Incomplete NRI: A travel memoir to India stitched together with humour, heart and controlled chaos
Debashis Jha's memoir captures something rarely discussed with such honesty: the peculiar loneliness of straddling two nations. What started as a fortnight in India spiralled into four weeks of bureaucratic tangles, family moments, and the slow realisation that belonging isn't always a straightforward affair. The premise is deceptively simple. A visa deadline looms. A checklist awaits: resurrecting dormant financial documents, securing identity proofs, wrestling with bank staff, selling property weighted with nostalgia, buying afresh. The author weaves through Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Ranchi and forgotten corners of Jharkhand, each location pulsing with its own particular flavour of mayhem. Yet the real substance lies elsewhere. Tucked between airport terminals and filing cabinets are the quieter episodes: cricket matches with cousins, festival dinners that trigger memory, conversations stretched across midnight balconies, and meals that taste unmistakably familiar. These unplanned interludes become the book's emotional spine, even as schedules collapse around them. Jha writes with refreshing candour and self-awareness. He doesn't romanticise either country nor claim false belonging. Instead, he explores that strange modern condition where professional success overseas masks an odd sensation of incompleteness, where two passports somehow feel insufficient. The tone is wry, occasionally poignant, never maudlin. This memoir resonates for anyone juggling multiple identities, home addresses, or the peculiar privilege of never quite fitting anywhere. A warm, perceptive read.
- Author: Debashis Jha
- Publisher: Clever Fox Publishing
- Genre: Travel Writing & Guides
- ISBN: 978-9375003540
- Pages: 178 pages