremely fortunate and privileged to be able to appreciate the unfolding beauty and joy in the multifaceted world of giving-giving without condescension, giving without fanfare and giving without hurting human dignity,” But she also bemoans the currently ingrained weakness in the American system which needs to be addressed soon, otherwise the American dream could be tarnished. She pleads for tough Gun laws. She deplores the prevailing gun culture in America, drugs, drinks and teenage pregnancies and lack of respect for parents and teachers among the young generation. She also comments on health care crisis facing America. Medicare reimbursements to physicians are going down whereas physician’s overheads and malpractice insurance premiums are going up. Physicians are forced to practice defensive medicine for fear of malpractice lawsuits, which renders medical treatment unaffordable for majority of patients, she says.

Madhuri’s delightful and intimate memoirs and travelogue written in lucid prose is bound to resonate with readers of all ages.
Madhuri Sharma was born and raised in India. She earned her Master’s Degree in Chemistry and has been a college lecturer and research associate. She lives in Albany, New York with her husband.