And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

Our Mystery Author this round is Shobhan Bantwal. Born and raised in India, Shobhan came to the US as a bride and has lived here since.

Growing up in a conservative and traditional Hindu family, Shobhan was the daughter who " single-handedly gave my parents every gray hair they possessed" but knows that their support and love is what made her the person she is today.

An arranged marriage brought her to the US, where she continued her education and became a mother. An active member of Indian-American events, Shobhan discovered her talent for writing during a cultural event in 2000. It was then she decided this was a way to bring attention to issues confronting women in both India and America.

Her writing has and continues to give insight and raise awareness to these issues. As Shobhan explains in the interview below, the reactions are often mixed, but strong regardless. In my opinion, I think it is a wonderful thing to have a chance for people like myself, who have little understanding of it, to learn about her culture. It's also an effective means of bringing much to light and possible change for her fellow women.

1. First, I have to ask because it's one of my pet peeves—How do you pronounce your first name?

Do you remember the book and movie named Shogun? If you do, then the sound of my name rhymes with that—Sho-bun.

2. You moved to the U.S. after you were married. Had you ever visited the States prior to your marriage?

My first taste of the U.S. was in March 1974, when I arrived as a young bride in an arranged marriage.

3. What were your first impressions of this country?

Since it was a blustery, slightly overcast winter day when I arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York City, the cold was like a stinging slap in the face. Having traveled from tropical Bombay, all I had on was a silk sari and blouse, a thin cloth coat, and fancy sandals on my feet with no socks. The next day it snowed and it got colder.

Naturally I disliked the winter weather, but I was fascinated by the wide, multi-lane highways, the skyscrapers in New York, the well-stocked supermarkets and department stores, and even the friendly attitude of the customs officials at the airport. Indian customs employees are generally humorless and very discourteous. Of course, when summer finally rolled around, I was happy to enjoy the sunshine and heat of New Jersey.

Additionally, within a week of my arrival, my new husband introduced me to delights like MacDonald’s burgers, pizza, pancakes, and fried chicken. To this day, I’m a faithful Big Mac and pizza fan. So you see, some first impressions are lasting impressions.

4. As with many countries, the differences between the US and India must be great. What are the most significant, in your opinion? Are there many similarities?

There a great number of differences between the two countries, too many to mention in a brief interview, but I will discuss a few:

1. The most glaring difference to me is the social fabric. In American society, girls and boys are treated with equality, while Indian society is highly male-oriented, where boys are viewed as assets and girls are often treated as liabilities. Also, the amount of freedom given to Indian girls is much less compared to what the males are allowed.

2. The accessibility of higher education is another significant difference. Top quality college and postgraduate education is very affordable in India, which allows most middle-class parents to send their children to college. India has a vast, highly-educated middle class with English speaking and writing skills. Hence the proliferation of call centers and high tech companies relocating there. By contrast, American universities and colleges have prohibitive fees, making it difficult for the average family to provide higher education for their children.

3. Food is one more area where the cultures differ. India is a primarily a vegetarian country whereas the U.S. is a large consumer of meat, poultry, and seafood. However, Indians love to emulate the West, so more and more of them are learning to eat and savor non-vegetarian food. They also love to imitate American fashions. Unlike many Asian countries like Pakistan and China, and Middle Eastern countries that have an inherent distrust of Americans, Indians love the U.S.

4. As for similarities, it is mostly in the political field. Both the U.S. and India are democracies, where the people determine who will rule the country and the states through elections. Both are nations that have freedom of press and speech at the heart of their constitutions. But there again, there is a difference. Corruption is a way of life amongst Indian politicians and bureaucrats, whereas in the U.S., although it happens occasionally, it is not on such a large scale, and it is often exposed and dealt with in courts of law.

5. Yours is an arranged marriage, which, from my understanding, is common in the Indian culture. What is the reaction to this from people who were not raised to expect it?

Most of us who were born and raised in India are programmed to think of arranged marriage as the norm. As an institution, arranged marriage has worked well for our society. However, that has changed to a great degree since the 1990s, and later on, the advent of the 21st century. Many young people are now dating and finding their own significant other, perhaps because of American influence.

Most of my American-born friends are quite amazed at the fact that I married a stranger. I find myself constantly explaining that to me it was perfectly normal, the gradual process of getting to know the man I married, falling in love sometime later, raising a child, and living happily in the marriage for over three decades.

6. And, if it's not too complicated, what is the process of finding a husband when a marriage is arranged? How much input does a girl have when this is happening?

In an arranged marriage, both families do a fair amount of discreet research on the boy and girl in question before taking the important step of introducing the two. Some old-fashioned families like mine and my husband’s have horoscopes matched by astrologers.

