Desh and Videsh: Being/Desire in Jasmine by Bharati MukherjeeDiaspora is the movement of indigenous people or a population of ordinary people towards a place other than the homeland. This can be voluntary or forced and the move is usually to a location far from the original home. World history is replete with examples of mass dispersal such as the expulsion of Jews from Europe, the transatlantic African slave trade, the century-long exile of the Messenians under Spartan rule. The term Diaspora conveys a sense of displacement with a desire among people to return to their country of origin. Much of the literature available on the Indian diaspora concerns Indian migration, its socio-economic and cultural experiences, its experiences of adaptation and assimilation in the new country. culture with a sense of nostalgia for past experiences. Commenting on the reasons for movement in the Indian context, Kingsley Davis (1968) remarks: "...the pressure to emigrate has always been strong enough to provide a flow of emigrants far greater than the opportunities actually offered." And Tinker says it: "There's a combination of push and pull: the push of inadequate opportunities in South Asia and the pull of better prospects in the West." » (1977: 10) Indian history provides numerous examples of mobility of people which It was undoubtedly motivated by varied interests, it facilitated cultural exchange with the rest of the world. Bhabha notes in his book Localization of Culture: “The transnational dimension of cultural transformation – migration, diaspora, displacement, resettlement – ​​makes the process of cultural translation a complex form of meaning. The naturalized and unifying discourse of the nation, of peoples or of authentic popular tradition, these embedded myths... middle of paper... the most direct. 24 (pp. 100-101). Bharati's portrayal of Jasmine throughout the novel traversing different alien nations is superb. It highlights Jasmine's alienation from her culture due to her constantly shifting identities. She longs for the security of her original home in India. An individual's security, peace, and groundedness are replaced by feelings of anxiety, pain, and fear in a squalid, exiled place. Jasmine temporarily acquires a foreign identity but it is false. Its past: “is fully alive like a seed in the ground, waiting for the season of warmth and growth to make it germinate” (1998, 156). Jasmine is therefore Bharati's most congruent exploration of the dilemma of belonging and desire. Works Cited: Bhabha, Homi. 1994. The localization of culture. London: Routledge Guha, Ranajit. The time of the migrant. postcolonial studies.1.2(1998):155-160.