untold: defining moments of the uprooted

by Gabrielle Deonath (Editor), Kamini Ramdeen (Editor)

"untold: defining moments of the uprooted" — a Brown Girl Magazine anthology — is a collection of real stories that explores the South Asian experience in the U.S., U.K., and Canada through the lens of identity, being, and relationships. Thirty-two emerging voices share deeply personal moments relating to immigration, infertility, divorce, mental health, suicide, sexual orientation, gender identity, racism, colorism, casteism, religion, and much more, all while balancing the push and pull of belonging to two cultural hemispheres. Every story sheds light on the authentic truths of living as womxn with hyphenated identities that have only been whispered — until now.

"untold: defining moments of the uprooted" contains sensitive content. Recommended for ages 16+.

Authors:
Tanuja Desai Hidier - Foreword
Trisha Sakhuja-Walia - Introduction
Rita Sengupta - Coming Out Again
L.M. Iyer - Performing Lines
Ravleen K. - The Hair Cut
Sharda Sekaran - Anywhere But India
Hena Wadhwa - Fourth Avenue
Meera Solanki Estrada - Born Untouchable
Nova A. - I'm Here, and I'm Queer
J. Lalwani - Terror and Redemption in Trump Country
Amrisa Niranjan - Coming to Ah-merri-kah
Radhika Patel - Harrison Road
Shimul Chowdhury - An "American"
Gabriella Deonath - Unveiling Me
M.K. Ansari - The Whispering of the Jinn
Pooja Patel - Poor Obstetric Outcome
Apoorva Verghese - Dark and Lovely
Subrina Singh - Surviving Suicide
Nupur Chaudhury - Enough
Jessie Brar - The Day I Woke Up
Priyal Sakhuja - The Unforgiving Sun
Kimberly Parekh - A Tale of Two: A (Cancer) Journey Between Best Friends Anantha Sudhakar - A Tale of Two: A (Cancer) Journey Between Best Friends Rajvir Gill - The Good Guy
Nisha Singh - Puttar
Saahil - A Saccharine Sickness
Chandra Coats - Meeting My First Blood Relative
Duriba Khan - Home
Nina Malagi - In The Eye of the Owner
Anita Wadhwani - Motherly Instincts
Radhika Menon - Mutassan
Raksha Muthukumar - Kirby Jackson
Neha Patel - Someday, Maybe
Sabina England - Amor Indocumentado

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Short Stories, Essays, Anthologies

320 pages, Paperback

Published March 2, 2021

About the author

Gabrielle Deonath is a Guyanese-American Muslim writer and editor. First published at age 16, she penned personal essays on her experiences navigating the world as a Muslim teenager for VirtualMosque.com and SISTERS Magazine. For five years, she served as an assistant editor at Brown Girl Magazine and is one of the editors of the company's first-ever print anthology, untold: defining moments of the uprooted. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Adelphi University in 2018 and went on to work for mission-based organizations including Global Citizen and Girl Scouts of the USA. Her new book, Shukr, is an inspirational prayer and gratitude journal for Muslim women. Gabrielle hopes to continue to give a voice to those without a platform and create authentic representations of minorities and marginalized communities through storytelling.

Reviews

[Madhuri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The absolute BEST first book to read in 2021. I would give this book more than 5 stars if I could. As an Indian-American, I didn’t realize how meaningful stories from the diaspora would be to me until I read the first few pages of this. Each essay artfully touches on meaningful moments of the authors’ lives and interacts with South Asian culture in an honest and vulnerable way. I never thought I would read anything that so closely resembles my own life — I am in total awe of this collection. I hardly reread anything, but I think I’ll make an exception for this...

[monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’m so glad this book exists, and that it gave south asian women the platform to finally tell their incredibly diverse and complex stories. it’s not often that i’m able to find a south asian main character in any form of western media, but this book gave me 32.

[Maitri Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book so relatable and it was reassuring to know there's others out there who deal with similar challenges as I do growing up Indian in the US. Loved how the book touched on identity, sexuality, relationships, etc. It was comprehensive and didn't seem to leave out any large themes/areas.

[Shivani · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5 Stars

untold: defining moments of the uprooted is a deeply personal and evocative collection of 32 real stories exploring what the South Asian experience means in western countries with regards to identity, being, and relationships. The themes in these works dive into difficult topics that may be known in South Asian culture to be too taboo to be spoken out loud. However, it is within these stories that South Asian womxn have the space to be transparent. vulnerable, and open to not only us as readers, but to themselves. South Asian womxn have long been silenced and overlooked by white society and even our own cultures when it comes to our experiences, but this work proves that we deserve the space to be our full, authentic selves no matter what anyone else might think about us.

As a South Asian woman myself I felt deeply connected to each and every one of these stories. Though they did not all embody my own personal experiences, there were pieces of each one that I held close to my heart. I loved the unique voice that each story held within its core and the raw emotion that I could physically feel within myself as I read through each one. South Asian culture has a thread that connects us to one another whether that be in our mannerisms, or the way we're brought up, but what makes each individual person unique is their experiences. None of these womxn had the exact same identity as my own, but it's through our cultures and grappling with South Asian identity that link us together. No two experiences are ever the same, and what we take away from these experiences is different. These stories exist as a space for South Asian womxn to speak their truths so that more South Asian womxn know they are not alone and that our voices will not be silenced.

