Truth be told, the textbook tales of Diwali that we all learnt about in Religious Education classes at school back in the day about Rama and Sita, Lord Mahavir, Emperor Ashoka and Guru Hargobind, don’t really mean all that much to me—sorry mum, I’m just being honest! But before you proceed to fill my comments box with dagger emojis, let me finish. That … More What Diwali/Bandi Chhor Divas Means To Me
When you have a large extended family or live in a close-knit community that holds strong traditions and values often any major/minor decisions that you make bring with them the stinking undertone of what will people think? For example: quitting your job with no backup plan, leaving your degree halfway through to go travelling, marrying a middle-aged Rasta because you … More What Will People Think?!
In celebration of my 24th year on this earth (eek!) I thought it would be fun to compile a list of random and ridiculous facts about myself to share with you. So hold on to your hats and prepare to be educated folks, because Small Town Girl 101 is officially in session! Without further ado, let’s begin … More Birthday Vibes
Diwali, aka ‘the festival of lights’, is notoriously celebrated by Hindus all over the world. But why exactly do they celebrate it? To put it plainly and simply they mark this special day in honour of Rama and Sita and their long-awaited return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile and the defeat of the evil demon king, Ravana. Lamps … More Black Diwali
When you wake up on a Saturday morning to the sounds of the house-phone ringing every 10 minutes and the vacuum cleaner being dragged violently around the living room, you know it’s going to be one of those weekends. You know the ones I mean, those Saturdays/Sundays that come around every so often when a … More Keeping Up Appearances…Punjabi Style!
Colourism, or discrimination based on skin colour, is a disease which exists within a large number of ethnic communities. Prejudice against darker skin tones has been a cause for concern for many years and for some reason it’s grown to become taboo to talk about; one of those topics that we sweep under the rug. But … More Colourism
A few days ago a fellow blogger kindly re-blogged one of my posts on his site. He also included a few lines in which he referred to me as a being an ‘Indian university graduate’ and that really got me thinking. Whilst I may have been raised by parents who both emigrated from India and have … More A Nationality Conundrum
Sikhism is one of the youngest and most widespread religions in the world. I’ve lived my whole life with the knowledge that I’m a born-follower of this religion, I am a Sikh. From a young age I would accompany my mum to the Gurdwara (temple) either for religious programmes held by friends and family, for festivals … More Religion Vs Culture: Being Sikh Vs Being Punjabi
It’s safe to say that I have been a fan of Bali Rai’s works of fiction for many years now, for over a decade in fact! Since the days of (Un)Arranged Marriage (2001) and Rani and Sukh (2004), the Leicester-born fiction author captured my full attention with his writing that provides an insight into the … More Book Review Of City Of Ghosts By Bali Rai
Just A Small Town Girl... 