Your family’s story helped me imagine other immigrant stories.

November 14, 2017

Dear Purvi,

Thank you for coming in to talk about your family’s story. My favorite part of your share was when you told us about how your brother couldn’t find his name in English on the board in kindergarten. My second favorite part is when we got to try those special foods like samosas.

Two things I learned about Indian culture are: That elephants are very sacred and you can’t be mean to them or push them. The second thing I learned is that your community is like your family and you will sometimes eat at a random house.

I really liked your share about your family’s story

Sincerely,

Bo K. Gardner

November 14th 2017

Dear Purvi,

Thank you for coming in to share with us. I really liked the quiz and name guessing because I really got a sense of what it would feel like to be in that situation. I learned that in India people relate differently (socially) to each other. I also learned how sacred cows are.

I think it was really cool that there were so many connections between your share and our book, Lowji Discovers America. I’ll just name two: the whole family having a hard time adjusting to America, and being lonely at first.

Lastly, I have two questions: in your story, you talked about a cow blocking the door; did you miss the wedding completely? My second question is, would you get in trouble if you ate beef?

I really liked your visit.

Sincerely,

Sarah

Thank You So Much For Coming!

November 14th 2017

Dear Purvi,

Thank you so much for coming to visit us. Your family stories were really interesting and inspiring.

One of my favorite parts of your share was when you shared about the sacred cow. My mom goes to Mumbai every year for  business so I interviewed her for the book we are reading “Lowji Discovers America” and she mentioned the sacred cow. I knew the cow was sacred, but I didn’t know you couldn’t gently nudge it to move.

Another favorite part was your family stories. Hearing about incidents that really happened, helps me understand how these people felt. Your family’s story helped me imagine other immigrant stories.

One similarity I noticed to “Lowji Discovers America” is that the streets of Mumbai are really crowded, with outside markets everywhere.

Another similarity I noticed is that most people with the Indian culture are vegetarian because of the Hindu religion (my mom also mentioned this in the interview).

A question I still have is, when was the country established?

What does the Indian flag look like? What are some cultural similarities between New York and India?

Again, thank you so much for coming.

Sincerely,

Sonia Stomberg-Firestein

November 14th 2017

Dear Purvi,

Thank you for coming in and sharing the culture of India. I liked the trivia, though it was very tough, and I didn’t get them all right. I learned that India has had a female prime minister.

The clothes reminded me of the book, Lowji Discovers America. I also learned that the Indian flag colors are orange, white, and green. I didn’t know all off this information, like you can’t move a cow or touch it.

It is so great that you taught us all of that, it was amazing,

Love your good friend,

Theo