My pieces are different creative responses on four different books that appealed to me. These are based on the interpretations of what I felt the book was about and my reaction to reading both fiction and nonfiction books. The books I picked are: Malala by Malala Yousafzai, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple, London is Calling By Sukhdev Sandhu and Breaking The Silence written by Asian Women.
Malala
She is Malala ‘free as a bird’, the girl who stood up for education! But was shot by the Taliban. All should be like Malala, a global symbol. Be Malala ‘free as a bird’, she inspires all of us, truly a story of courage and strength!
One girl who changed the world. All should be like Malala, to fight, to stand up, to ensure all girls are educated!
Be Malala change the world, make a difference stand up against injustice.
Be ‘free as a bird’ to all of you women out there, don’t think you are less, or unequal.
Therefore show the world what you are made of!
Extract from 'I am Malala'
Nine Lives, Nine different lives
Come travel with me,
Come meet the nine lives that I met,
Through On my journey through India.
Tales of a Buddhist, a Jain, Devadasi Rani, are some of whom I met and could not wait to tell each of their stories.
Come learn about their history,
Come hear their voices, their religious traditions, paths.
Throughout my journey, I was taught about god and goddesses, which I never knew existed.
Tales of their faiths and religions which are the heart of India.
Come be transformed,
Come and explore their lives, beliefs, faiths.
Through them, I learned about views of life and death.
A language universal to all.
Come be enriched,
Come meet these people,
Through them, I was transformed to another world, another way of life,
I learned that they were all torn between tradition and modern lifestyle.
Map from 'Nine Lives - In Search of the Sacred in Modern India'
London Is Calling
Dear London,
You offered me prosperity, promises and prospects of a future, instead I was given pain. I was offered hardship, harassment and a harmful reality. You forced me into slavery, I had financial destitution and having no options but to resort to prostitution as a way of income.
This was meant to be my home, but it painted me as ‘stupid’, ‘insolent’ and ‘wild’, something to fear and be alienated from the community. I am one of the minority groups, this was our ordeal- this our reality.
It is only through my words I am able to express my truth, what I had to overcome and how we were all treated.
I feel chained, drained and it's the harshness of immigration, where I left my country, my family which I hold dear. London you gave me nothing in return.
But I did not despair, I made a way, became resilient and integrated into this city and survived to tell my tale, a forgotten voice -no longer, so hear my story.
Yours sincerely,
A local immigrant.
Image from 'London Calling'
Breaking The Silence
These women have chosen to break the silence. They stand in defiance, hidden within society, but now allowed to have a voice. These women speak to me, they break the silence writing about different subjects such as marriage, racism, being a woman, and their views on cultural identity.
These women break the silence. Through their honesty, emotional feelings, trapped within their different lives, expressing their words through their different languages. These women break the silence; Hindu, Muslim, Bengali, Gujarati, and Punjabi, where they reflect on tradition, beliefs, family, and the impact of being a woman in society.
These women break the silence. Break their constraints, break the mould, who chose to write. These women speak out, tell their stories, tell their woes, express themselves and reveal their realities.
Photograph from 'Breaking the Silence'
Tavinder New has been writing short stories since she was a teenager. Her stories reflect issues in society, for example on technology or global warming and she has written in different genres. She has published in Pen to Print's showcase online with ‘Saying Goodbye', and has taken part in Pen to Print's 'Love Letters to the World' postcards project. Tavinder attends a monthly writing group, and has a blog of her creative writing.
18.05.2021
