Bolo! Bolo!

$0Bolo! Bolo! is a unique collectionfeatures over 80 essays, poems and short storiesthat gives readers

a peek into the lives and experiences of children of SouthAsian immigrants who have made theirhome in Canada and the United States .$0$0$0$0It often felt like a series of random conversation with oneperson then the next. The writing varies greatly in quality, but thiscontributes to the feeling that this is a community effort, with the largerpurpose of sharing stories.$0$0$0$0The essay calledTrapped,by Padma Tumuluri, expresses the fury one woman feels when being pushed intomarriage. $0$0Consciousness is astriking poem that described by its author Mohamad Khan as an "effort tocompete the rhythmic complexity of the tabla piece". His poem has anenergizing style that fuses east and west as he writes about the racism thatcreates barriers between these two sides of his life.$0$0$0$0Theshort stories were often touching.The Coat, by Sunita Popli, isthe moving story of a young successful family in Indiathat migrates to Canadahoping to find riches and opportunity. They immediately find that they arestarting at the bottom of the employment ladder and are at the mercy of theirrelatives. The mother finds inspiration in a stranger's kindness, and passesthis sense of gratitude on to her children. I particularly enjoyedConfessions of a Beauty Contestant,a story about a young woman's desire to compete in a beauty pageant, an issuethat is unexpected and pleasantly honest.$0$0$0$0The title of the anthologycomes from and often-used colloquial phrase in Hindi which, loosely translated,means "tell me. This collection is a good introduction intosome of the political and cultural issues that some South Asians living in North America face. $0$0$0$0It is a work to be applauded.$0$0$0