*Some of these topics include immigration, divorce, infertility, sexual orientation, mental illness, and more.

[W M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is a must read for every South Asian American- 34 short stories written by womxn from the south Asian diaspora that address everything from racism, religion, sexuality, familial guilt. Reading these stories were so meaningful to me. I worked through them with my younger brother, and the routine created the space for difficult conversations I could never bring myself to articulate on my own.

[Vaish -bookishbelle1008 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful, emotional and heartwarming book! By the end of it, I felt like I had sat down with the amazing people behind these stories and had a coffee with them, as though they were my friends. Being Indian and raised in Australia, I identified with so many experiences that were discussed and I appreciate the way the 32 incredible author’s opened their heart to highlight some emotional and challenging topics. Although I do not embody all of the experiences discussed, I feel a piece of each story will always be a part of my heart. I highly recommend this book and I feel it is a beautiful celebration of being a South Asian womxn.

[Bushra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to read more anthologies

[Angie Levesque · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful compilation of short stories, many of which felt like hauntingly familiar experiences. I'm so grateful that these stories were shared, and I wish there had been something similar when I was growing up. We definitely need more books like it!

[Natasha Jaswal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! We need more books like this! Each story beautifully illustrates the complexities of identity and desi culture. It’s very healing to read stories that validate my own feelings that I didn’t think anyone else experienced. Excellent book!

[Rianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to preface this review by saying that I think this book is an incredible step in the direction of having more South Asian representation and storytelling and bringing our community together. As another review said, it’s so rare to see ourselves reflected as the main character in movies or stories or books, and this book allows us to see each other as main characters.

That being said, I think the book really suffered from the stories often being too short for significant emotional depth or storyline and from unskilled writing. The oomph I wanted, the tugging-at-my-heartstrings, was absent in almost every story. They almost all ended before I could dive into the story, making it hard to get emotionally invested or understand enough to empathize.

Would love to see future growth on this book by Brown Girl Mag, or a few of these authors to publish more!

[Srisruthi Ramesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proof that you cannot judge a book by its cover. This collection of short stories shatters expectations of the single-narrative South Asian identity and proves that the experiences of South Asian diaspora womxn are not always as pretty as the book jacket suggests.

Full review on @browngirlbookshelf on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/browngirlbo...

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read! This anthology includes vivid personal stories using the full emotional spectrum — from humor to heartache.

[Lynette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable anthology that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. The variety of perspectives, the writing — it's all wonderful. I especially connected with the last few essays and cried during each. I look forward to future books that these authors will create!

[Taniya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an incredible read - it spoke about belonging, traditions, and pain in such beautiful ways. I connected with many stories in this book, but the one that felt all too familiar is titled “Someday, Maybe” by Neha Patel. It talks about her experience as an Indian daughter-in-law - feeling invisible, as if her dreams don’t matter. Love the ending of this particular chapter:
“Baby step for the bahu in the drama to find her voice and the saas to listen. Someday, maybe, she will finally listen.”

[Sharmila G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't consider myself to be an avid reader, it usually comes in fits and spurts, but I couldn't put this one down. Never before have I felt so connected to a collection of stories. Thank you Brown Girl Magazine, Mango and Marigold Press, and all the South Asian storytellers in this anthology. As cliché as it is, ***representation matters***.

[Eram Cowlas · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's refreshing to see something written by people like me for me.

[Story Circle Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Untold: defining moments of the uprooted is a collection of true stories edited by Gabrielle Deonath and Kamini Ramdeen, and collected by Brown Girl Magazine. Divided into sections by the overarching themes of Identity, Being, and Relationships, each story presents a deeply personal, brave, and authentic slice-of-life from one of thirty-two emerging South Asian writers from America, Canada, Britain, and Indo-Caribbean communities.

Like Brown Girl Magazine itself—launched in 2018 “by and for South Asian womxn, who believe in the power of storytelling as a vehicle for community building and empowerment” (from their mission statement)—this first anthology aligns with the mission and goals of giving voice to the South Asian diaspora. Like the magazine, the anthology provides a forum for sharing, without fear or shame, experiences which, for generations, families have kept to themselves in order to assimilate, to blend, to “disappear” into their adopted countries.

Among the twelve stories in the “Identity” section, there are several about coming out and about the culture shock for foreign-born children on their first visit to India for family visits, and one about a high school girl who makes the difficult decision to begin wearing the hijab. “Born Untouchable,” by Canadian Meera Solanki Estrada, is a deeply moving piece about casteism. She interviewed her father about his family’s history as untouchables. Of his school days, her father matter-of-factly related, “Ours was the era of segregation, so I could go into the classroom. But we had to sit on the floor in the back of the class. And when the master did the roll call, they didn’t say our name, just BC for backward class. That is the name we answered to.”

