Summary

The story is about a family from Calcutta, and the new life they are trying to create in America. The Ganguli family maintains a balance between practicing their Indian traditions, as well as learning new American traditions and hoping to fit in. The parents of the Ganguli family, Ashoke and Ashima, are very proud of their Indian culture, and proud of the sacrifices they have made for their two children, Gogol and Sonia, to make a new life in America. However, their son Gogol struggles with his identity, and discovering who he is as an Indian living in America. The name he was given at birth was his nickname Gogol, as Ashoke and Ashima were waiting for his official name to come in the mail from Ashima's grandmother in Calcutta. However, Ashima's grandmother dies of a stroke, and her letter with Gogol's official name is lost in the mail. His parents then settle on an official name, Nickhil for him. At first, he only wants to be called Gogol, not Nickhil, but as he grows older, he decides to change his legal name to Nikhil to make a new identity for himself in college. The struggle with his identity shapes him as a person, and over time, he learns to accept his life, and to be proud of it.