The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaul Jaswal
Sikhism is a religion and philosophy founded in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent in the late 15th century. Its members are known as Sikhs. The Sikhs call their faith Gurmat (Punjabi: “the Way of the Guru”). According to Sikh tradition, Sikhism was established by Guru Nanak (1469–1539) and subsequently led by a succession of nine other Gurus. All 10 human Gurus, Sikhs believe, were inhabited by a single spirit. Upon the death of the 10th, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the spirit of the eternal Guru transferred itself to the sacred scripture of Sikhism, Guru Granth Sahib (“The Granth as the Guru”), also known as the Adi Granth (“First Volume”), which thereafter was regarded as the sole Guru. In the early 21st century there were nearly 25 million Sikhs worldwide, the great majority of them living in the Indian state of Punjab. [Britannica]
In every novel Balli Kaul Jaswal writes, she creates tension with scenes describing clashes between individuals, societies, and tradition and modernity. In The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, published by William Morrow in 2019, the author uses three sisters (Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina) and their mother (Sita) to cast a light on the trials of maintaining empathetic relationships with family members, the pressures of straddling two cultures (British and Sikh), and the anxiety caused by family expectations to maintain traditional beliefs that include abhorrent practices like gender-selective abortion.
Before you decide that these themes are too dark for you, let me just say that if I used one word to describe this novel, it would be ‘comical.’ Contradictory, I know, but “the sisters” are a riot. Rajni is the oldest; ten years older than the next in line, Jezmeen. Unlike most younger sisters, Jezmeen holds no admiration for Rajni, or, if she does, she hides it well. She is constantly picking quarrels with her and finding fault with the decisions she has made. When their mother passes away asking them to fulfill her last wish for them to travel together to India, Jezmeen leaves all the planning to Rajni, but then, nothing is ever right. Of course, when it comes to their first hotel in Delhi, she does have a point. Even Rajni must admit (to herself anyway) that it is not ready for prime time.
Rajni’s headache was returning, like fingers pressing against her skull. This newly built boutique hotel in Karol Bagh with its patio dining was far removed from the chaos of Delhi that they experienced on the journey from the airport —- the hustling luggage handlers, the cabdriver that dived into oncoming traffic to overtake his lane, the girls in tattered T-shirts that hung to their knees, dodging rickshaws and potholes with babies propped on their tiny hips. It had been a relief to finally arrive at the King’s Paradise Hotel in one piece, but a glance around the lobby during check-in confirmed that the pictures on the booking website had been aspirational —- the doormen’s shoes left prints in the thin layer of plaster dust on the floor and there was some loud, clanging construction going on upstairs. [p. 20]
In the hotel’s café, Rajni does not react well to Jezmeen’s criticism.
Jezmeen continued to read the menu aloud: “King’s Paradise Hotel Café is a true crossroads between the traditions of the East and the modern comforts of the West.” She rolled her eyes. “So it’s for people who want to say they’ve been to India without having eaten the food or experienced the culture authentically.”
“Could you not do that?” Rajni said. She was annoyed enough with the hotel’s false advertising. “If I picked some three-star hotel with monkeys shitting in the lobby for the sake of authenticity, I’d never hear the end of it from you and Shirina.” She only added “and Shirina” to soften the blow. They both knew Shirina never complained about anything. [p. 21]
As you read these selections from the book, you can see that The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is also a compelling travel narrative. The author chooses to describe India through the eyes of Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina. British born and the first generation raised outside of India, their view of their mother’s home country is far from positive. In the selection below, the sisters react to Amritsar, a city in the northwestern Indian state of Punjab, twenty-eight kilometers from the border with Pakistan.
The auto-rickshaw’s engine rumbled beneath them and the smell of burning rubber filled Shirina’s nostrils. Jezmeen began to cough. Rajni grabbed the railing at the side of the car but the driver turned back and told her not to. She withdrew her hand just in time for a truck to clip past, narrowly missing the rickshaw.
The air was supposed to be fresher up north, but from the rickshaw, Amritsar and Delhi felt one and the same. The sweltering heat had already hit its peak for the day but the residual humidity clung to Shirina’s skin. On the road, the only difference Shirina noticed between the two cities was the spaces between the squat buildings here, where the green fields behind the main road were visible. They merged onto a major road, the rickshaw flanked on either side by trucks and buses. All the clamor of the city overwhelmed Shirina’s senses. She shielded her eyes from the dust and grit that flew into the rickshaw and peppered her hair and skin. At one traffic light, she pulled her hand away momentarily to see a man teetering on top of a tall ladder, fixing a telephone wire. The ladder, made of bamboo, bent like a weak sapling against the wind. Shirina covered her eyes again.
The roads became narrower and turned into small lanes. Every time the rickshaw turned, Shirina feared a dangerous teetering and tipping and she wondered what would happen if they got into an accident here. If their bags popped free from the ropes that constrained them, their belongings mixing with the grime and dog droppings on the ground. Would anybody help them? It was unlikely. Traffic wouldn’t stop for them —- it would continue running, flattening everything they had. [p. 125]
Each chapter of the book begins with a guide to the sisters from their mother, not only delineating where she hopes they will visit and what they will do when they get there, but also how she hopes the visit will bring them closer. As they try to follow their mother’s final wishes, the sisters begin to communicate in a more honest and open manner. They realize that despite their different perspectives, they share similar feelings of guilt, sorrow, and the weight of trying to be the perfect example of their Sikh culture. It is an amazing mixture of exploring an unfamiliar setting while revisiting familiar memories of growing up. As they come closer and closer to their final destination, the distance between them begins to diminish and hope builds that these previously estranged Shergill sisters will experience a stronger bond of sisterhood.
The Golden Temple of Amritsar in Punjab, India
The Golden Temple at Night
