'The Namesake' is the story of a boy brought up Indian in America. 'When her gra
ndmother learned of Ashima's pregnancy, she was particularly thrilled at the pro
spect of naming the family's first sahib. And so Ashima and Ashoke have agreed t
o put off the decision of what to name the baby until a letter comes...' For now
, the label on his hospital cot reads simply BABY BOY GANGULI.
But as time pa
sses and still no letter arrives from India, American bureaucracy takes over and
demands that 'baby boy Ganguli' be given a name. In a panic, his father decides
to nickname him 'Gogol' - after his favourite writer. Brought up as an Indian i
n suburban America, Gogol Ganguli soon finds himself itching to cast off his awk
ward name, just as he longs to leave behind the inherited values of his Bengali
parents.
