Unpacking Diaspora: A Group Reflection on Rachna Joshi’s Leaving India

A Group Reflection on Rachna Joshi’s Leaving India

This blog has been written as part of our classroom activity on group discussions of assigned poems, conducted under the guidance of Prakruti Bhatt ma'am. The objective of this task was to enhance our critical understanding and analytical skills by exploring the thematic and critical aspects of selected poems. Our group (Group Members: Khushi Goswami, Sanket Vavadiya, Manasi Joshi, Dhruvika Gohel, Mita Jambucha) specifically focused on Rachna Joshi’s poem Leaving India and prepared detailed answers through collaborative discussion. This activity helped us develop clarity, teamwork, and deeper literary insight.

Step 1: Based on the poem assigned to your group, discuss the thematic and critical aspects, and prepare one long and one short answer from the question bank.

"Leaving India" by Rachna Joshi:

Main Idea: The poem reflects the conflict between modern life abroad and deep cultural roots at home, exploring themes of diasporic identity, nostalgia, belonging, and love for India.

Let us begin with a preliminary overview: The poem captures the poet’s personal experience of migration from India to North America. In the beginning, she describes leaving India when she was young, filled with dreams of studying, traveling, and finding love.

When she arrives in North America, she notices its cleanliness, order, and beauty, but also feels that it is artificial and lifeless, with everything smelling of “plastic and perfume.”

In contrast, she describes India as chaotic, ancient, and full of extremes, sometimes uplifting, sometimes degrading. Unlike North America, India has deep roots in history, myths, and traditions.

The poem ends by showing her deep connection to her homeland, comparing India’s 5,000 years of continuous civilization to a “doting grandparent” who lovingly waits for her.

Q1: Discuss Diasporic Identity and raise the question of belongingness in Rachna Joshi’s poem Leaving India.

• Introduction:

Rachna Joshi’s poem Leaving India is a poignant exploration of the emotional and cultural dilemmas faced by those who leave their homeland in search of opportunities abroad. Drawing from her personal experience as an Indian immigrant to North America, Joshi captures the inner turmoil and fractured sense of identity that mark the diasporic condition. The poem reflects on themes such as cultural dislocation, nostalgia, alienation, and the inescapability of roots. Through vivid contrasts between India and North America, Joshi raises important questions about belongingness, identity, and the emotional cost of migration.

• Diasporic Identity and Emotional Conflict:

Diasporic identity refers to the psychological and cultural condition of people who live away from their ancestral homelands. It often involves feelings of rootlessness, alienation, hybridity, and nostalgia. In Leaving India, Joshi’s speaker reflects on why she left India, citing her youthful and

“naive ideas about studying poetry,

traveling and finding true love.”

However, as she settles into North America, she experiences a cultural and emotional vacuum. North America is described as “clean, sanitized, almost sterile,” where everything smells of “plastic and perfume.” This sensory emptiness symbolizes a deeper emotional sterility a place devoid of cultural depth, history, and meaningful connections.

In contrast, India is portrayed in paradoxical terms:

“stark, ancient and ugly,

magnificent, uplifting or degrading.”

These contradictory images capture the complexity of the speaker’s relationship with her homeland. India is not romanticized; it is presented with honesty, including its flaws. Yet, despite its imperfections, India remains a place of emotional richness, cultural continuity, and profound significance. This duality reflects the diasporic individual’s love-hate relationship with the homeland, shaped by both attachment and critique.

• The Question of Belongingness:

The poem raises a profound question: Where does true belonging lie? The speaker initially believes she can find fulfillment in North America through academic pursuits, romance, and travel. However, despite the “blue skies,” “autumnal trees,” and the picturesque “golden light,” she feels disconnected. North America lacks the ruins, myths, and ghosts that symbolize cultural history and emotional depth. This absence leaves her feeling adrift in a “brave new naked world” a phrase that suggests vulnerability, exposure, and a lack of cultural clothing or protection.

Belonging, as the poem suggests, is not determined solely by geography. It is tied to memory, history, culture, and emotional connection. The speaker’s longing for India is not just about physical space but about the deep-rooted cultural inheritance that shapes her identity. This realization is encapsulated in the lines:

“In India, all meaning comes from

sacramental link with the past.”

These lines highlight that India offers continuity, tradition, and a sense of the sacred. The speaker acknowledges that people may try to “deny history, family and tradition,” but these elements persist beneath the surface. India’s “five thousand years of continuous civilisation” are personified as a “doting grandparent,” waiting patiently, ready to welcome her back. This image emphasizes the inescapable pull of one’s cultural roots, even when one tries to forget them.

• Diasporic Longing and Cultural Memory:

The poem captures the diasporic longing for home, not as a physical place, but as a repository of memory, culture, and belonging. The speaker’s experience in North America is marked by dislocation and cultural emptiness, prompting her to re-evaluate what she left behind. The contrast between India’s “ancient” and North America’s “sterile” worlds reinforces the idea that belonging is tied to cultural depth and emotional connection, not modernity or material comfort.

