'Little America' Episode 1 shows how the trauma of deportation affects first-generation Indian Americans
This article contains spoilers for season 1, episode 1: 'The Manager'/'Kabir'
Reeling under the culture shock of being a first-generation Indian American, Kabir's near-perfect middle-class Indian family comes to a standstill when they are struck with the axe of deportation. At the age of 12, the 'precocious' kid's entire life is uprooted and he learns what it means to be an immigrant in the first episode 'The Manager' of Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon's anthology debut on Apple TV+ titled 'Little America'. And as we learn how Kabir doesn't have the time for spelling bees anymore, it is his efforts to reach the top tier of US governance to bring his parents back home is what strikes a chord with most first-gen Indian Americans looking for their place in the land they were born and bred in.
As his parents leave for India, Kabir - with his unusual penchant for managing the Economy Value Motel - finds himself under the care of a family friend who couldn't be bothered about the child's upbringing. So Kabir does what precocious kids do best and writes to the Homeland Security, repeatedly, in an attempt to bring his parents back to the home away from home. Weeks turn into months and Kabir's impassionate letters bear no fruits sadly, which is when the idea of meeting Laura Bush through winning the nationwide spelling bee championship becomes his new goal.
Climbing the ladder through a spelling bee contest is difficult but Kabir's climb is signified by the pain rooted deep into his core from watching his parents being forced out of a country they had built a life in. The words he is asked to spell out are not only difficult, beyond the grasp of preteens, but also resonate with the several emotions that Kabir goes through as his parents are deported. Finally, when hope strikes with him making it to the top 13 finalists - meaning a group meet and greet with the then-First Lady herself, Kabir is struck with another blow of disappointment and despair as she tells him what everybody has been harping on: "These things take time."
The next time we see Kabir, he is a young adult, lounging in the concierge chair of the motel he still so ardently maintains and at other times, playing video games with his white friends who seem to be a replacement for the family he has long bidden farewell to, but not quite. They use the motel as a token venue for house parties and amidst the flair of Bollywood music, alcohol and weed, Kabir breaks into full-fledged Bhangra - a power-packed dance form originally from the Indian state of Punjab.
As Kabir takes the center stage of what is the motel's equivalent of a lobby, the crowd disperses and constricts to form a ring around him. He dances his heart out and wakes up to the quietness of the next morning all alone. The Skype calls his parents promised have turned into telephonic conversations at odd times of the day thanks to the time difference. Until he gets that one phone call he had been desperately waiting for, that needs him to rush to the airport's arrival area and soon he is reunited with his parents.
Things have changed obviously, a decade is a long time to be away. Their KFC orders have gone down from three Pepsis to just one, and back in the motel, old faces, replaced by newer ones. But deep inside Kabir, the PTSD of his parents disappearing reigns. He wakes up late in the night to run checks in their bedroom to confirm their return wasn't a dream, and the surge of emotions that the lyrics "Close your eyes / I'll be here in the morning" brings are only amplified by the fact that this is all a true story.
'Little America' premieres with all eight episodes on January 17, only on Apple TV+.
