I had not planned on writing this book. I generally write short stories. Many of these stories have been related to my experience in a first-generation immigrant family.
When I visited India as a young woman, I witnessed beautiful parts of the culture I had inherited from my ancestors—the introspective musings of Vedic knowledge, the rich and vibrant colors of holidays, the meaning behind everything. Every spice in our flavorful dishes had a healing purpose; every sound in a song had a vibrational meaning. When I returned to the US from these visits, I wanted to dance like the Bollywood stars, to wear saris like my mother, and to buy vegetables from street markets like my father did as a child.
Yet, I questioned what did not seem right—the adapted rituals that excluded the girl child, the customs that devalued her existence. The ways women were subordinate.
I longed to understand where the depth of this gender bias came from. So, in my college days, I explored gender issues in women’s studies courses with Dr. Marsha J. Tyson Darling, professor of history and interdisciplinary studies who taught Women in International Development at Adelphi University, New York. Dr. Darling’s guidance on my research on global femicide opened my eyes to the cultural practices that harm girls and women to preserve male honor. Is the second-class status and unequal treatment of being a girl inescapable?
I took this question with me everywhere. In graduate school at Tufts University, I focused grant research on exploring the impact of oral health on domestic violence victims. During my public health career, I spent volunteer days in Uganda with the Just Like My Child Foundation and the Girl Power Project, where I witnessed the ways empowering girls with education can empower a village.
When I started writing the story of Asya and Amla years ago, it became clear to me that it was more than just a short story. I wanted to share the voice of the underrepresented girls in India and echo the voice of trapped female voices everywhere. Doing the research that accompanied this fictional narrative, I came to see and feel the pain and anguish two girls experienced because they were abandoned and betrayed. I learned how connected and concerned I was about the plight of these two girls.
I imagined my own mother’s childhood and what would have happened had her parents not valued education for her. Growing up, she had even said to me, “I love my India, but life is not fair for girls there. I am glad you are able to be who you are in the US.” My Indian family has always supported and respected me, but what if they hadn’t?
As a mother myself now, I worry for all girls. Girls throbbing with ideas and joy. Girls who love to read and play sports. Girls who are like my own little girl.
Having finished writing Asya and Amla’s story, I reached out to Dr. Darling after almost two decades. As the professor who had made the biggest impact on my journey, she and I discussed the current state of girls and women around the world. And through our discussions, I learned the ways women used their voices to break down barriers. How without the power of voice, girls and women can be sold against their will . . . not only in India, but everywhere.
Dr. Darling: Your most important contribution in writing this novel is that you have given voice and visibility to the voiceless, who are often held morally responsible for their own degradation. Trafficked girls and women are marginalized and lack the agency to represent themselves, which if given an opportunity, they would address their own oppression in ways that make it clear to the rest of us that they have been betrayed and compromised. What is your hope for what your book will accomplish?
Puja: I hope that as people read this story, they will connect to the story of girls who could be anyone they know. I believe one of our greatest human qualities is our ability to feel and connect with one another. People have been using the power of sharing stories since ancient times. Stories bring people together and can inspire us. This story is meant to do exactly that as well as honor the girls who this happens to every day.
Dr. Darling: In your account of Amla and Asya’s life, you present them as human and not “a thing.” Why is that a centerpiece of your novel?
Puja: The sad reality is that in India and many parts of the world, women are denied and culturally deemed as second class. Why has prenatal sex determination been used so adversely against female fetuses that the Indian government was forced to ban it? Why are many Indian girls still denied education? I understood that their gender was a cyclical burden being passed down generation after generation. When a girl is born and regarded as a “curse,” they are dehumanized and cast as “other.” It was important for me to present Amla and Asya’s thoughts and feelings and give them true agency throughout the novel. I wanted to use my own voice to carry theirs.
Dr. Darling: How would you respond to the concern that you are tearing into cultural practices?
Puja: Turning inward from the deep reverence for Eastern meditation I developed through the years of my yoga and meditation journey, I started to understand how important it was to see what is relevant to humanity, to shine a light on both the shadows and the light of my cultural heritage. It is easy to turn the other away when a conversation or topic gets difficult. I am grateful that after having gained more insight about a troublesome social issue, I am motivated by compassion to do something about it.
Dr. Darling: What about Karma and caste? How do you respond to the idea or belief that Amla and Asya are living out their Karma and no one should intervene?
Puja: No one deserves a lesser version of life. So often we think about Karma as a fixed destiny. However, when we act in accordance with our inner guides and connection to Nature and Source, we are in flow with the Universe. These tools, like looking to the stars or understanding our present actions, are simply there for us to learn from and to guide us to the best versions of ourselves. The misconception of a fixed version of evolution leads us away from our truest nature, which is compassion.
Even caste was created. The argument exists that it was further enforced and formalized as a systemic method of control and classification during British rule of India.1 As something created, I believe it can change. Let’s engage in transformation.
Dr. Darling: Obviously, you hope the story of Asya and Amla stirs thinking and a call to intervene in the trafficking of girls and women around the world. What is your hope for interventions that sustain meaningful change?
Puja: The primary objective of my novel is awareness. With increased awareness, we can talk more. We can share with others who do not know the many stories of missing girls everywhere. My hope is that the reader will be inspired to learn more on this topic, and to act on behalf of the advocacy efforts for prevention and awareness on the trafficking of girls and women.
The following provides information on existing efforts to help eradicate human trafficking.
The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally.2 The United Nations reports that female victims continue to be the primary targets, and one in every three victims is a child.3
While I am not a trafficking expert, there are many organizations on the ground every day, working to end this modern-day slavery. If you are looking for ways to help this cause, here are just a few nonprofit organizations that I came across during this novel’s research that inspired me:
1 Riser-Kositsky, Sasha (2009) “The Political Intensification of Caste: India Under the Raj,” Penn History Review: Vol. 17 : Iss. 1 , Article 3.