Home > Author > Balli Kaur Jaswal
21 " I am writing today to tell you that love cannot be manufactured. This should be the most basic knowledge to anybody who claims love as their business. We do not always choose who and how we love. In my case, we do not always love the people we are supposed to. "
― Balli Kaur Jaswal , Inheritance
22 " She even dared to think that it was worth living the rest of her life for, this closeness with another human being. "
― Balli Kaur Jaswal , Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
23 " Based on one test, they behaved as if they had the authority to write every child's future. "
24 " Living was messy. These uniform flats, stacked on top of each other, were tidy solutions. "
25 " Of course Jezmeen would sabotage this trip. From the start, this had been her mission. She wasn’t interested in the pilgrimage, in honoring Mum—why would she be? All she cared about was herself and settling scores. "
― Balli Kaur Jaswal , The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters
26 " Sometimes she felt like she was underwater while the rest of the world carried on above, oblivious to the fact that she was drowning in expectations and responsibilities. "
27 " Why be with someone who’s making the journey? You could be with someone who has "
28 " Sikhs are warriors, she remembered telling a very young Maya, whose eyes glowed with this knowledge, frightening Kulwinder. ‘But girls must act like girls,’ she had added. "
29 " His stare was hateful. She uttered a quickprayer for him. Let him find balance and moderation in all things; let himlisten to himself and not the noise of others. Noise. That was all the Brothershad created. "
30 " I knew it was useless praying to my own God because He would not be at the First Christian Girls’ School. He would not even listen to me unless I had my head covered and I was sitting on the carpeted floor of the temple listening to the drone of Punjabi prayers. He did not understand English, which was the only language we were allowed to speak at school. It was the language of my thoughts once I left our flat every morning and stepped onto the school bus. "
― Balli Kaur Jaswal , Sugarbread
31 " becoming "
32 " wondered why men needed all that space when their answers to everything were always ‘no’. "
33 " Death is better than life if a girl doesn’t have her honour. Sometimes the younger generation needs this reminder. "
34 " The taste and the prickling of tiny bones were bad enough but fish had its own meaning in Ma's world. It was a punishment - not a punishment for me, but Ma's punishment for everything else. The stench of fish; the clumps of blood; the glassy eyes - they were all signs of Ma's frustration. Fish awakened our flat. It made us sit up straight and think about our actions. "
35 " also about your thoughts and actions becoming simpler and more purposeful. "
36 " Sarab mistook these as tears of relief, but Kulwinder had been transported to the past, when she had given this boy her blessings. He had turned out to be a monster, but at one point, she had called him her son. "
37 " They asked me questions as well. “You say you’re Indian but why do you have fair skin? Why don’t you take Tamil as your Mother Tongue language like the other Indian girls?” I had heard these questions a dozen times. The questions about my last name were not new either. "
38 " For the first time in their lives they could openly share their most private thoughts and know that they weren’t alone. I helped them to discover that, and I became willing to learn from them as well. Those women were used to turning the other cheek when injustices were committed because it’s inappropriate to get involved, or to go to the police and betray your own. But they didn’t hesitate to help me and put themselves at risk when I was in danger. They know that they’re capable of fighting. "
39 " Let him find balance and moderation in all things; let him listen to himself and not the noise of others. Noise. "
40 " Everything overlaps in this city,” Ma said. “Do you see that? Everything merges together.” I did see it. Concrete pavements over grass, flats over hawker centres, Malay food over Indian food over Chinese food over McDonald’s. Leaves pointing towards the sky in every possible shade of green—jade; emerald; a deep sea green; a sickly yellowish-green. Beneath them, spotted branches spread in crooked lines across the sky. Behind them, buildings. Underneath those, the MRT snaked across the city. A city; an island; a state; a country. Everything overlapping. "