In the movie Monsoon Wedding there are many similarities between it and Meena
Alexander's memoir, Fault Lines. The movie helped to better illustrate the type of environment
Meena Alexander was raised in and thus helped me to better understand Fault Lines.
Although Meena Alexander was raised in southern India and Monsoon Wedding was set
in northern India, it helped to show the type of lifestyle that upper-middle class Indians live in.
Before reading Fault Lines, the picture that popped into my head when I thought of India was
very different from the image Meena Alexander painted. Overpopulated, dirty, and poor were
some words that immediately came to mind, but in Fault Lines and Monsoon Wedding, although
there were representations of the poor, people drove cars and lived in home with electricity and
running water. Another thing that broke down my stereotype of India was seeing people dressed
in very traditional Indian clothing mostly just for formal occasions, not everyday wear. In
Monsoon Wedding people were wearing jeans, t-shirts, suits, and dresses, reserving the Saris and
heavy gold jewelry for special occasions.
Another thing that Monsoon Wedding illustrated very vividly was how strong the sense of
family is in India. In Fault Lines it seemed that Meena Alexander was constantly surrounded by
a large extended family, and in Monsoon Wedding the entire family gathered for the wedding.
Family came from all over the world, including Australia and America. Most of the people that I
know and my family included, only get together once a year, at most. It seemed as though people
in India rely on their family more, that they have more people to depend on. Even when someone
is getting married, if they live in another country, most people would send well-wishes but
wouldn't be able to attend. Of course there are still very large extended f
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