Author relates childhood tales

From body piercings and henna, to Burma and Hollywood, author Mira Kamdar led audience members through the colorful journey of her heritage last Wednesday night. Kamdar, a senior fellow at New School University in New York City shared selections from her book, Motiba's Tattoos: A Granddaughter's Journey into Her Indian Family's Past, to a crowd of more than 30 Penn students and Philadelphia residents at the Penn Bookstore, as a part of her national tour. Intrigued by the mysterious tattoos on her grandmother's face and arms, Kamdar said, "I realized there were so many questions I wanted to ask her." "It is so important to get the stories," she stressed to the crowd. "I encourage [students] to talk to their grandparents. If you really sit down and talk to them about the past, it can be fascinating." The quest for answers led Kamdar to a small village in Gujarat, the state in India where her family has possibly had roots for over 1,000 years. Her book chronicles the comical circumstances of her family's migration from Gujarat to Burma, the horrifying conditions -- Burma was bombed by the Japanese during World War II -- of the journey to Bombay and the eventual move to the United States. Kamdar shared anecdotes of how her father prepared himself to immigrate to the United States by watching Hollywood movies , how her grandfather, a freedom fighter under Mahatma Gandhi valiantly resisted marriage and how no one knew her grandmother's real name. She went on to discuss how one's family background strongly influences one's future. The event also held a special connection with Penn, as it opened with remarks from South Asia Regional Studies Professor Panna Naik, who works in Van Pelt Library and who read a poem she had written. Following a reading of several selections from her book, Kamdar answered questions regarding a variety of topics, including the success of South Asian women writers today. "The writing is tremendously attractive because it's English, but it's a different English" Kamdar explained, commenting on the cultural flavor weaved into such works. She also briefly discussed the recent popularization of Indian traditions -- including mehendi, or henna tattoos. "The practice is the same but the cultural context is totally different" in that much of the traditional significance has been lost along the way. Growing up in the 1960s as a Danish-Indian, Kamdar found that being of Indian heritage was a "very exceptional thing." Wharton junior Milli Shah said she thought Kamdar did a good job of translating her personal stories into engrossing literature. "She took something ordinary, a life people take for granted and put a spotlight over it." Added Wharton freshman Vinita Amin: "I am Gujarati too. I have always wanted to learn more about myself. I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity."