Prof. Jessica Penner | OL12 | Fall 2020

Discussion of Kothari’s Work

Answer in the comment section below:

Who is this piece intended for? To which DC/DCs does Kothari belong? Do you relate to her situation in any way: it does not have to be a situation that is specifically related to food! Think broadly. (Write around 150 words.)

23 Comments

  1. Eriq Ahmad

    Based on my readings, this piece is intended mainly to Kothari’s mom because she is always referring to her in the story. She always refer to her based on what foods she cannot eat, what she cooked in her childhood, and it talks about Kothari’s experiences with cooking and eating foods from different cultures. She is stuck between two cultures, Indian and American culture. Kothari belongs in both her Indian and American culture as her discourse communities. The Indian culture is from her family (mostly her mom) and the American culture is from her husband. She uses food as imagery to compare her problems with her culture and the culture she is living in now. Although, I don’t really relate to her situation in any way because I actually eat food from my culture and other cultures as well. My parents don’t have any problems with me eating foods from different cultures. They even eat different cultural foods just like me. I feel like it is because they know and understand that we can’t be eating our own kind of food all the time. It will be boring, as if there is nothing else to eat. It is that her parents (mostly her mom) disagrees on what foods she cannot eat but my parents agree on any food that I want to eat. Kothari is more cultural and religious than I am when it comes to food, based on her situation.

    • Eriq Ahmad

      Also, I forgot to mention that the author is struggling with her culture because she now cannot remember the names of the different spices and cannot prepare her cultural food from India the right way. This tells us that Kothari is losing her own Indian culture and slowly changing to American culture.

  2. Andy

    The person I say this writing was intended to was Kothari’s mom because throughout the whole reading she mentions her in almost everything, and I could see why because she took a real big role in Kothari’s life and the way she grew up to be. She made her realize who she is because she seems confused throughout the whole reading saying I am my parents daughter after all or i am not Indian or American. The DC’s i think Kothari’s belongs to is is both Indian and the American culture due to the reason why at the beginning she says she wanted to eat pork, hot dogs or american food as she says but, going more towards the end she also says how will she make Indian food when her parents are gone because she says that she should have those recipes memorized by heart. These are the reasons why she belongs to both DC’s, as well at the end she says how she eats bacon and bologna. Another things was because she says I am my parents daughter with confidence saying that she belongs to the Indian culture. I do kind of relate to Kothari’s since my parents are immigrates at times I feel different when I talk to family members like if I don’t belong there at times because at times I can get confused with my other language.

  3. Isaac

    Based on my reading and although the author refers to her mother throughout the whole article, I believe the piece is intended for a more broadly audience, the reader. The author herself is struggling with her own identity and is trying to reflect on the clashes between her Indian heritage and her life in America which leads me to deduct that she belongs to a “Folocal” DC. I say Folocal which is the mixture of Local and Focal DC’s because she’s trying to fit in the American society (Local DC), her mother seems to have no interest in and her struggle of keeping up her Indian heritage and her mother’s expectation (Focal). I can relate to the author, as an immigrant myself I know of the struggle’s immigrants go through. I have been living in the U.S. for 11 years now and my first year was rough, I just wanted to go back home, the language was difficult the first couple of months and now I sometimes struggle to find words in my own language.

  4. Rex Dovolani

    The reading by Geeta Kothari is very interesting as she was trying to express her feelings about her mother. The title “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” portrays the writers feelings through out the entire reading. The writer expressed many doubts throughout the piece about her mother. The type of food the author was mentioning “I want to eat what the kids at school eat: bologna, hot dogs, salami—foods my parents find repugnant because they contain pork and meat by-products… We drink boiled water only, no ice. No sweets except for jalebi, thin fried twists of dough in dripping hot sugar syrup.” These quotes show how Kothari belongs to two different DC’s. In the beginning she would mention very modern food like tuna and bologna etc. As the reading went on she would speak about food she wouldn’t appreciate as much as she couldn’t eat ice cream back in India. Kothari belongs to the DC’s of America and India. I can definitely relate to the author as my family is very foreign as they try to bring the same type of culture from Albania to America for events such as weddings. The younger generations like to listen to english music such as rap. However, the older family members like to listen to Albanian music like they did back home. The differences in language presents problems as the younger generations do not understand much Albanian.

  5. Amanda

    Based on what I read this piece is intended mainly for Kothari’s mom and dad. The reason I say that is because through the story she talks about how disappointed she is with her parents, how she has to learn things from her friends to learn about the American culture. It seems she relies on them for things but it seems like they don’t know what she wants them to know. It seems like she is struggling between American and Indian culture, the Kothari discourse community is Indian and American Culture. This story doesn’t really relate to me because My parents don’t have any problems with me eating any kind of food, my family and I tried many different foods together. I feel like the reason my parents let me eat whatever is because they know I’m young and they know that I like to eat a lot so they already know how I am with food.

  6. Dewan

    The reading was about the author Geeta Kothari and her cooking and consuming food experiences from various cultures. Kothari said she comes from India but is living in the USA. She tells us the beginning of the reading about her upbringing and how all of her peers were eating traditional American foods at her age, but she didn’t because her mother would only give her Indian food. Kothari’s mother didn’t want her to eat American food, since she didn’t know anything about it. In India it was also popular not to eat any beef so Kothari’s mother didn’t let her have any. As she gets older Kothari gets more opportunities to indulge in food from various cultures and she also loves it. Though she had the ability to eat foods with beef in it when she was sent to boarding school in London, but she considers herself a vegetarian. What I felt was odd because when she was younger she used to eat beef. Later in her life, Kothari regrets not loving her childhood’s foods because she no longer had the ability to get such meals unless she had the ingredients or someone who knew how to cook.Many places she has gone to do not served Indian food the right way. And she’s attempting to obtain as much of the ingredients she can from family over the internet. She eventually married American who always ate the food she needed as a child but then she seemed to miss some of her Indian meals. Kothari also spoke of this strange scent which she remembered as being like the meat foods he served on him. She said she didn’t want it but used to like the things she wanted as a kid that’s a little ironic. In a way, I can’t relate as much, because I’m still eating my parents home cooked meals that I don’t mind. Theres nothing like home cooked meals specially made by your mom. Like Kothari I didn’t want food all the time from my parents. I love trying new foods also i have mixed group in my friends. It was great like my Jamaican friend his mother made some jerk chicken with jollof rice , I was just blown away on how good it was . I feel we should all be open to new flavors, but we never know if we want them until we check them out.

  7. Satariac

    In this piece I believe its intended for Kothari’s mother but also for herself. She belongs to two DCs and that is of Indian and American. She struggles much of her life telling us how things are accepted from both sides and looked down upon from both. I relate to this in the sense of living a social life via irl ( in real time) and in my online gaming community. In my IRL life so many things are preconceived and should be one way, where as in my gaming community nobody cares about that and its more of getting to know the individual on a more personal basis. Kothari struggled with wanting to fit in but realizing later on that she craved things that she took for granted. She was in a way slightly Americanized but still with even questioning if she is what she eats, she was constantly unsure if she was Indian or her parents daughter and I think many people struggle with that when they belong to more then one DC. I question how social I am all the time, i wonder am I an introvert because I dont like to go outside or dont really care for people, or is it just the community I am in at that moment that determines how social I am. Just like Kothari, the older I get the more things become clear.

  8. Satariac

    In this piece I believe its intended for Kothari’s mother but also for herself. She belongs to two DCs and that is of Indian and American. She struggles much of her life telling us how things are accepted from both sides and looked down upon from both. I relate to this in the sense of living a social life via irl ( in real time) and in my online gaming community. In my IRL life so many things are preconceived and should be one way, where as in my gaming community nobody cares about that and its more of getting to know the individual on a more personal basis. Kothari struggled with wanting to fit in but realizing later on that she craved things that she took for granted. She was in a way slightly Americanized but still with even questioning if she is what she eats, she was constantly unsure if she was Indian or her parents daughter and I think many people struggle with that when they belong to more then one DC. I question how social I am all the time, i wonder am I an introvert because I dont like to go outside or dont really care for people, or is it just the community I am in at that moment that determines how social I am. Just like Kothari, the older I get the more things become clear.

  9. jevon

    The narrator is begging to be a part of the world around her. She continually asks for “American” food to have some relation to the other children in her school, the ones she’s so different from. I Believe for the younger generation that she’s writing this. She has a desire for individuals to follow their own beliefs in trying to find out where they belong in the world. Since she had to go through a time in her life, she was confused about who she was. Because she did, she needs others to see that others can find their way and more truly know where they belong. I think the discourse community Kothari belongs in is culinary arts. Kothari also made me realize that what I find tasty may not be appetizing for others. Culture can also play a part in that. In other words, a person’s culture plays an essential role in their food.

  10. jevon

    The narrator is begging to be a part of the world around her. She continually asks for “American” food to have some relation to the other children in her school, the ones she’s so different from. I Believe for the younger generation that she’s writing this. She has a desire for individuals to follow their own beliefs in trying to find out where they belong in the world. Since she had to go through a time in her life, she was confused about who she was. Because she did, she needs others to see that others can find their way and more truly know where they belong. I think the discourse community Kothari belongs in is culinary arts. Kothari also made me realize that what I find tasty may not be appetizing for others. Culture can also play a part in that. In other words, a person’s culture plays an essential role in their food.

  11. zhouxing shi

    According to the article, I think this piece is intended to Kothari’s mother. At the beginning of the article, her mother bought her a can of tuna, hoping that she could adapt to the American diet instead of eating beef, because they were Indians. When they were children, the mother began to restrict her daughters’ diet. They cannot eat what other kids usually eat at school such as hotdogs and burgers, which disappointed them. At the end of the article, the author mentioned that her mother couldn’t eat lobster because she couldn’t watch the cruel cooking process. She realized that how kind her mother is and understood the reason why she didn’t let them eat beef except religious reasons. Under the influence of her mother, she has not eaten lobster for several years, and the ingredients and seasonings in the kitchen are the same as her mother. The author narrates her mother’s influence on her and her sister, and expresses her missing for her mother through the foods.
    Kothari belongs to two discourse communities, one is the traditional family under Indian culture, and another one is the living environment under American culture. Her parents are traditional Indians. Although she grew up in the United States, she abides by Indian tradition under the influence of her parents. But her husband, an American, brought her American eating habits which have conflicts with Indian traditional habits. My situation is very similar to Kothari’s. I grew up in China and came to the United States when I was 16 and I felt the cultural shocks. We are all struggling under the cultural shocks of different DCs. We have to choose whether to adapt to the new environment and culture or keep the tradition of our original culture.

  12. Daria Dubovskaia

    The article is adressed to everyone whose parents are the immigrants. Broadly speaking, Geeta belongs to the community of immigrants. To narrow the circle, the DC would be the child of immigrants from North India. The “North” is important as they are not accustomed to add curry spice in food but they have to as that is what they are in the eyes of natives. The locals think that curry is just an Indian thing but in reality curry is used not everywhere.

    In the article, Mrs. Kothari is cooking for her cultural code through the example with food. It is hard to get used to the new place of living when you inherit experience from another country. You may see the obstacles and hurdles here and there (such as the author’s issue with food). Although it fades away in decades but not completely. In the end of the day, your roots get bigger and pull you back. Apparently, not where you or your ancestors were born, but at least somehow to respect the legacy. For example, to know exactly how to cook a grand-grand mother’s pie that no one is aware about.

    I really understand the author as I am going through similar stages – food conflict, especially blind admiration of food that can not be called so just because it contains 10-20 chemicals on the label instead of just one. Also, some local customs may seem bizarre; that could be improved but they don’t but I would stop myself right here – never bring your edition of the bible in a temple that already got its own. The cultural differences may be huge and it can be turned into sharing the experience. “Remember who you are”, said Mufasa I agree and I will go from there.

  13. Sumon Alam

    Sumon Alam
    English 1121
    Professor Jessica Penner

    The story of Geeta Kothari in an article called “If you are what you eat then what am I” is intended for mainly immigrants or a certain immigrant community who are living aboard for whatever reason and how the home community pictures them as the same or as different. Kothari belongs to the Indian discourse community that is living in the U.S for quite a while and she goes to Bombay and Deli (cities in India). The main issue that she is going through is fitting into the community because her religious beliefs prohibit her from eating any kind of meat. I’m also from Asia and from the country that shares borders with India, I’m from Bangladesh and moved here recently. It’s been approximately 3 years since I’ve been living in New York for studies. I can relate myself in the same situation because although she has trouble fitting in the food environment I also have trouble fitting in the English language when I came here from Bangladesh, the studies here are all in English and I’m learning new things day by day.

  14. Estarlin

    I believe that this writing is directed to the youth, in my experience I have been able to see many families that are affected by culturalization, where young people are trapped in two or more cultures. But in the case of Kothari, many of the things that she experienced were due to the culture and education she received from her parents. My relationship with this story is that I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic with a culture and custom different from that of the United States, and as a young man, American culture draws my attention even if it is not for my parents. I believe that in this story the most important thing is the cultures and beliefs of each individual.

  15. Møh Sillah

    Based on “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?”, this piece looks like it’s Mostly intended for Geeta Kothari mother but also a reminder for herself. The reason I said mostly her mother because almost In every paragraph, the author explains reasons why she can’t enjoy meat and food that people eat outside her family, because her mother thinks American food aren’t healthy for them and she’s afraid that Geeta and her sister would learn to despise her cooking and start eating bacon, bologna and lose their taste for masala. And the reason I included a reminder for herself because towards the end of the article, Geeta mentions that she’s afraid of losing her mothers cooking when she pass away, her childhood memories, not able to carry her mother cooking with her home with her husband, going to every Indian restaurant having the same taste. So she gathers food that her mother used to cook, and starts cooking and let her husband help her so he will be comfortable with it around and he acknowledges to learn the secret of the cooking. She want him to know what she know, without having to tell him exactly what it is.

