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contemporary London and Britain. In Cantle’s words, “the key
feature of interculturality, and what differentiates it from
multiculturality, is its sense of openness, dialogue and interaction
between cultures” (2012: 157). The first step of interculturalism as
a new model is to regard “culture” as “a dynamic concept” that is
“constantly being made and remade” and to understand that “the
way individuals see their identity and the way particular groups
and communities represent themselves will change over time”
(2012: 173). Although Malkani’s desi characters live in an ethnic
enclave and, as Cantle maintains, “it is not surprising that people
seek to congregate with others who share the same idea of
themselves and have a common bound of personal and collective
identity” (2012: 60),
Londonstani
manifests that this common
bound is not to be “regarded as primordial and ‘natural,’” and to
be “preserved at all costs” (2012: 60). Rather than having singular
identities, the desis in the novel are shown to establish connections
and bounds with others in a way that demonstrates their
differences in, for example, class, age, and gender and that reflects
the impact of diaspora, capitalism, popular culture, and
globalization.
Indeed, it is true that, in the novel’s depiction of the desi
enclave, for the first generation, like Amit’s parents, the desi
lifestyles and values are represented by their customary foods,
wedding traditions, and religions. In Amit’s living room, for
example, Jas has watched “all the aunties in their pashmina shawls,
sittin on the floor, sayin all the usual prayers, singin all the usual
bhajans an singin prayers in the form a bhajans” (Malkani, 2006a:
78). Amit’s mother is also “a won-der-ful hostess” who serves her
desi guests customary Indian foods, “putting just the right amount
a masala in the teapot, serving just enough pakoras” (2006a: 79).
Most importantly, she takes an uncompromising stand for a
traditional wedding when her elder son, Arun, gets engaged to a
Hindu girl, Reena. She feels disrespected when Reena’s family
“ain’t doin all da work n stuff dat da Girl’s Side’s s’posed to do,”