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puja@deeporigins.com

Puja holding For My Sister book

Why I Write For Social Change

Note: A version of this article first appeared in Brown Girl Magazine.

As a first-generation South Asian American girl, I remember questioning ways my culture didn’t fit into the worldview my parents were raising me in.

“So why do women need to serve men their dinner first? Can’t we all just eat and enjoy together?”

“Why would people ever drown their infant girls in other countries?” 

My mother, aunties and the strong South Asian women around me often understood these questions. Yes, it is unfair. Yes, it‘s not right. It’s why we are raising you here, beti.

The sacrifices my parents made, like so many immigrants who came to America on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement in the ’70s, are what awarded me and many of my fellow brown first-generation sisters the freedom to question openly. To aim high. 

It is why as a writer, I find it important to rise up and support those who are speaking up and advocating for many girls that are just like me; just like my own daughter. 

During the research of my upcoming debut novel, For My Sister, I interviewed a number of nonprofits such as Oasis India, O.U.R. Rescue and Child Rights and You that inspired me. I saw their driving efforts to meet the needs of fulfilling girls rights in India and at a global level.

Did you know that up to 10 million girls will be at risk of child marriage and girls are primarily victims of sexual exploitation as 72% of detected girl victims globally?

For My Sister is a novel that follows the journey of light and darkness with Amla and Asya: twin sisters trafficked into India’s notorious Sonagachi district. Can the power of poetry, mindfulness, and sisterly love bring them back home and to each other?

What I learned is that while fiction, the story of Amla and Asya is all too real. 

Sasha K. Taylor, child marriage survivor and advocate, says,

“Bravo! Puja Shah writes an emotional issues-focused fictional novel centered on the story of twin sisters Amla and Asya, whose attempt to escape a child marriage fails and they end up being trafficked anyway. The reader will find themselves vested in both sisters’ lives while gaining insights into the realities our fictional sisters endure — realities millions of real girls across the globe face every day. Puja Shah is precisely the fiction writer the literary world and global readers need to transcend to an empathetic place to finally begin understanding the plight of women and girls across the globe who are sexually exploited and abused, forced into unwanted marriages, and trafficked, by those they may trust the most… It is happening right now, as you finish reading this sentence.”

So often as artists, we express ourselves through the medium that we are called to. For me, this was writing. What started as a story, became a deeper calling for me. A cry for social change. A commitment to awareness. 

So why write for social change?

1) There is a purpose behind your vision.

Writing for social change doesn’t mean you will change the world overnight, but it adds to the larger collective efforts toward social justice by helping those who have been second-class citizens of the world to feel validated and understood. Even if you are not an expert on the topic you feel called to share about, align with the causes that are doing the work on it. Like Gandhi believed, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

2) Your self-expression contributes to meaningful conversation.

You’re generating thoughts for important discussion around social issues. As Roxanne Gay states in her course on social change, “when your work starts this conversation, you are setting the framework for productive cultural critique.” Discussions are where questions like the ones I had as a young girl can arise. There is a sense of inquisition when someone is confronted with something that does not feel right.  What isn’t working? What isn’t fair? Who is being marginalized? What do we need to understand to elevate society as a whole? 

3) You are giving voice to those who may not be able to express themselves.

This is the heart of why I wrote my novel. When you share a story of someone whose experience has not been heard, you are providing a place for others to understand this experience. 

4) It comes down to compassion.

Your work is the vehicle of compassion that can bring forth awareness which can lead to change. As a yoga and meditation instructor, this inner place of compassion is one that reminds me we are not all that different. The girls across the world that I write about, could love the same music as my best friend, and have dreams like my sister. So share your work for them. It’s why I did…for my sister.

“For My Sister is a novel with a social conscience illuminating the epidemic of human trafficking.  It will break your heart, open your soul, and ignite a fire within to become part of the solution. Share it far and wide with all of your sisters.” — Arielle Ford, International bestselling author of The Soulmate Secret

Want to learn tips on how to write for social change? Join me on Dec. 5th 2022 at 7 pm pst for a special zoom class on Writing For Social Change. Register here.

The Vinyasa of Poetry

The thing about poetry is its fluidity, its flow, it’s beauty to adapt to feeling and sound. To external and internal environments, occurrences, places, beings. I stepped away from the mic for awhile, forgotten what it felt like to be in my poetry.

But I’m back! Check it out, my newest poem, “Whatchya know ’bout that?” I explore my identity as a a first generation and Cali transplant and how freedom of expression is meant to join not divide.

TAGS:fiction authorpoetpoetrypsnamastespoken wordvinyasawriter

13 Powerful Ideas For Your Journaling Practice

I love journaling. For as long as I can remember, I have kept a journal. It was the meditation I practiced before I knew what meditation was. You don’t have to be an amazing writer to keep a journal. Journaling is for everyone. And it’s been proven to help increase clarity, improve perspective and reduce stress.

The ancients also tell stories of journaling and its healing effects. The ancient Hindu ritual of “maha vasana daha tantra” describes writing down problems and bringing them from the subconscious into the external mind and then during the ritual, releasing the suppressed emotions.

