Daughter of the Ganges: A Memoir
Growing up in an Indian orphanage, Asha Miró; dreamed that someday she would be adopted. At the age of six, her wish finally came true, but only at the misfortune of another. A Catalan family was in the process of adopting twins when one of the children suddenly fell ill and died -- a twist of fate that led the family to adopt Asha instead. Leaving a life of poverty behind, Asha was given a second chance.\ Twenty-one years later, Asha takes a heart-wrenching trip back to India to uncover her...
Search in google:
Growing up in an Indian orphanage, Asha Miró; dreamed that someday she would be adopted. At the age of six, her wish finally came true, but only at the misfortune of another. A Catalan family was in the process of adopting twins when one of the children suddenly fell ill and died -- a twist of fate that led the family to adopt Asha instead. Leaving a life of poverty behind, Asha was given a second chance.Twenty-one years later, Asha takes a heart-wrenching trip back to India to uncover her native roots. Full of unexpected encounters, this adventure informs and touches Asha beyond her expectations. She visits her old orphanage, speaks with her former caretakers, explores the land that she might not have ever left, and comes to form a more solid identity. Yet one trip is not enough. Eight years later she returns, this time visiting the small rural village where she was born. While uncovering the details behind her adoption, Asha discovers the only living member of her immediate Indian family: a sister she never knew she had. Publishers Weekly This memoir is an assemblage of two books chronicling Miro's first trips back to her native land of India since being adopted in Barcelona at the age of six in 1974. Miro (who works on cultural documentaries) begins with her only memory of India- a Christian orphanage in Bombay-interspersed with her adoptive mother's journal entries. In India, she struggles with stories that reinforce her history of being abandoned by her father, as well as the stunning news that she has siblings. The second book tells of her subsequent return to India to film a documentary about her story. Retracing the steps of her first trip, Miro finds that not all the stories she first heard were true. The woman documented as her mother is not her mother after all, and her father didn't simply abandon her as she'd been led to believe. These discoveries encourage Miro to become a public speaker on adoption, yet the voice of this section lacks the intimate tone of the first. Regardless, Miro's moving attempt to create a personal history from two distant worlds and a few scattered facts will enlighten readers about the emotional journey many adopted children undertake when searching into their past. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
CONTENTSBOOK ONE: DAUGHTER OF THE GANES1. My First Trip Back to India 32. Bombay 193. Nine Instead of Five 274. The Bread of Necessity 335. The Spiral Staircase 456. Something to Offer 697. Mary 758. The Rear Entrance 839. An Object of Attention 9510. Films and Injections 10311. Nasik 11312. Back from Inda 131BOOK TWO: THE TWO FACES OF THE MOON13. Returning to My Origins 13914. Everything in Its Proper Place 14515. Seeing Mumbai with New Eyes 15916. Usha and the Sacred City 16917. Daughters of the Godavari 18518. Sitabai and Sakubai 21719. My Sister Asha's Story 23720. Leaving the Land Behind 257A Messaage from the Author to the People Included in This Story 265Acknowledgements 267Glossary of Indian Words 271
