Sign of the times

Dr. Gupta?s efforts to flaunt his Indian roots, took an interesting turn - thanks to an indulging neighbour.

ptaWhile remodelling my house, I saw little harm in advertising my Indian roots. Since it is not unknown for Hindu families in America to have deities and even temples at home, I indulged myself by hanging a giant OM over the front gate. Any misgivings I may have had of causing offence to my white neighbours have proved unfounded. On the contrary, I regularly have total strangers stop by to say hello to a fellow Indian.

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But not all my experiments with signage have been this successful, I admit. Sometimes different beliefs and value systems can swirl in the American cauldron with absolutely hilarious results. The birth of my daughter in April 1981 was a joyous occasion that we wanted to celebrate with fitting gaiety in the small New York town where we were then living. Adorning the house with Swastika signs and vermilion seemed like a good idea to welcome the newest member of our family.

Imagine our surprise to find every Swastika neatly wiped away when we returned home with our infant daughter. The mystery of the disappearing signs was solved only later that evening when the wife of an American friend living in the vicinity came calling.

No lesser blow for better race relations in America could have been in order.

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