Desi Divas: Political Activism in South Asian American Cultural Performances

Acknowledgments

ix Acknowledgments Writing a book is always a collective endeavor. With this in mind, I would like to express my deep gratitude to those who have contributed to this work. This book would not have come into being without the open and welcoming response of the South Asian American activists and performers whose efforts fill these pages: teachers and students at the School for Indian Languages and Cultures, the South Asian Sisters and Yoni ki Baat performers in San Francisco and Madison, and the Post Natyam Collective. Specifically, the relationships I developed with Vandana Makker, Ayeshah Emon, Preeti Mathur, Roopa Singh, Shyamala Moorty, and Cynthia Lee Ling leave me in their debt. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I am fortunate to have exceptionally supportive colleagues in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, the Folklore Program, the Center for South Asia, and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures. A special acknowledgment must be paid to Julie D’Acci, Jane Collins, and Myra Marx Ferree, who read the manuscript with care and offered astute comments. In addition, Tom Dubois, Jim Leary, Joe Salmons, and Rob Howard all offered guidance and support in the early stages of this manuscript. Feedback from colleagues outside these departments, such as Michael Hyde and Hemant Shah, helped to push this project forward. A special thanks to Erik Doxtader and the participants in the biannual Conference on Rhetorical Theory who listened carefully to my ideas about acknowledgment, care, and critical play as they were developing and offered excellent feedback. I also wish to thank several research assistants and copy editors for their help, close reading, and meticulous comments: Paige Black, Paul Smaglik, Danielle Devereaux-Weber, Michelle Murray, Ryan Solomon, Ayeshah Emon, Manisha Shelat, and Carley Yuenger. Funding for this book was generously provided by two University of Wisconsin -Madison Graduate School Research Competition Grants and a Vilas Lifecycle Grant. I would like to thank my family who has encouraged and supported me during the research and writing of this book—most especially Dhavan, Gabriel, Isabel, and Carrie. You are dear to me, and this book is a testament to what a person can complete within a context of care and love. Lifelong friends like Beatriz Botero, Hernando Rojas, and Laura Seybold sustained x Acknowledgments me through laughter and companionship. To you, I extend a heartfelt thanks. I would also like to offer a sincere thank you to Craig Gill, editor-inchief of the University Press of Mississippi, who embraced this interdisciplinary venture and took interest in its development. He has been a delight to work with. Desi Divas Shyamala performing as the goddess. Photo credited to Christine Nguyen, courtesy of Te Ada Productions. ...