I created Preetam to reflect some of the same intergenerational tensions that Nikki has with her mother. I’ve heard some older Punjabi women tell the filthiest jokes – only to their trusted female friends/ sisters/ daughters of course.įrom the characters, Arvinder (one of the widows who attends the classes with her daughter Preetam) is definitely one of those older women who’s had enough with decorum – she doesn’t feel she has anything to lose by speaking her mind. I’ve always been interested in the taboos surrounding women’s sexuality in South Asian communities, and how women who are silenced in the public sphere end up expressing themselves in private with other women in smaller, intimate groups. How did the idea come to you? What were your inspirations for the various characters? Excerpts -Įrotic Stories… has a wonderfully unusual plot. Author Balli Kaur Jaswal spoke to Brunch on her latest work. Soon, Nikki’s pre-conceived notions of the ‘orthodox’ widows trooping into her classes are shattered – even though illiterate, these women have active imaginations that find an outlet through evocative, fantasy-fuelled stories. Singapore-based Balli Kaur Jaswal, who’s also lived in Russia, Japan and Australia, says the immigrant narrative is central to her writings When she stumbles upon a flyer at the local gurudwara, to teach creative writing to women from her community, she jumps at the opportunity – she’s passionate about women’s empowerment and “the editorial credentials would sit well on her bare resume”.
She’s a law school drop-out, lives by herself, works as a bartender, and finds it difficult to align her beliefs with the traditional, conservative notions of the Southall-residing Sikh community. Nikki, the protagonist of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (HarperCollins India), fits the mould of a rebellious child of first-generation Indian immigrants in London.
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