    • Møh Sillah

      I forgot to include this but I don’t really relate to her in any way

  16. Alisha Roberts

    On what I’ve read, I believe the piece was intended for Kothari’s mom because she was always mentioning her in the story. She notes that her mother cooks various foods while growing up, mostly based on her religion. The majority of the story, she seems frustrated that her parents wouldn’t be open to trying American foods such as hot dogs and hamburgers that her friends enjoy daily. Although as she starts to attend college, that’s where she meets other people from different cultures. At the same time, Kothari talks about her experiences with trying traditional foods. I can relate to her situation to an extent because I was born in another country. When I came to America, I was amazed by how many cultural differences there were and how many foods were there to try and still have yet to try. Although due to her religion, she could not be able to eat a particular type of meat. I have no problem eating certain types of foods.

  17. Alisha Roberts

    On what I’ve read, I believe the piece was intended for Kothari’s mom because she was always mentioning her in the story. She notes that her mother cooks various foods while growing up, mostly based on her religion. The majority of the story, she seems frustrated that her parents wouldn’t be open to trying American foods such as hot dogs and hamburgers that her friends enjoy daily. Although as she starts to attend college, that’s where she meets other people from different cultures. At the same time, Kothari talks about her experiences with trying traditional foods. I can relate to her situation to an extent because I was born in another country. When I came to America, I was amazed by how many cultural differences there were and how many foods were there to try and still have yet to try. Although due to her religion, she could not be able to eat a particular type of meat. I have no problem eating certain types of foods.

  18. Michalis Photiou

    Based on what i read this piece is intended for her parents. I believe Kothari belongs in two different DC. One being the american culture and the other one the indian culture. Her parents are strict on what she is allowed to eat and she always wanted to eat/try the food her classmates were eating. Also it mentions that they eat specific foods based on their parents believes like ” We drink boiled water only, no ice.” , ” tea sweetened with sugar, served with thick creamy buffalo milk, is preferable. It should be boiled, to kill the germs on the cup”. There are still out there some families that i know that they dont even allowed to try or eat meat in general. To be honest i don’t relay to her my parents allow me to eat anything and sometimes they want me to try different thinks that i might like. For instance last time she cooked for first time octopus and she wanted me to try i might like it.

  19. Mahamudul Hasan

    Based on the Author Geeta Kothari If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I, She always focused on here life style from child hood to Adult life by explaining distinguish between Indian Foods and American food. She explained more in details about her mother home made food and the food she used to eat in her school life and out side in the New York and London. I feel like she was very confuse about her food test. She has different opinion about american and Indian food. She seems to confuse her self what is right to eat or not because of her Parents . She has experienced different life style where in three different cities like New York City, Bombay in India and London. She seems to miss her mom cooked dishes in childhood mostly and Liked going out to Indian restaurant as well. She has learned to cook Indian and American western Dishes as she grown up. I believe everyone pretty much should know how to cook the way they know when to eat. Cooking food is a great Art. It can bring patient and Art in a same time, Also Its a great knowledge where you can satisfy others with good test. Also everyone should have their own choice what to eat or not despite of their background and beliefs.

  20. Mahamudul Hasan

    Based on the Author Geeta Kothari If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I, She always focused on here life style from child hood to Adult life by explaining distinguish between Indian Foods and American food. She explained more in details about her mother home made food and the food she used to eat in her school life and out side in the New York and London. I feel like she was very confuse about her food test. She has different opinion about american and Indian food. She seems to confuse her self what is right to eat or not because of her Parents . She has experienced different life style where in three different cities like New York City, Bombay in India and London. She seems to miss her mom cooked dishes in childhood mostly and Liked going out to Indian restaurant as well. She has learned to cook Indian and American western Dishes as she grown up. I believe everyone pretty much should know how to cook the way they know when to eat. Cooking food is a great Art. It can bring patient and Art in a same time, Also Its a great knowledge where you can satisfy others with good test. Also everyone should have their own choice what to eat or not despite of their background and beliefs.

  21. Joe

    In reading Kothari’s writings I understand that she is connecting her native Indian food to specific events in her life. Kothari also incorporates other foods as she moves from place to place and time to time. I tried to correlate the foods taste with specific events but I did not perceive a connection. Kotari always names the other regional foods, and offers descriptions but only her native food does she specifically describe taste. I know there is much more there that I am missing . But I am late on this post and have another dead line to make. I missed this one by more ways than one.

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