The In-Betweeners, Khem K. Aryal’s debut collection of short stories, captures complex glimpses of the lives of Nepali immigrants in the U.S. Aryal, a fiction writer and an associate professor of creative writing at Arkansas State University, depicts the inner dilemmas that intersect with larger public events like changes in political regimes in the U.S and Nepal.
Although South Asian writing in English has a burgeoning list of authors, there have been relatively few English-language writers from Nepal. Therefore, Aryal’s fiction collection is a welcome addition to the emerging canon of South Asian fiction in English.
Just like the title implies, many of the characters appearing in Aryal’s collection inhabit a limbo space between Nepal and the U.S. While for many, America represents the fulfillment of long-cherished desires for a better life, many characters experience a sense of regret or guilt in leaving the native country. Somehow the old country becomes recreated in the imagination as a place of friendship and creativity, while the U.S. is the place of relentless, monotonous work, often in settings like restaurants with no sense of a shared community.
In the first story, “Laxman Sir,” the protagonist works in an Amazon warehouse where he cannot attain the required speed for completing tasks. He yearns for the respect he commanded back home as a Sanskrit teacher even when his income was meagre. By the end of the story, he can reconcile with his predicament and resolves to make the best of his situation for the sake of his children, who seem to like the U.S. better than him.
In “Election 2017.” Topbahadur, a former Maoist, becomes obsessed with elections happening in Nepal, fantasizing an alternate life in which he is a politician in his former country. As the proxy election of Nepali Americans canvassing for candidates from afar plays out, Topbahadur grapples with the trauma of his past as a Maoist soldier and realizes that he cannot go back to the days of his youth.
In “Overstayed,” we encounter the intense longing of Jagan to recapture his vocation as a singer and performer, which he has lost after coming to the U.S. and taking a job as a restaurant cook to survive. Unlike the other characters, Jagan decides to return to Nepal and pursue a career as a performance artist rather than endure the humiliation and vagaries of an employer sponsoring him for a visa.
The collection also offers glimpses into the lives of Nepali women. “Visa for Mama” is an especially poignant story of a young woman who feels insanely jealous of all Nepali families sponsoring parents to visit the U.S. This stems from her unresolved trauma of no longer having a mother in her life who can come and visit her new family.
The final story in the collection, “How Not to Come to America,” reveals the murky personal arrangements a man makes to accompany his cousin who wins a diversity visa lottery, at immense personal cost to his wife and daughter. Years later, when the man and his wife are reunited in the U.S., a distance remains between them, one that cannot be bridged, because of the consequences of his earlier actions.
America is supposed to represent a place of wish fulfillment for new immigrants; instead, this collection explores the psychological toll that migration takes on immigrants and their families. Some stories focus on the generational divide in expectations: the older generation assumes that new immigrants will eventually return to Nepal, while the immigrants themselves become increasingly uncomfortable with the prospect.
“Mrs Sharma’s Halloween” depicts the deep discomfort a mother visiting from Nepal feels towards the neighborhood’s Halloween decorations featuring ghosts and spirits, prompting her to urge her son to sell the house. In “Rescued,” a young father feels that he is failing as a parent and provider, pushing him towards a state akin to a nervous breakdown, an experience not unfamiliar to young parents.
In “Shopping for Glasses,” Madan Koju approaches a state of mental paralysis, unable to decide on a pair of glasses. Although the decision seems trivial, for Madan it embodies the lack of social connection that new immigrants from non-Western cultures can experience. Unlike in Nepal, where an ordinary salesperson would engage with helping him make a choice, in the U.S., Madan is shocked by the indifference of sales staff.
Several of the male characters experience a breakdown in the traditional structures of authority, triggering identity crises and a loss of masculinity. In “The Return,” a father cannot fathom why his son reports him to the police for domestic violence. The protagonists are often swept up in a world where old values and norms no longer apply, and they have not yet learned to adapt to new ones. The result is a world of immense turbulence, self-questioning, and paradoxically, of growth.
Khem K. Aryal’s portrayal of Nepali Americans is laced with warmth and affection. Even characters who would otherwise provoke a negative response, like the wife-beater or the conservative Sanskrit teacher who wants to vote for Trump, are imbued with humor and empathy for their fallibility. Aryal succeeds in distinguishing the Nepali immigrant experience from those of other South Asian narratives. This is an impressive collection that will leave readers wanting more from the author.
The In-Betweeners: A Collection of Short Stories by Khem K. Aryal
Rupa Publications, December 2025
ISBN: 978-93-7003-016-9
Pages: 232 pages
