what are some challenges that ashima faced in the namesake?

Ashmina faces many challenges in the novel. She is married to a man chosen by her family and has moved from her birthplace Calcutta to Massachussets where her husband attends school. She's pregnant, far from family, and challenged by the linguistic and cultural barriers of a new country.

In relation to the novel's title, she faces another challenge. In her family, the elders choose the name of newborn children. The hospital insists that the baby be named before he's released, but the name the grandmother has sent to Ashima has been lost in the mail and she dies shortly after. They name the baby themselves which is contrary to custom.