Song Diary: An Indian Immigrant's Crumbled Canadian Dreams (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798879949339)

Immigrant life is not always as it may seem. Uprooting life from one country and re-building in another is no easy feat.

Expectations from home are different from the realities of the new life. Immigrants are criticized constantly for losing their "culture". Attempts to acclimatize to a new land are frowned upon as a lack of loyalty. Their new home is suspicious and challenges them to prove their worthiness and earn their welcome. Attempts to retain roots are judged as a lack of adaptability.

The struggles are made worse when the new reality transforms the hopes and dreams of aspiring immigrants into depression and nightmares. Juggling to strike a balance, many immigrants end up losing their sense of self.

Archana Amaragandhi immigrated from India to Canada in January 2016 as an international student to pursue her MBA education and is now a Canadian citizen. She shares the turbulence and tribulations of her eight-year journey in her Song Diary. Sparing a few moments of oasis, her path was mostly dry and rugged in a country that has one of the most beautiful natural landscapes.

Songs often strike a chord in the heart and evoke sentiments that plain prose can evade. The author's deeply emotional moments found expressions through rhyming words that she had strung together into resonating melancholy.

My dreams stretched from East to West
I flew with passion and hope.
Ups and downs, trials or tests,
I was willing and ready to cope.
What did I know, oh, what did I know?
Of impossibly inclined slopes
Housing, affordability, or Canadian experience
All issues were out of scope.

Following the yonder stars,
Levied a heavy tax to pay.
Shining and alluring from afar,
They burned me with betray.
Call it warning, call it whining,
Call it what you may.
I have poured them down in print and ink,
For eternity to stay.

Author: Archana Amaragandhi
ISBN-13: 9798879949339
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 02/17/2024
Pages: 84
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.20d