For the next few weeks I will be publishing excerpts from my forthcoming memoir Always With You.
Each excerpt will also have an insight into and the significance of the excerpt. (See below)

A couple of paragraphs from Chapter 1
I had been brought up in a fairly strict Indian family, where it was expected that I would eventually marry a good Hindu boy with a successful career and from a well-off, respected family – very much the suitable boy. Even with my western education and outlook I would still in the end be required to go back to Kenya and be the good Indian girl. But it was something I was not wholly comfortable with.

I was fiercely ambitious and independent and knew I would never need a man to make me feel complete. I was a strong woman, a proud feminist and I laughed at the folly of those women who obsessed about men and the state of their love lives. What for? I had bigger aspirations than making a man happy. I was set on achieving a high-flying career and I certainly wasn’t going to let a man get in the way of my ambition.

 

Significance of this excerpt:
In the first chapter of the book I introduce you to Jeremy and how I met him. Jeremy, on paper, was all wrong for me. He was twice my age, English, divorced, with 3 children in tow. But, they say that the two univited guests in your life are love and death. And I fell in love with Jeremy – even though I knew that my family would not accept him. It is interesting that so many young Indian girls go through this – they are given a western education, allowed to be broad minded in their career choices and yet when it comes to marriage and lifestyle choices, they are required to go the traditional route. Although it was never openly stated that I would marry a Hindu boy, it was implied.

But, I was also extremely strong-willed – and I was determined no man (chosen by myself or my parents) would come in between me and my career. Little did I know that when I fell in love with Jeremy that the love would be all-consuming. But, rather than coming in the way of my career, Jeremy was my biggest champion. His love did not hinder me – it boosted me, it elevated me, it completed me.

Look out for Excerpt 3 coming soon
Shalini

 

Author Photograph © Sian Tyrrell www.siantphoto.com