Did you miss us?! Welcome to our ‘new’ newsletter here on beehiiv! We’re excited to be back to bring you more interviews, news and to keep you posted on all that we’re working on! Stay tuned for more events this year, another round of The Didi Creative Fund (applications will open this month so follow us on Instagram to stay posted) and much more! And a big shout out to The Paper Narwhal for designing our newsletter banner above!

Meet the Didi

In our April newsletter, we’re chatting with author Taneet Grewal. Her childhood passion for storytelling grew into a love for journalism in post-secondary, where she earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts. Over the past several years, her writing has centralized on her journey as a South Asian mother, mental health, abuse, gender equality, and empowerment for females of all ages. She recently published a book of poetry dedicated to her daughters and is currently working on a memoir focusing on alcoholism in the Punjabi community. Read more about Taneet’s journey into becoming a writer, having the courage to write about difficult subjects, the importance of South Asian women sharing their stories and more in this month’s Meet the Didi!

Tell us about your journey into becoming a writer? Is it something you've always wanted to do? 

I recently came across a school project I did in Grade 6; an autobiography. In it, I wrote about how I wanted to become an author when I grew up. I was 12 years old (the same age that Annabella, my eldest daughter, is now). When I was six years old, I was gifted a diary for Christmas. That was the first of several diaries and journals I wrote in over the years. Eventually, my diary entries turned into poetry, and then short stories. Teachers selected my work to read aloud in class and they praised my talent in storytelling. This is what sparked my confidence and when I really started to believe I was a writer. Family members loved my creativity, and I was always asked to write birthday cards, wedding speeches, eulogies, essays, and more. But the encouragement from my teachers really helped me see a vision; that maybe one day one of my books would be sitting on the shelves of bookstores or libraries. 

In university, I fell in love with journalism and was deeply involved in writing about human rights issues. Unfortunately, after university, I jumped immediately into the corporate world and stayed there for a very long time. My main focus in life was getting out of debt, and becoming a writer seemed like a pipe dream. I still wrote for myself, opening up my 'notes app' every night, but never shared anything. Eventually, I got married and had two daughters. Becoming a mother inspired me to start a blog called "Writings For My Daughters," which I kept private for a long time. As I continued to grow as a mother and as an individual, I found the courage to go back to school and pursue further studies in creative writing and publishing. Even though last year I officially became a published author, my journey as a writer is just beginning and I am so excited about that. I'm never going to stop learning and growing. 

Also, being an avid reader since childhood has gone hand in hand with my love of writing. I am an obsessive book nerd. Send help. 

Tell us about Writings For My Daughters, what is the premise of the book? 

This is a book of poems dedicated to my daughters and written for mothers and daughters everywhere. 

Though it's small in size, it contains a powerful message about gender inequality, dual identity, motherhood and unconditional love. 

How have you found the courage to write about difficult subjects like navigating grief? 

To be vulnerable is to be brave. It took me a long time to discover this about myself. I first started by sharing my journey with mental health because I saw there was a huge void in the media, other than the one day a year when people use the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, about mental illness. I opened up the conversation at home with my daughters to help educate them about depression, anxiety and ADHD (all which I take medication for), and decided I should speak freely on my own platform so others going through the same can be assured that they are not alone. So, when I lost my husband and the father of my daughters in 2021, I didn't hesitate to write about the new presence in our lives: grief. Just like our regular emotions and difficult experiences, grief should not be kept bottled inside. It's important to me that my daughters grow up with the freedom to share their grief, and this includes always talking about their dad and the memories we made with him. 

Why do you think it's important for South Asian women to share their stories? 

Our stories cannot go untold, otherwise we remain voiceless. As a South Asian woman, when I share my story, I share the stories of my mother, grandmother, and all of our female ancestors that came before us. Not only is it important for us to share our stories, it's a stepping stone to building community and connection with our South Asian sisters. We truly are stronger together. In just the past year, I have met so many empowering South Asian women who I now get to call my sisters, because our stories brought us together. By lifting each other up, my hope is that my daughters and the future generation of South Asian females will be able to soar effortlessly through the sky. They will be unstoppable. 

What we’re reading:

Artist Zoe Harveen Kaur designs the Calgary Flames’ South Asian Celebration logo

How One Female Entrepreneur Is Focusing The Lens on Successful South Asian Women

Mother’s Day Callout!

Didis! For Mother’s Day, we’re looking to feature some of your Mother’s/Mother figures stories and life lessons that they would like to share with our community! If you’re interested in submitting a story, please reach out to us, we’d love to put this together for Instagram in May!

— Roohi Sahajpal

Issue 71
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