January 25, 2026 IMMIGRANT SONG

 

It's totally out of control. Trump's ICE--modern day gestapo--NEEDS TO GO NOW.  Have you watched the Renee Good video? Alex Pretti? He was literally trying to help a woman who was thrown to the ground by ICE. He was pepper sprayed and attacked by several ICE agents. He wasn't brandishing a weapon. AND he was literally shot 10 times in 5 seconds. Is there NO regard for human life anymore?? ICE is literally entering homes without warrants--apparently the rules don't apply to them--and shooting American citizens in cold blood before our eyes and it's being deemed as justified?? We are living in an alternate universe right now--a place where our PRESIDENT and his supporters--spread propaganda--fake news--double talk and manipulate language in the name of the their SCAPEGOAT---Immigrants. DISGUSTING. Shame on you.  Thank God for books. Not sure what I would do if I couldn't lose myself in a good story during this nightmare. Just finished one of Obama's favorite books from 2025 called The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai. This sweeping novel centers around two Indian immigrants, Sonia, a college student living in Vermont and Sunny, a journalist stuggling to make ends meet in New York City. As the story unfolds, Sonia's loneliness leads her to a toxic relationship with a much older artist named, Ilan, and Sunny lives with his American girlfriend but still feels lonely because he feels cultural displacement and racism. Interestingly, Sonia's grandfather (Dadaji) who lives  in India, is trying to set up an arranged marriage between Sonia and Sunny that doesn't pan out but the two eventually meet on a train in India when Sonia returns home after failing to make things work in America and Sunny is visiting his overbearing mother, Babita.  The story then follows the lives of Sonia and Sunny and several interesting characters including Mina Foi, Satya, Babita, Manav and Seher--to name a few. The novel although long--deals with many interesting themes including love, loss, tradition v. modernity, loneliness and belonging. Although there were parts of the story that didn't work for me and I felt it was too long, I loved the narrative and totally loved the characters in the story.