Furthermore, the poem highlights the diasporic tension between assimilation and cultural retention. While the speaker lives abroad, her emotional and cultural self remains tethered to India’s long history. This inner division is a hallmark of diasporic identity, where individuals often feel suspended between two cultures never fully belonging to either.

• Conclusion:

Rachna Joshi’s Leaving India is a nuanced reflection on diasporic identity and the question of belonging. Through its honest portrayal of the speaker’s conflicted feelings, the poem reveals how cultural roots persist beneath the surface of migration narratives. While North America offers modernity and order, it lacks the cultural depth and emotional resonance of India. The poem concludes with the comforting, almost familial image of India’s civilization waiting “like a doting grandparent.” In doing so, Joshi suggests that belonging is not something we choose or erase—it is something that patiently waits within us, rooted in history, memory, and tradition.

Q2: Write a short note on ‘Usage of Paradox’ in Rachna Joshi’s poem.

Rachna Joshi’s Leaving India employs paradox as a key literary device to highlight the contradictions inherent in the diasporic experience. A paradox involves the use of seemingly contradictory statements that reveal a deeper truth. In this poem, paradox operates on both thematic and emotional levels to capture the speaker’s conflicted feelings towards India and North America.

One of the most striking paradoxes in the poem is the description of India as

“stark, ancient and ugly,

magnificent, uplifting or degrading.”

These opposing adjectives ugly yet magnificent, uplifting yet degrading reflect the complex and ambivalent emotions the speaker holds towards her homeland. India is neither wholly positive nor wholly negative; rather, it encompasses both extremes. This paradox captures the truth of diasporic identity, where the homeland is a source of both love and pain, belonging and alienation.

Similarly, North America is portrayed paradoxically. Though it offers “clean, sanitized” and picturesque surroundings, it feels “sterile,” lacking the warmth, depth, and historical layers of India. The phrase “brave new naked world” itself is paradoxical. “Brave new world” suggests hope and opportunity, while “naked” implies vulnerability, exposure, and absence of protection or cultural depth. This paradox emphasizes the speaker’s realization that despite the material advantages of life abroad, emotional and cultural fulfillment remains elusive.

Through these paradoxes, Joshi critiques the hollowness of modern, sanitized environments and underscores the enduring power of cultural memory and tradition. The paradoxes in the poem reflect the inner conflicts of diasporic individuals, highlighting their struggle to reconcile their present realities with their cultural and emotional past.

Step 2: Prepare a report of the group discussion addressing the following questions:

Q1: Which poem and questions were discussed by the group? Was there any unique approach or technique used by your group to discuss the topic?

Our group focused on the poem ‘Leaving India’ by Rachna Joshi for discussion. To make the process more organized and thorough, we divided the topics among ourselves. Khushi Goswami addressed the themes of diasporic identity in relation to Rachna Joshi’s life and explored how this theme is reflected in the poem. She also examined the poem’s central themes and its use of paradox as a literary device. Sanket contributed by analyzing the critical aspects of the poem, offering interpretations beyond the surface reading. I was responsible for exploring the poet’s expression of love for India, focusing on how this emotional connection shapes the poem’s deeper meaning. Three of our members, Mita, Manasi, and Dhruvika, were absent from this session. Toward the conclusion of our discussion, we also referred to the Question Bank for further clarification and consolidation of our understanding.

Q2: Who led the discussion or contributed most to the discussion? Did everyone contribute equally?

Khushi Goswami took the lead in directing and moderating the discussion. Although she guided the conversation, all present members contributed actively and shared their insights equally. In addition to a detailed analysis of Leaving India, the group also expanded the conversation to include discussions on other poems from the syllabus, fostering a broader and more comparative understanding of the material.

Q3: Which points were easy and which ones were difficult for everyone in your group to understand?

Our group found Rachna Joshi’s ‘Leaving India’ relatively accessible, as its language and thematic concerns are more straightforward compared to some of the other texts we have studied. Following this, we proceeded to discuss ‘An Introduction’ by Kamala Das, which further clarified key themes of gender and identity for us. However, when the discussion turned to the themes of fascism and communism in Meena Kandasamy’s Eklavyam, Sanket personally found these concepts challenging to fully grasp, as they required a deeper understanding of historical and political contexts beyond the immediate text.

Step 3: Briefly present your learning outcomes from this activity.

This group discussion activity helped me enhance my understanding of the poems in the unit. It provided a valuable opportunity to revise key concepts and clarify any doubts (like I was confused about the meaning of lines like - “Brave New Naked World”) through collaborative learning. Discussing the poems as a group allowed us to explore different interpretations and perspectives, which deepened my critical thinking about the texts.

Additionally, this activity improved my communication skills and encouraged active participation. By listening to my peers’ viewpoints, I was able to approach the poems with a more open and analytical mindset. Overall, this discussion fostered better comprehension, teamwork, and confidence in analyzing literary works.

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