Balli Kaur Jaswal : Making Space For Others

Known for underscoring the complexities of identity in her novels, the Singapore author shares more of her thoughts on race, culture and womanhood as well as her personal experiences

- Andrea Sim

Over the course of four published novels that include Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and Sugarbread, Balli Kaur Jaswal has demonstrated the special gift of gently prodding her readers to broaden their understanding of the world and humanity. Born in Singapore but having grown up and lived across various countries such as Russia, Japan, Philippines, Britain and Turkey, it’s no surprise that the subject of identity and what it means to belong has been a constant theme in Jaswal’s life, as well as her stories.

You might see yourself in Nikki Grewal, who perceives a distance between her personal values and those prized by her family, or find comfort in the fact that like Pin, you’re not the only one whose household has a rift in cultural identity. Here, the award-winning author talks about having to figure out where she belongs, why multi-dimensional identities are important and her passion for lesser told narratives.

You lived and grew up in many different countries over the course of your formative years. What was it like for you trying to find a sense of belonging in those places as a young girl?

I think it was quite complicated. If I said I was from Singapore, there was an expectation that you should be kind of a representative of that place. I think most people’s ideas of what Singapore was, was different from what they saw. Up until the time we moved out of Singapore, I didn’t really have any uncertainty about that, you know? I was born here. I grew up here. Obviously, I’m from here. But overseas, classmates and teachers — adults — would tell me, no, you’re not from Singapore because they thought that someone from Singapore would be Chinese and they only associated one ethnicity with Singapore. That, I found really complicated and very confusing.