Most Indian parents would be deemed unsuitable for the position if hand-feeding, sharing mattresses, or applying a superstitious “kaala teeka” to ward off evil were signs of poor parenting.
It’s usual to frown at foreign customs that differ from one’s own.
Yet, it crosses the line into racism and Western misunderstanding of Asian culture when cultural differences serve as the only justification for something as heinous as separating children from their parents and fostering a climate of mistrust and suspicion.
When an NRI couple in Norway’s Stavanger city battled the nation’s child welfare laws to reclaim their three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter in a protracted custody dispute, the Indian government was forced to step in and resolve the issue. What happened is a complex mix of cultural clash, domestic upheavals, and diplomatic intervention.
The strenuous proceedings in Mrs. Chatterjee v. Norway are calmed down by Jim Sarbh’s cool counsel. The only sobering, logical thing said in this cacophonous homage to motherhood is his wonderful ideas on adoption to an equally level-headed Balaji Gauri at the very end.