“The more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be.”
~ Shakti Gawain

And then there’s the science. According to The American Psychological Association, regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes.

The research also shows that the act of writing accesses your left brain, which is analytical and rational. While your left brain is occupied, your right brain is free to create, intuit and feel. In sum, writing removes mental blocks and allows you to use all of your brainpower to better understand yourself, others and the world around you.

Here are 13 ideas to get the most out of your journaling practice:

1. Draw or paint. Sometimes we don’t have words for what we are feeling and can begin to let the emotion out in the form of artwork.

2. For five to ten minutes just start writing as a “stream of consciousness.” Remember, don’t edit your thoughts or feelings and don’t bother to correct your grammar. Don’t censor your thoughts. Just go.

3. Talk to your inner child by writing his/her thoughts with your subdominant hand. Then respond back with your dominant hand. Notice what you find and what comes up.

4. Ask yourself key questions and then answer them from an open space, perhaps after a meditation. Are you right where you want to be? With work, your relationships, where you live?

5. Gratitude. Make a list of a few things you appreciate every day. Use positive quotes you find that uplift you and put them in your journal.

6. Just write about presence. Write about the present moment and where you are, what you feel, do, see, think… TODAY.

7. Snap a picture of a place/person/nature object that makes you feel something. Put it in your journal and write about it. Connect to your surroundings, especially the environment.

8. Write about when you succeed every week. Think of each success and log it in your journal for future inspiration.

9. Write as you play music that inspires you or moves you deeply. Songs may even trigger memories, let the stream of feelings and thought flow through you.

10. Write in third person if there is something that is hard to get out, that you struggle with, or that you find difficult to share even with yourself.

11. Write letters to people you cannot express what you feel to. This could be deceased relatives, your partner, your children, a co-worker. Keep them in your journal as you reflect on what you learned from your thoughts on the situation with them, so when you approach this person to talk, you feel more clarity or you just have a much needed emotional release in your journal.

12. We all have dark days, black moods, and anxious feelings. Use your journal to explore this darkness. You will actually find your inner light when you do.

13. Lastly, pause and breathe. Write down questions you have about life or concerns you feel then take a deep breath and listen for a response from your Higher Self. Let yourself write automatically. If you don’t get an answer right away, look for signs during the day and record them. This is your intuition speaking.

TAGS:fiction authorjournalingmeditationproject yourselfwriter
Desert Hot Springs, CA

Writing in the Desert

Back in December, I took a trip out to the desert to welcome in my birthday, a celebration of my fourth decade.

2020 was the year I spent finishing my novel and 2021 was the year I spent editing and refining it to query agents and publishers. While awaiting a contract from a publisher, I went off to give myself a much needed retreat.

I had come across Two Bunch Palms years ago, in search of a quiet place to unwind, immerse in healing water and have healthy food options. As a busy mom, I didn’t get to go back then, but always knew I would. And even with a rainy day, some brisk winter mornings and evenings, I was so glad I made the time to go.

Writers often want to get away to get creative, it’s where the idea of the secluded writing cabin in the forest comes from, (I am working on manifesting that one). Once secluded in nature, we remove ourselves from all stimulation and distraction to be able to create. Create worlds of words and write from our heart. These are the things that happen when we give ourselves the time and space to do so. As a mother of young ones, this can be especially tricky to listen to even when I know I need it the most.

I set an intention before leaving. After such intense editing and querying all year, I wanted to write and relax, and write without an outcome. Poetry, affirmations, journaling, writing about nature. All those things sounded perfect. When I arrived to Two Bunch, I learned that the best place for me to do so was in the hot spring pools. The water felt magical each morning and invited me to open up.

www.puja-shah.com

My evening dinners were cozy by the fire in the restaurant, where I had brought some clean wine my girlfriend gifted me to enjoy one night with their amazing menu options, (the eggplant is my favorite and they also have organic-no headache the next day wine on their beverage menu if you desire). Eating solo can be really relaxing and I was not used to such a luxury. At home, my meals consisted of getting dinner on the table right after activities so HW and bedtime routine can be completed on time. Here, I was able to eat slowly, enjoy each bite and sip and watch the fire, people around me and even listen to the music playing in the background with interest.

www.puja-shah.com

The property itself has cute areas to retreat to from your room. My favorite was the small labyrinth. If the weather was warmer when I went, I would have also spent time by the small lake where there were plenty of hammocks. The yoga dome was across my room and housed evening yoga that I went to on a rainy day.

www.puja-shah.com

I also loved the other classes in the glass house such as angel cards, tarot, intuitive painting and even a sage cleanse. On the morning after my angel card reading, I went into the water and closed my eyes to soak in what was said. Then I opened my eyes, looked up and saw this happen in the sky…just a minute apart.

www.puja-shah.com
www.puja-shah.com

In the desert, there are messages everywhere, we just have to look and listen. I can’t wait to go back!

TAGS:book dealdesertfiction authorhot springstwo bunch palmswriterwriting
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