Meer, Ameena (1964– )
Born in Boston to Indian parents, Ameena Meer
grew up in the United States and Great Britain.
Bombay Talkie (1994) is her only novel to date,
but she has also published short stories including
“I Want to Give You Devotion,” about an Indian
guru and ashram leader, and “Mannequin,” about
a wealthy Indian woman in New York who is about
to enter into an arranged marriage. Meer lives in
New York City with her three daughters.
Bombay Talkie questions ethnic and national
identity, the tradition of arranged marriage, and
homosexuality in Indian culture. The narrative
focuses on Sabah, a recent college graduate who
was born in America but is in conflict between
her American and Muslim-Indian identities. Bibi,
Sabah’s mother, suggests she go to India to visit
family and her childhood friend, Rani, who is hav-
ing a difficult time in her marriage. Sabah thinks
if she goes to India, “Maybe she’d be able to find a
happy medium between what her parents wanted
her to do (the good Indian girl) and what she
wanted to do (the bad American girl)” (35).
During the plane ride, Sabah feels no connec-
tion with the Indian passengers. She emphasizes
a Western persona, so as to not be mistaken as a
native Indian woman. In India, her identity crisis
is even more pronounced than in America. Sabah
confuses the servants for having an Indian appear-
ance but speaking Hindi poorly. Typical daily ex-
periences in India are novel to Sabah, such as the
Indian dinner party and palm readings. When she
visits Rani, moreover, she learns that Rani’s ar-
ranged marriage to Hemant is abusive and diffi-
cult. Hemant forces his wife to end her successful
modeling career, and he is unfaithful to her. But
Rani cannot leave the marriage unless she pays
his grandfather the $60,000 dowry. Rani is miser-
able and lives in fear of her husband and his fam-
ily. In the end, Sabah witnesses a “bride burning.”
Hemant and Rani enter a verbal altercation, and
Hemant douses the room with alcohol and lights
a match. Sabah is unable to save Rani’s life from
the fire.
In another part of the novel, the reader meets
Sabah’s wealthy uncle Jimmy, “Bombay’s best
known (lip-synching) singer and movie villain”
(41). Jimmy’s son Adam cannot explore his iden-
tity as a homosexual while he is home in India, so
he joins his boyfriend, Marc, in London. When his
father joins him in London, Adam leaves again to
find Marc in New York, telling only his sister Alia.
Bombay Talkie interrogates the tradition of ar-
ranged marriage from multiple perspectives. As a
Westerner, Sabah learns of the common practices
and atrocities of Indian marriages. She observes
that a prospective wife is considered valuable in
terms of her material assets judged by the size of
her dowry. To an Indian, however, “Arranged mar-
riages are so much more intelligent.... How stu-
pid you Americans are, going around marrying the
first person you fall in love with” (115).
Bombay Talkie also examines homosexuality.
Adam’s clandestine homosexuality drives him fur-
ther and further away from his family. Concealed
homosexuality is also shown as a major cause of
Rani’s failed marriage. Hemant is seen at a night-
club with an 11-year-old male prostitute, and he
travels to have affairs with several other partners.
However, he feels he must stay married in order to
meet social expectations and to ensure his family’s
gain of Rani’s dowry.
At the end, Sabah returns to the United States
and runs into her cousin Adam in New York. The
novel thus ends sadly as the two major characters
seem unable to find peace with their cultural and
sexual identity.Bibliography
Meer, Ameena. Bombay Talkie. London: Serpent’s
Tail, 1994.
Alissa AppelMehta, Ved Parkash (1934– )
Ved Mehta was born in Lahore, India (now in
Pakistan). Blinded in early childhood due to men-
ingitis, Mehta completed his early schooling in
Bombay at the Dadar School for the blind. At the
age of 15, he came to the United States to attend
Arkansas State School for the Blind. He got his B.A.
in 1956 from Pomona College, California, another
B.A. from Oxford University in 1959, and an M.A.Mehta, Ved Parkash 189