Suma Subramaniam

Suma Subramaniam is an Indian American author and volunteer for We Need Diverse Books. She is a contributing author for The Hero Next Door (Penguin Random House) and the author of Namaste Is A Greeting (Candlewick). She has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College Of Fine Arts. She Sang For India is her nonfiction picture book debut. Source

Filter

I come from a country so far away

that you may have visited only in your dreams.

My face does not bear the pale color of my palms.

I don’t speak your language at home.

I don’t even sound like you.

If you come to my house, you’ll see my family:

my mother in a sari,

my father wearing a sacred thread around his body,

and me, eating a plate of spicy biryani

instead of a burger or pizza

at the dinner table.

If you, for a moment, shed your filter,

you will also see my pockets filled with Tootsie Rolls,

waiting to be shared with you.

Published:

2021

Length:

Regular

Literary Movements:

Children's

Anthology Years:

2023

Themes:

Identity

Immigration

Intersectionality & Culture