Along with the old prejudices came the new fears, the fear of call centres which was a big issue in the last elections with Americans fearing a loss of jobs to India. And though the notion of pre teen girls swooning over him seemed to pit him into the mainstream of American society, the open condemnation of the judges on the show — one even threatened to quit if Sanjaya won — put him on the margins again. A news item claimed moreover that he was booed loudly by the crowd at a baseball game when his face appeared on screen. And then, when he seemed isolated and alone, he was adopted, like one would adopt a wet stray, by pop singers and politicians, the representatives of the majority.

His run is finally over. In the days to come it is more than likely that Sanjaya will be fodder for the chat shows. His carefully cultivated image of defiance will probably be exploited by media movers and it is even likely that he will find stardom like Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson, one of American Idol’s ousted contestants. For Indians in India, Sanjaya’s story set in the milieu of American pop, may be a bit hard to relate to. But this may be a story not just of a young man seeking fame but a story of the West trying to come to terms with India.