DESCRIPTION:
"Identity is formed through an encounter with difference." For second generation immigrants, the differences between their private life at home and their public life with society are almost contradictory. When these two lives collide, the consequent conflict can only be resolved with a choice between the two. These decisions mold their unique identity, representing a life long struggle to reach a state of hybridity, of spiritual and cultural equilibrium.

"The dichotomy one feels having two names is representative of what it means to be the child of immigrants." - Jhumpa Lahiri

Ashima: In this country the children decide. He wants to keep Gogol, and not Nikhil as his good name. Fine. No big deal.
Ashoke: With a president named Jimmy, there is nothing we can do. As long as our kid is happy.

He hates that his name is both absurd and obscure. That it has nothing to do with who he is. That it is neither Indian nor American, but of all things Russian. He hates having to live with it