Most of the time, it is a trusted family member or friend or neighbor who brings the two families together. The element of trust in the matchmaker is significant. Matchmaking is taken very seriously in Indian culture, and anyone who brings about a successful match considers it a blessing and an honor.

As for a girl’s input, back in my mother’s and grandmothers’ day, the girl had no rights whatsoever, but by the time I got married, I was allowed the privilege of rejecting a boy if I felt he was not right for me.

7. If this is too personal, feel free to ignore the question. I saw at your website that you have a daughter. Is an arranged marriage something you would consider for her?

My daughter has been married for over five years, and hers was not an arranged marriage. She had always been raised as an American and had dated a couple of boys through her college years. Although my older sister arranged for my daughter to meet the man she is now married to, the two of them dated for a while and he eventually proposed to her.

8. I had to smile when I read that you were the black sheep of your parents' five daughters. Where do you place in the five?

I am number four out of five. And thank God for that, because at least by then my parents had successfully married off the first three and my inappropriate behavior didn’t have to cast a dark shadow on their marriage prospects.

Oldest? Youngest? What frustrated your parents the most?

My tomboy-ish behavior as a child was the first of my many sins. Later, as a teenager, I socialized with boys, something my parents frowned upon. It was their main cause of grief. They always thought I would ruin my reputation to the extent that no decent Hindu Brahmin boy would agree to marry me. The day they managed to marry me off to a nice young man who happened to live in America, they probably enjoyed their best night’s sleep in many years.

9. Tell us about your writing. You focus on issues faced every day by women in the Indian Culture.

I majored in sociology and I am a feminist at heart. The combination naturally sparked my interest in women’s issues. Growing up as the family rebel, I always felt Indian women had been trampled upon and deserved better. When I took up creative writing at a rather late, menopausal phase in my life, certain social issues in contemporary India were a good fit for my feministic sentiments, my writing style, and my tendency to get on a soapbox.

I call my writing “Bollywood in a Book,” since my stories are full of drama, romance, colorful characters, abundant cultural detail, and startling secrets—the stuff Bollywood movies are made of.

10. What has been the reaction to your writing? I have to wonder, has the reception been different here than in India?

The reactions have been mixed. My American readers absolutely love my books, since they provide a rare peek into Indian culture. They are also eye-openers about certain subjects that have not been fictionalized in a major way in either books or movies. My older and middle-aged Indian readers are not so thrilled about what they consider my “exposing the negative side of our culture.” However, the younger generation in India, especially women, are full of praise for my books, and send me plenty of fan mail.

11. Reading the reasons for your writing (i.e. dowry abuse and selective gender-based abortions), well, gave me the chills. And, if I'm not out of line asking, have these traditions crossed over to this country? And do you think the steps being taken to stop these events are working?

Unfortunately, when people migrate from one country to another, they bring a part of their culture with them, the bad as well as the good elements. Some of the ills that continue to plague contemporary Indian society have permeated the Indian and other Asian communities in the U.S.

Fortunately, some civic-minded women and men have started charitable organizations in most major American cities to assist women in crisis, and families in need, when dowry abuse and gender-bias become a source of pain and distress. This kind of voluntary help combined with law enforcement has helped to a great degree to ease the problem.

12. Tell us about your new release, THE SARI SHOP WINDOW.

As a change of scene and pace, I decided to set THE SARI SHOP WIDOW right here in the U.S. instead of India. Set on the streets of Edison, New Jersey’s Little India community, it tells the story of a young businesswoman who rediscovers the magic of love, family, and cultural traditions as she fights to save her failing sari boutique. Like my previous books, I have plenty of Indian cultural elements in this story as well, but the difference is this book portrays Indian-American immigrant life and its many challenges.

13. And about your book, THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER.

THE FORBIDDEN DAUGHTER hinges on the theme of gender-based abortions in contemporary India. When a young couple discovers that their second child is going to be another daughter, it unleashes a chain of events that not only alters their lives forever but brings unforeseen danger and death. The tale shows to what bizarre lengths a male-oriented society will go to rid itself of female children and ensure the predominance of males.

14. I can't imagine not being emotionally drained writing about these topics. Are you exhausted when you get to 'The End'?

Yes and no. Although emotionally exhausting, writing about topics that are dear to my heart is also exhilarating in some ways. It allows me to present certain issues in a public forum without being too preachy, and it gives me an opportunity to bring awareness to topics that the world should know about. The only way to eradicate socially unacceptable practices is to make people around the world aware of them and spark the desire for change.

To be honest, when I end a book, I feel bereft for a while. I am so engrossed in my characters and their lives that it is difficult to let go of them when the book ends.

15. What's next?

My fourth book is in the development stage at the moment and will most likely be published in 2010. My editor and I have not settled on a title yet, or the revisions, but it will be set partly in the U.S. and partly in India.