49 pages • 1 hour read
Balli Kaur JaswalErotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Two sisters—Nikki and Mindi—discuss the topic of marriage. Nikki, the modern and rebellious sister, has quit law school to find herself; she currently works in a pub. Mindi is in nursing school and seeking a “suitable boy” for a husband. As part of this effort, Mindi asks Nikki to post her matrimonial ad on the bulletin board at the large Sikh temple in Southall, a community of largely Punjabi immigrants from India. Nikki reluctantly agrees and takes the train to Southall, where she enters a bilingual world completely unknown to her best British friend, Olive. At the bulletin board, Nikki briefly encounters a “wispy” man who shyly asks if she’s seeking a husband; repulsed by the other men’s flyers, Nikki dismisses him. Before leaving, though, she spots an ad for a writing instructor at the temple.
Chapter 2 Summary
The narrative shifts to the backstory of Kulwinder Kaur, the recently appointed Community Development Director of the Sikh Community Association. It opens with a flashback to Kulwinder’s “first and last attempt to be British” (21), which occurred 20 years ago when she dropped Maya, her daughter, off for the little girl’s first day at her new school. The attempt went poorly, culminating in disaster in Kulwinder’s mind. After insisting again on funding for the women’s writing class, Kulwinder interviews Nikki for the position of writing instructor.
Chapter 3 Summary
Nikki has moved out of her family house since the recent death of her father. Though her mother disapproves of Nikki’s life choices, she tries to be supportive of Nikki’s new job at the temple. She warns Nikki of the dangers of being alone at night, citing the example of Karina Kaur’s murder. Mother and daughters discuss the possible bachelors that their mother’s pushy friend has suggested for Mindi. Mindi chastises Nikki for pursuing another of her “causes” about women’s issues with no regard for the consequences; namely, their father’s sudden death has left the family struggling financially.
At Nikki’s first night of class, the students arrive late. Most are widowed grandmas with limited English proficiency rather than the budding writers Nikki imagined. Nikki confronts Kulwinder but decides to keep the job so she can help her family. Kulwinder returns home to her apathetic husband, Sarab, and the reader learns that Maya is dead. Kulwinder panics when a policeman talks to her, fearing what others may think if they see her. Sure enough, she receives an anonymous and threatening call in the middle of the night.
Chapter 4 Summary
The sisters catch up on Mindi’s disastrous dates and Nikki’s first day of teaching. Nikki buys some workbooks for her students and a book of erotic stories to tease her sister. However, her students find the book, and Sheena, who speaks English well, translates the sexual scenes into Punjabi for the other women. They start writing an erotic story of their own while waiting for Nikki’s return to the classroom.
Chapter 5 Summary
The women write a soft porn story in Punjabi. Nikki is shocked by the content, but the women tell her that the pious image of the widow is a stereotype. They are still vibrant women and often think and speak about sex to one another. The women become so noisy that Kulwinder comes to reprimand them and Nikki.
Outside the temple, Nikki meets Jason while she’s sneaking a cigarette; smoking is forbidden on temple grounds. The chapter weaves Sheena’s story, “The Viewing,” into the narrative while revealing more details about the women. Manjeet is not a widow; rather, her adulterous husband abandoned her. In addition, 80-year-old Arvinder never enjoyed sex until someone bought her a shoulder massager.
Chapters 1-5 Analysis
Told in third person, the novel opens with the question: “Why did Mindi want an arranged marriage?” (1). The thought, which reflects the voice of Nikki, the younger sister and protagonist, seems addressed both to herself and to the reader. This opening in medias res places the reader directly in the conflict of the story, which is the disagreement between the sisters about the importance of their cultural traditions. The younger Nikki is modern and rebellious; the older Mindi is dutiful and traditional. This contrast, as well as the resulting tension, is common in postcolonial or diasporic novels in which an immigrant or first-generation character must often negotiate the pull of her traditional heritage against her own desires for freedom. The term “East-West Mix” occurs twice in the first chapter. That term, coupled with the juxtaposition of the sisters, immediately introduces the theme of The Challenges of a Hybrid Identity, which Nikki in particular struggles with throughout the novel.
The story then takes a turn, focusing primarily on exploding this binary and other stereotypes of the more traditional members of an immigrant or diasporic community. By relocating most of the action into the Sikh temple and the activities of older and mostly widowed women, the novel forces Nikki and the reader to question their presumptions about this group. While many appear traditional, wearing the white sari of the widow, these women are as lively and sexually vibrant as Nikki and any of her modern(ized) and Western(ized) friends. The women enjoy reading Nikki’s erotic book and are excited at the opportunity of writing stories of their own, foreshadowing the power of Erotic Storytelling as Female Empowerment. The lively imaginations of the women, as seen in Sheena’s story in these chapters and later in others throughout the novel, as well as in the women’s true confessions (such as enjoying the pleasures of a shoulder massager), undermine the assumptions about older women perpetuated by patriarchal sexism and racism.
The “East-West Mix” narrative of Nikki, her sister, and the older women is joined by a darker backstory of Kulwinder, who is still grieving the death of her daughter, Maya. Kulwinder’s first memory at Maya’s school is one of humiliation, and the narrative suggests that there was tension between Maya and her mother similar to that between Nikki and her own mother. These chapters thereby also introduce the theme of Inter-Generational Tension Among Immigrants.
Finally, there are several instances of foreshadowing in this early section of the novel. Nikki’s mother warns her of the dangers to women in Southall by citing the murder of Karina Kaur, which the novel later reveals was an honor killing. In addition, something about the house across the road at Number 16 frightens Kulwinder; both she and her husband, Sarab, know that anxiety is really why she wants the curtains closed, not because the feeble English sun gives her a headache, as she claims. When the policeman speaks with her in the street, Kulwinder panics; at the end of Chapter 5, the reason is revealed. Someone has been making threatening calls to prevent her from speaking with the authorities.
