KEPT

A memoir describes life as an American stay-at-home dad in India.

When Buford (Making Ghosts Dance, 2017) and his wife, Dana, took State Department exams in hopes of qualifying to become Foreign Service officers, she passed the tests easily. Dana was offered a position as vice consul at the American consulate in Chennai, so the couple and their 3-year-old son, Cole, headed to India for a two-year adventure on Jan. 1, 2000. This breezy collection of anecdotes—complete with some photographs of family, friends, and places—paints a vivid picture of their lives in Chennai. In the beginning, Buford experienced a serious case of culture shock: The river was polluted; poor people aggressively begged for money; and, sick of eating Indian food, he was happy to find a KFC in Bangalore while working for Dell. As time passed, he befriended Indians, including his chauffeur, Dinesh, and came to love their good nature. But the best things that happened during the family’s stay were the birth of another son and their adoption of a beautiful Indian baby named Theekshana (they called her Nina). Buford’s fluid prose is sometimes slowed by eye-glazing details, like what he ate for breakfast on the morning of his Foreign Service exams. His anecdotes of becoming a stay-at-home dad are touching, though less-fortunate parents may roll their eyes at the “difficulties” he faced—supplied with servants, he didn’t have to cook, clean, do yardwork, or even drive. Mostly friendly and lighthearted, Buford’s humor can be tongue-in-cheek. For example, when describing his move back to America, he laments: “Instead of lavish houseboat parties on Lake Travis or events where a Michael Dell stunt-double fast-ropes from a helicopter, we now have to pay for our own donuts; it is thoroughly depressing.” Readers who are considering Foreign Service work for the American government may find some helpful tidbits of information here, such as the decision-making process that led to Dana’s assignment in Chennai.

A vibrant but uneven glimpse at a captivating culture.