Same Sun Here

River lives in Black Banks, Kentucky with his mother and grandmother, who he calls Mawmaw. Similar to Meena, his father also works out of town, helping to rebuild in Biloxi, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. His mother has headaches and spends most of her time in bed, so River spends the majority of his free time with Mawmaw, going on walks, fishing, and collecting objects they find in nature. River feels like he’s weird because he prefers books and writing over video games and spending time on the Internet, like his friends. He feels like he can be honest about his “true self” (16) with Meena without embarrassment. River loves to play basketball and is on his school team. He also enjoys reading, just like Meena, and is surprised to hear that she does her family’s laundry, since he doesn’t enjoy doing housework. 

Meena tells River she was raised to do what’s best for her family, so doing work, like the laundry, feels normal for her. Over the summer, Meena has been attending an Arts and Humanities Summer Program and has taken several field trips. Some of the field trips taught her about New York’s history of immigrants, such as the trip to Ellis Island and the Tenement Museum. She saw a crate of okra on her recent fieldtrip to the market labeled “Kentucky,” and it reminded her of home in India. She misses the way her Dadi prepared okra in India, what’s called bhindi in Hindi. When she saw that River was from Kentucky on the pen pal list, it made her want to write to him. Meena loves to write, and she wants to be a poet when she grows up.

River has red hair and freckles due to his Scottish and Irish ancestors, is 12 years old, has a dog named Rufus, and wishes he could be taller. He uses the Internet to look up the mountains where Meena lived in India, and is surprised to find that they look similar to the mountains where he lives in Kentucky. Only one Indian family lives in River’s community: Dr. and Mrs. Patel. River is curious about the red dot Mrs. Patel wears on her forehead, and he asks Meena about it. In interactions with Dr. and Mrs. Patel, Mawmaw has taught River to be respectful to people of other races, but his father used to make fun of people who were different, which always bothered River.

Since Meena likes poetry and River has a poem writing assignment for school, he writes a poem about a fond memory from childhood before his mother became sick and his father had to work far away. He misses being together as a family. He also explains that Mawmaw grows okra and has a special way of preparing it. River loves it, especially with her fried green tomatoes. 

Meena shares a few poems with River that she read printed above the seats on the subway. She also writes a few of her own poems based on words she’s heard others say, and she notes how anything can be turned into a poem. Meena agrees that she wants to be her true self and share her secrets with River, too. She tells him about an experience when her brown skin color led to misjudgment from others. At the library, a man called she and Kiku terrorists, and Kiku called the man a bad word in response. The security guard made she and Kiku leave, and now she’s embarrassed to walk by the library security guard. She does not want people to have the wrong idea about her. In a conversation with Mrs. Lau, they discuss stereotypes, and how they are not always true. Mrs. Lau says, “There’s good and bad people everywhere” (39).

A big storm comes, reminding Meena of nature’s power, which is easy for her to forget in New York. Meena, Kiku, and their mum all sit watching the storm together, but she misses her Daddy and Dadi. Meena keeps her watch set to India time so she knows what time it is for Dadi and explains how her sadness at missing her family can overtake her: “Sometimes I get so sad that I have to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and stand still” (45).

Meena’s mum almost finds out about Kiku’s secret girlfriend. He keeps her a secret because Mum wants Kiku to marry an Indian girl.

Meena tells River more about her culture. She explains that the red dot he asked about is called a bindi, and it represents wisdom. She tells River about her favorite meal from India that she used to eat with Dadi and wonders if it would still be her favorite without Dadi, since, “part of what made it taste good was being with her” (49). Meena also talks about religion. She is Hindu, and she feels like River is not a stereotypical Christian because he does not try to convince Meena to become one. Finally, she tells River his cultural insensitivity about Dr. Patel’s accent and appearance is rude. She reminds him that he didn’t like it when his father made fun of people who are different from him. Meena has an accent, and doesn’t like it when people make fun of the way she talks. She ends her letter with her Dadi’s special okra recipe.