Today, a special guest blog – a biographical piece from Rupinder Gill,

Author of On the Outside Looking Indian

If you had told me five years ago that I would write a book about my life, I would have called you crazy. I’ve always wanted to write but never had the desire to make the story my own. It may sound surprising from a memoirist, but I don’t really love talking about myself. Contrary to the new social norm of displaying sonograms on Facebook or parading every part of your personal life on reality TV, I’ve always felt inclined to keep things to myself.

So how did it happen, you ask? Well, I was minding my own business one day when a horned-figure appeared and told me I could be both immortal AND Mrs. Ryan Gosling in exchange for a single memoir so…wait, I realize that may have been a dream and that I should definitely cancel that invitation I sent to People magazine.

Actually, it all started with a suggestion from a friend. I was having dinner my friend Hannah one night when I told her I was going to learn how to swim. At the age of 30, I couldn’t swim. To say that Indians aren’t contenders in the international swimming scene is putting it mildly. Indians don’t swim. They don’t have cottages, they don’t go on cruises and they are rarely seen basking in the sun at the beach. Indian girls especially don’t swim because only a fool would think that learning a life-saving skill was more important than keeping your body hidden forever. I didn’t take swimming lessons as a kid (save for some grade-school gym class lessons where I was the only one who didn’t learn). In fact, I didn’t take any lessons as a kid.  But as an adult, I was free to learn whatever I pleased so I vowed to finally become a swimmer. While I was at it, I became overly ambitious and decided to tackle other things that I wish had been a part of my youth.

“You should write about that,” Hannah said when I told her of my pledge.

“Really?” I said, unconvinced of the idea. “I can’t imagine that would be very interesting to people.”

This was the same sentiment I echoed when I met with the man who would later become my agent, and ultimately convince me to share my story.  As I continued with my year of taking dance and tennis lessons, attending summer camp and regaining the optimism and playfulness of youth, I weighed the pros and cons and finally agreed to give writing a shot.

I had trepidation through the whole process; Indian ladies might learn to swim but they certainly don’t write books about their lives. The two activities share a lot of similarities.  Both prospects are scary for a number of reasons—one requires you to wear a bathing suit but the other requires you to lay bare your emotions. You fear ridicule and failure in both, but hope the satisfaction of achieving a goal will be the enduring result.  And both require a giant leap of faith. If I could jump into that pool, I realized could take the bigger leap and tell my story at the same time.

After the book was released, I had a few points where I wished it would all go away. But then I started meeting people whose childhoods had been similar to mine, or who learned something about a childhood so different from their own and I remembered what I loved about books. Whether it’s a memoir about a woman reliving her youth or an epic tale of a man vs. a whale, they give us the ability to feel understood or understand the world outside of our own. It’s why I’ve been a lifelong reader and now, a writer. So welcome to my world and please excuse me, as I’m about to jump into someone else’s.

Interested readers can see a trailer/interview with Rupinder here:  

Special thanks for Rupinder Gill for her participation and to our friends at Random House Canada for facilitating the blog.

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In honour of the International Indian Film Academy Awards taking place in Toronto from June 23 to 25, we’re highlighting Indian authors of fiction and non-fiction on our blog. Check out more from the series here:

• A Fan Q&A with Shilpi Gowda, author of Secret Daughter
• A guest blog from Rupinder Gill, author of On the Outside Looking Indian
• Six Questions for Amitav Ghosh, author of Sea of Poppies
• A Q&A with Bharati Mukherjee, author of Miss New India
• Interview With Sarita Mandanna, author of Tiger Hills