'You don't get cliches, sermons or pedantic analysis. What you get is a refreshingly different take on the oddities and complexities which make America -- and India -- unique,' writes Vikas Swarup, the author of Q&A [Slumdog Millionaire [Images]] about Diplomat B S Prakash's first book Clueless in California.

The book captures the experiences of Indians in California in a gentle and humourous way, giving a fresh look at how Indians are changing the face of America. Rediff.com carries an extract from the recently launched book:

When we had newly joined the Indian Foreign Service, a strange piece of advice was given to us by a very senior luminary in the Indian establishment. "When asked a question, a good diplomat thinks twice and says nothing," this worthy had told us.

I have never followed this advice -- either part of it, the thinking or the keeping silent part. I don't know whether I am good diplomat or not, but I guess I am as discrete or indiscrete as your average Joe. To constantly appear solemn, to equivocate on every issue, to regard each passing moment as an opportunity to advance the national interest -- alas, such an attitude is beyond me.

In normal day to day living, I think I can relate to people. I regard myself as articulate; others may find me garrulous. Like many Indians I am 'argumentative'; like nothing better than a good adda as the Bengalis call a spirited and joyous chat without a purpose. But having a view and holding forth in private or even in public is one thing. Writing about it is quite another.

Having reached California, the spirit of San Francisco may have had something to do with my desire for self-expression. There was much that was new around me and I not only wanted to explore it, but also express my explorations. Hence my intention to start a public 'letter from America' for an Indian audience.

But despite my less than correct or cautious attitude, I soon realised that it just would not do, that it was simply not my dharma as a diplomat to write about areas of my professional interest.

Every diplomat by nature and training is interested in political issues of the country where he is based and the bilateral relations between that country and his host country. Of this, in the USA, there was plenty to learn, to reflect, and to write about.

During my years in California, these ranged from the Presidency of George W Bush [Images], the unique nature of the candidacies of Hillary Clinton [Images] and Barack Obama [Images], the continuing miseries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a hundred other questions of political significance. All this was of interest to me and to others, but, it just wasn't appropriate for me to express my views, for what it was worth, on such matters in the public domain.

Such 'reporting' was for the ministry of external affairs in what are termed 'dispatches' -- an old word for conveying an assessment of the situation and its implications for India in the form of a confidential communication to Head Quarters.

But there was life beyond work in the full sense of the term -- Life. Hence I could make a very conscious decision that I will not write on aspects of foreign policy or official bilateral relations or anything else involving a potential conflict of interest between my day job as the Indian Consul General and my hobby as a columnist. 

What was left?

Plenty as I found out.

There were many enigmatic aspects of American life. Of course in this day and age everyone knows America and many Indians know Americans too. But in my profession I had the privilege of meeting Americans from a wider spectrum of life than normal -- from politicians and senior functionaries, to artists and writers, to CEOs and corporate honchos.

Most Indians do not have this opportunity as their exposure is defined by their work and expertise. But a diplomat is a generalist and has exposure and access to a wide variety of people from the mighty to the mousy. Also we were invited to many American homes where the talk turned to vagaries of culture and custom. This naturally led to one area of my explorations in my columns.

Another area related to Indian-Americans. I found that the identity of the large and highly successful Indian-American community was different from that of Indians and Americans. Their traits and tribulations are distinctive and are defined by their constantly straddling two countries and cultures. Many of my stories related to their pleasures, pains and predicaments.

My own job as India's representative gave me plenty of material. Every day I came across interesting stories of migration both legal and illegal. Some were soaring tales of hope and achievement, others painful and poignant. I was frequently called upon to explain or project or defend Indian and had memorable experiences doing so at schools, universities and conventions. A diplomat is also placed constantly in a situation of cross-cultural interpretations. These narratives constitute another cluster. 

Being in the heart of the Silicon Valley was an education in itself. Today it is the most exciting area of synergy between the US and India and the Indian achievements in IT have given us a branding unlike anything in the past. A land earlier perceived as teeming with roaming cows is today identified as brimming with computer nerds.

My Silicon Valley stories were a process of educating myself, a non-geek, in a new area.

What follows then are these clusters written at different points in time over three years but organised under the broad headings I have described above. You may take them at random order or in groups, depending on your own preference for the 'shuffle' mode or the 'continuous' mode. It is your choice.

Clueless in California, America in Bits and Bytes by B S Prakash. Konark Publishers Delhi [Images]. Rs 195.

B S Prakash, currently the Indian Ambassador [Images] in Brazil [Images] has been a Rediff columnist for four years. His first column Sounding silly in Silicon Valley was published in 2005.  

Book cover illustration: Uttam Ghosh