Sonya Lalli > Quotes

“Being in love wasn’t just about how you felt about the other person. It was how you felt about yourself when you were with that person. It was knowing, without a doubt, that you were living each day as the best version of yourself.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Not everyone is brave enough to be themselves.”
― Sonya Lalli, The Matchmaker's List

“Inequality is everywhere, Niki,” Diya continued. “Even in Seattle. Some countries are simply better at hiding it.” I smiled weakly. She was right. But it didn’t make it any less difficult to see up close.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“only once you accept yourself will there be any hope of others accepting you, too.”
― Sonya Lalli, Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat

“(I also barely understood Punjabi, nor did I speak Hindi or any of the hundreds of languages spoken across the subcontinent.) It was a land of unknowns, a place that in my mind existed in the past, a history book of where our family came from. The thought of facing the place for the first time without my parents was suddenly making my heart race.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“All we can do is stand up for what we believe in, be a good person, and do our best not to harm anyone in the process.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“And then, as if overnight, we’re of marriageable age. Suddenly, we’re not girls in need of protection but women, and being very single was our very own fault.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“The way Nani showed she loved you through food—and then, through more food.”
― Sonya Lalli, The Matchmaker's List

“Diwali was the Festival of Lights. The celebration of the goodness in this world over darkness. A holiday that could be whatever anyone wanted it to be. And for Sam and me, having first fallen for each other on Diwali, I knew it would always be the day we celebrated our love for each other, too.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“So, you don’t think you were meant to lose that job?” Sam whispered. He moved in closer to me, his elbows resting against the guardrail. “That it was the universe’s way of forcing you to look for one you will love even more?”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“felt his breath hot on my neck. My body was roaring. I was not myself. I was not Niki the good Indian girl who obeyed her parents, whose life revolved around her career, who never let herself get carried away. I didn’t know where the hell she’d gone, but without her, I felt lost and free in equal measure.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Mom was right. I would never understand or agree with her decision to stay, but I knew I was judging her from a place of privilege. I grew up in a different country, a different time, and the choices available to me were ones that my mother, and”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“The past was the past. And today was . . . well, it felt wonderful.”
― Sonya Lalli, Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat

“Friendships ran their course all the time.”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“know you girls grew up . . . differently.” My mouth gaped open as I watched her disappear inside. Differently?”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“Our presents on Christmas morning were minimal, our school supplies the generic brand, our extracurricular activities limited to those freely available through the community center or local Y.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“two bridesmaids’ lack of compassion and awareness over their own privilege was nothing short of astounding. Not everyone could afford to holiday at beachside resorts and eat out at restaurants. Until recently, they were luxuries my own family wasn’t able to afford.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Rationally, I knew I shouldn’t feel guilty. My parents had worked for the life they built in the US for their daughters’ futures, but I wasn’t feeling all that rational these days. “I don’t know how I feel.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Just a few years ago, I could count on scores of dynamic, caring women in my life, from school or college or whom I’d met at work. But one by one, they’d gotten married and had families. And one by one, their commitments to our friendship took a backseat. Our movie nights, weekly phone calls, or Saturday dinners became less and less frequent, morphed into forty-five-minute catch-ups at a Starbucks”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“Basically, every auntie who’s ever been told to buy Fair and Lovely.” “Haven’t you heard? Colorism has been dismantled,” Sam joked. “It’s called Glow and Lovely now.” I laughed out loud, as if changing the name of the skin lightening cream made a single bit of difference. As if people of color all over the world, particularly women, weren’t still made to feel inferior for having a healthy dose of melanin.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Not only had Mark proven to be a great buffer at tense family dinners, but ever since he entered the picture, Mom had stopped hounding me about the fact that I wasn’t married.”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“Growing up, she always ate last, making sure everyone else had hot roti throughout their meal, hovering over us, insisting we eat more while I begged her to come sit down at the table. Finally, when the rest of us were nearly done, she’d shovel down her cold food before bolting off to start on the dishes, the laundry, some endless task or another.”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“We always loved each other as sisters, but now we were starting to love each other as friends, too. The resentment I’d been hiding my whole life had dissolved—completely—and it had left a space for so much more to bloom.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“But I was old enough to have learned that sometimes lies—very small ones—weren’t wrong. They were important. Sometimes lies were what held a family together.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“She’d enjoy doting on a young man, which wasn’t to say she hadn’t relished having two little girls to raise. In fact, daughters were what she had preferred. She despised that in their village, the birth of boys had been celebrated and the arrival of girls mourned.”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“I stopped myself before that very unflattering train of thought could run away again. I loved Jasmine more than anything, honestly. I didn’t actually begrudge her happiness. I just wished that I had managed to find some happiness, too.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“They all lived within a stone’s throw from the gurdwara, went to Punjabi school twice a week, and hung out together afterward at one another’s houses—watching Bollywood movies or Punjabi dramas, or practicing bhangra dances they made up and performed at folk festivals and celebrations.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Excluding her from her life and her pregnancy, acting like she was ashamed of where she came from. According to Mom, Natasha wouldn’t even let her bring a dish to the gender reveal party. (Just let the woman make you samosas, you brat! Everyone likes them.)”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“I shook my head. Why was I trying to justify Deborah’s decision to pick me over Ginger Spice? Why did I care so much what some spiteful person thought about me? I deserved to be here, and everyone damn well knew it. Still, I couldn’t stop ruminating. Ginger thought I was just some “middle manager.” She thought I was . . . “lonely.” It hurt when the aunties said it, but it hurt more when it came from the mouth of one of my own peers. And maybe it cut so deep because they were right.”
― Sonya Lalli, Serena Singh Flips the Script

“On the verge of a scandal. Had broken up with her deadweight boyfriend du jour. (Oh god. Let it be that!) Or maybe she was just being a run-of-the-mill pain yet again, and my parents wanted to vent about it before they ran off to whatever function was on that evening.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali