Trying to concentrate on the cultural calender of calcutta prompts me of a stage performance three winters back.Not a lot of people were aware when the Tony Award winning actress and playwrite Sarah Jones performed at Calcutta.Body-snatching the immigrants she was depicting in Waking the American Dream, Jones shuttles from being Lorraine a Jewish grandmother to Juan rose a Mexican American,Mohammed a Pakistani and so on and whips up a performance that strips down the Amercian imperialistic endeavors at her sarcastic best.The recurring highlights on the spread of 'Islamophobia' which has become the main weapon in US hands and replaced Socialism as the new shadowy ideology to be confronted with and shattered in the post Cold War scenario...to the far more interesting develpments in the sphere of gender issues within the country Jones hops from being a feeble lady to a strong brawny man , to a mother shocked on hearing the homosexual preference of her daughter[later she accepts her and her new lover assuring herself ,atleast she has found love in the love-less eras].Heres a passage from the play that will focus on the Vietnamese 'dream':

A monologue by Sarah Jones
Bao Viet-Dinh:(young Vietnamese-American man, nondescript "standard American" accent, wearing an open black kung fu shirt)

Peace, how is everybody doin'. My name is Bao. This poem right here is untitled.
(He steps back from the microphone for a moment, eyes closed, fists held up to his forehead, in serious slam/performance poet preparation mode. He then steps back to the mic with fiery delivery.)
This is not an
Asian lotus blossom
Love poem
This is not an ode
To Bruce Lee or Dustin Nguyen
Or a celebration of my
Midwestern ... poet ... cadence
This is not an authentic immigrant
Experience piece
For PBSIt's not that Vietnamese-AmericanHonor student
Returns to Saigon with his Anglo wife
Brought to you by Toyota and LaChoy
This is not a special presentation
Right after Nova
And before Frontline
Sponsored by viewers like you
This is not a teary-eyed reunion story
A video diaryFor MTVAbout finding my roots
And then eating them
This is not a model
Minority poem
About hardworking
Straight "A" students
Who find freedom on TRL
This is not
The part where I get drunk and sing
Folksongs for my white Frat Brothers
Do my best impression of Long Duk Dong
Or win an Oscar
For Crouching Tailor Hidden Drycleaner
This is not the scene where I share ancient Chinese secrets
I'm Vietnamese, remember?