FROM ALIENATION TO ACCULTURATION: RE-READING DIASPORIC SUCCESS THROUGH MUKHERJEE’S EXILE AND CHOPRA’S GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP"

Abstract

In this paper, I re-read diasporic success through the lens of psychological and cultural development from alienation to acculturation in the work of Bharati Mukherjee and the memoir of Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Migration is often seen as a symbol of international success, but the human experience of migration is often displaced with themes of success. The pain of being away from home, the sense of loneliness, racism, identity loss, and the work of being an exile, are all far less visible. By contrast, juxtaposing Mukherjee's fictional characters, who represent the pain and oppression of exile, and Chopra Jonas' personal journey, which highlights the performative challenges of being global citizen and the ongoing discomfort of racialized otherness, this paper uncovers the hidden costs of transnational mobility. Both writers, despite their generational and generic distinctions, uncover a truth, one that is common to both of them: outward success is often accompanied by inner loneliness. The study challenges deterministic models of migration that see it as either tragedy or triumph and suggests that diasporic flourishing depends not on migration per se but on the migrant's repertoire of resilience, cultural adaptability and capacity to negotiate strategic identity. Reading exile along with Chopra's global citizenship, the paper reframes diasporic success less as a lack of struggle and more as the constant, humanised negotiation of belonging through borders (with an emphasis in the negotiation, as opposed to erasing origins) that requires an emotional readiness, a psychological strength, and the courage to remake oneself.This study examines how diasporic resilience relates to Acculturation, Global Citizenship, and Psychological well-being.This research notes the relationship between diasporic resilience and Acculturation, Global Citizenship, and Psychological well-being.