Three of the nine stories in the “Being” section begin with sensitive content warnings and the phone number for the national suicide hotline, which speaks volumes about the emotional toll of carrying generations of untold stories, such as children attending all or predominantly white schools where they were bullied and learned to resent their appearance. In “Dark and Lovely,” Apoorva Varghese, as a young, dark-skinned child visiting relatives in India, becomes infatuated with a handsome Bollywood star. When his screen persona falls for a light-skinned beauty, she slavers herself with illicitly purchased skin-lightening cream. “I didn’t know it then,” Varghese writes, “but that moment launched me on a journey to self-love that has been slow, steady, and ongoing.”

The final section, “Relationships,” is comprised of eleven essays, on topics ranging from infidelity to end-of-life rituals in the Sikh tradition to a daughter caught between warring parents. In her piece “In the Eye of the Beholder,” Nina Malagi returns from the United States to her ancestral city (Ahmedabad, Gujarat) after ending a twenty-year marriage to negotiate the sale of the couple’s co-owned flat. She’d once defended the gender-bound box she’d found herself in:

As she explained to friends after a difficult 36-hour labor, “The woman always goes home to her parents’ house to give birth and the husband turns up months later,” I patiently explained. That’s how we do it in Indian culture, I lied. And I shamed them for false cultural insensitivity to silence my own shame.

Untold: defining moments of the uprooted is a varied, immersive, informative read. These short pieces of creative nonfiction should be of interest to anyone. These are the true stories of South Asian writers. They are also, simply, true life stories of love, loss, sickness, pain, fear; all the emotions, all the ways in which people—in these stories, brown people—struggle to make lives and to find peace and happiness for themselves and their loved ones under circumstances that, all too often, are less than hospitable, less than welcoming.

Story Circle Book Reviews thanks Dorothy Rice for this review.

[Sapna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of short stories brought me to tears several times. The beautiful, detailed writing captured the nuances of balancing a South Asian identity growing up in America and managing generational conflicts, societal and bicultural expectations. What I appreciated was the ability to convey the relatable themes of private, personal, and isolating struggles as it relates to relationship matters, body image, identity, being misunderstood, and experiencing heartache, judgement, loss, and pain. And what I loved most was the themes of familiar strength within South Asian women in persevering and overcoming it all, often in subtle, quiet, humble ways, while simultaneously holding great success. All of this combined with the deep nostalgia that filled the pages leads me to highly, highly recommend. 10 out of 10.

[Shaini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading these bite-sized stories of South-Asian women in the diaspora. It was refreshing to read about "taboo" topics from real people that would typically be hidden behind the curtains in this culture. I wish, however, that there was more depth to the stories. I wish that each of these stories was a novella of its own. I was trying hard to connect to the stories and characters, and the brevity was just not doing it for me.

[Lakshmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of voices in this book. I never knew how important it was to me personally to read through stories that could describe my own life. The book also introduced me to how extensive the South Asian diaspora is.

The stories, though mostly powerful, sometimes lost their impact due to brevity and inferior writing skills. Still, I enjoyed the read.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible read!

South Asian women share their stories about losing or finding their voices. Moments of trauma and othering including topics like suicide, abuse, and racism. It's a bittersweet book of short stories that resonate with the theme of finding ones self or defining moments.

Well written, captivating, tragic, and inspiring this is a great read!

[Jyotsna Sreenivasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved reading every single essay in this book. I learned so much about my South Asian sisters in diaspora--the great variety of our experiences and cultures. Essays include personal stories of body image, illness, disability, discrimination based on caste, and beautiful moments of love and triumph. Highly recommended.

[Tara Moonilal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. I felt an instant connection to these amazing women as I read this book. Although my life is quite different than many of these stories there is a sense of sisterhood throughout it that was very comforting.

[Sahil Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great, vulnerable, and powerful collection of personal accounts. As with any collection, some resonate more than others. Overall I would’ve preferred fewer, longer, and more heavily edited pieces. But still good read.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

How lovely it is to see so many South Asian authors tell their story. Ranging from three main topics, Untold is both a window and a mirror to the modern "brown experience." There were so many moments when the stories resonated so strongly with me. Overall, a fairly quick read as it's a little over 30 short stories. I would recommend this book.

[Andleeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a friend & it is an excellent collection of Indian short stories.

[Henna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply personal, reflective and emotive. That last story hit hard

[Rena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible anthology, filled with powerful, beautifully written stories by womxn in the South Asian diaspora. I found it to be incredibly relatable and validating, and I think a lot of other South Asian folx will too. The authors tell their own highly personal stories about coming of age, mental health struggles, racism, family drama, and more, all while navigating multiple, intersecting identities. I was immediately struck by how powerful the first couple of the stories were and it's not surprising that I couldn't put the book down. Each story offered something unique to the anthology, although many of the stories shared common themes. Definitely a must-read.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any South Asian woman/womxn who has struggled in finding their own identity or struggled in finding a sense of belonging.

[Bai · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so emotional, so sad that people go through these things.