Coping with the customs and expectations in the countries where they are now living, the mainly female characters in these tales have to choose whether to cling to their Indian culture, discard it completely, or learn how to adjust and compromise. It's a challenge! Themes of courtship, marriage and betrayal – of losing and re-forming one's identity while trying to live up to Indian ideals of behaviour in an alien environment – contain all the vibrancy of India herself.