How I Became a Writer --
The Nisbi --
Growing Up in Darjeeling --
The Walk --
The Geography Lesson --
The Infirmary --
Learning to Dance --
Going Home Day --
The First Time --
Blackout --
Rajasthani --
Two Women Outside a Circus, Pushkar --
Tiger Mash Ritual --
Villagers Visiting Jodhpur Enjoy Iced Sweets --
At the Sati Temple, Bikaner --
The Babies: I --
The Babies: II --
Indian Miniatures --
The Maimed Dancing Men --
After Death: A Landscape --
The Bee-Keeper Discusses His Charges --
The River --
The World Tree --
Arjun --
Cutting the Sun --
Indigo --
Train --
Moving Pictures --
The Rat Trap --
To Mrinal Sen, on Seeing Bhuvan Shome --
The Tea Boy --
I, Manju --
The Makers of Chili Paste --
The Widow at Dawn --
Storm at Point Sur --
The Lost Love Words --
Via Romana --
The Drive --
The Tourists --
Outside Pisa --
Termini --
The Alley of Flowers --
Skin --
Yuba City Poems --
The Founding of Yuba City --
Yuba City Wedding --
The Brides Come to Yuba City --
Yuba City School --
Leaving Yuba City --
Woman with Kite --
Indian Movie, New Jersey.

Like Divakaruni's much-loved and bestselling short story collection Arranged Marriage, this collection of poetry deals with India and the Indian experience in America, from the adventures of going to a convent school in India run by Irish nuns (Growing up in Darjeeling) to the history of the earliest Indian immigrants in the U.S. (Yuba City Poems).

Groups of interlinked poems divided into six sections are peopled by many of the same characters and explore varying themes. Here, Divakaruni is particularly interested in how different art forms can influence and inspire each other. One section, entitled Indian Miniatures, is based on and named after a series of paintings by Francesco Clemente. Another, called Moving Pictures, is based on Indian films, including Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay" and Satyajit Ray's "Ghare Baire." Photographs by Raghubir Singh inspired the section entitled Rajasthani. The trials and tribulations of growing up and immigration are also considered here and, as with all of Divakaruni's writing, these poems deal with the experience of women and their struggle to find identities for themselves.

This collection is touched with the same magic and universal appeal that excited readers of Arranged Marriage. In Leaving Yuba City, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni proves once again her remarkable literary talents.