From the opening chapter of the novel, Nikki introduces the concept of the “East-West Mix” (1, 3) as part of The Challenges of a Hybrid Identity. For the modern and self-proclaimed feminist Nikki, at least initially, this concept is a point of criticism; she accuses both her mother and her sister of mixing of cultures, which is something she looks down on. Over the course of the novel, however, Nikki comes to accept that she too is a blend of cultures—a person with a hybrid identity. Denying part of herself, namely her Indian Sikh heritage, leaves Nikki unmoored and rootless; postcolonial theory refers to this phenomenon as deracination. It is only after Nikki has spent time immersed in Southall that she begins to rejoin her split selves into a hybrid whole and, in turn, gains the self-acceptance to follow her dreams and fall in love.

Although Nikki is not ashamed of her Indian heritage, she rejects what she views as vestiges of an outdated and patriarchal system. A clear example early in the novel is Nikki’s rejection of her sister’s desire to advertise for a husband and, if that fails, to allow others to find her a “suitable boy.” To Nikki, this process is too close to an arranged marriage, in which the families or a matchmaker would select a partner.