Fiction’s Illuminative Power, a guest post by Kashmira Sheth

Writing a book is a long process. Like a tree, it starts with something small, a seed, a kernel, an acorn. Sometimes it’s the main character, sometimes it’s a setting, sometimes it’s an event that sprouts the story. Whatever it is, it leads the writer on a creative journey.

I’m from Here Too started out with an event that was deeply disturbing and tragic. In 2012, a Sikh temple (gurudwara) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was attacked by a gunman, who killed several people. After 9/11 many Sikhs were targeted with hate crimes and some were killed, but this attack on the gurudwara was the first mass shooting targeting a Sikh community.

Even though I came to this country as an immigrant from India, Madison, Wisconsin had been my home for many years. I worked as a microbiologist for the state, attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, met and married my husband, and raised two daughters in Madison. I bought produce from various farmers markets in the summer, often enjoyed an ice-cream cone on campus, performed with my dance troupe on International Day, and cursed the Wisconsin construction season like my fellow Wisconsinites. The long winter was bearable, because this was a beautiful, warm, safe community. The violence at the gurudwara shattered that sense of security.

It was that event that became the seed for writing this story. I wanted to illuminate it through the eyes of a young Sikh protagonist. At that time, I was working on my chapter book series Nina Soni and didn’t turn to this story right away. Still, I was gathering material. I had interviewed a Sikh youth, attended gurudwaras, and learned more about Sikh faith.

As I thought about the story, a middle grade student seemed the most appropriate protagonist for it because of all the physical and emotional changes occurring simultaneously at that age. It is also the time when children step out into the larger world, want to establish their unique identity, and yet want to fit in.  It’s the age at which their self-doubts are amplified, when friendships are most important as well as most fragile, when confidence is of utmost importance and yet easily shattered. It is the age when one should be able to solve problems on one’s own but that also seems impossible.

Add to these struggles the added dimension that you’re teased, bullied, even physically harmed just because of your background, your skin color, your faith. It is crushing. In I’m from Here Too, Anoop is thirteen. He is sensitive and feels vulnerable. He knows that his brown skin and his patka (head covering) set him apart from his classmates. With all that is happening in his community, he is scared. The bullying fills him with terror. He wants to be brave but doesn’t know how. He wants to be calm but he’s in turmoil.

 During the writing and revising stages, I connected the events of the present to those of the past. The Partition of British India at the end of colonial rule in 1947 was a turbulent time for the Indian subcontinent. After achieving freedom under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi through non-violent protest, the region submerged into a blood bath of communal violence and mass migration never seen before. It was unfathomable, unimaginable, and yet it happened. The dynamics of the Partition, its aftermath and geo-political impact are still felt by the subcontinent as well as the larger world.

Growing up in India, I recall that this ugly truth of violence was glossed over. The survivors didn’t want to talk about it, the replaced refugees were too busy trying to survive, the British and the Indian leaders were shocked and too ashamed to admit their failures.

But history has a sneaky way of staying alive. It breathes new life through literature. The middle grade novel by Veera Hiranandani’s The Night Diary is set in 1947, as is Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children. I’m from Here Too only touches this time period as Anoop’s grandfather’s story, but it’s an important one for Anoop. During the Partition, Baba (Anoop’s grandfather) flees his homeland after his family is killed. He becomes an orphan and a refugee. Still, Baba survives the unthinkable horror inflicted on his family. Slowly he comes out of the shadow and flourishes free of fear and bitterness. He keeps his faith.

For Anoop, the courage to face his tormentors comes from Baba. When Anoop visits India he witnesses Baba’s life as a living example of their Sikh faith. Despite his past, Baba is generous, loving, upbeat, forgiving, and deeply rooted in his faith. This is where past illuminates and connects to the present. If Baba could forgive being orphaned during the Partition, find the strength and endurance to live and thrive, and share his success, could Anoop find the courage to stand up to his bullies, draw strength from his faith, and inform them about who he is?

The power of fiction is the way in which it forges connections. It does so by intertwining our history and our past to our present struggles. By doing so, it informs, enlightens, and encourages us to find solutions to our problems. It can be as subtle as gentle waves or imprinted upon us as a fossil. But when illuminated and connected in a story, it has the power to guide us. In I’m from Here Too, Anoop’s past provides him with the tools to deal with his present uncertainty, fear, lack of confidence, and shaky faith. In the future it may help Anoop guide his younger brother Kuldeep through difficult times.

In fiction, when young readers make a connection to the story, when they empathize with the protagonist, they see the world through a different set of eyes. Literature builds bridges from one culture to another, from one land to another, from one time to another. It forges bonds. It makes us feel less isolated and less scared to face the challenges of the world. It preserves and strengthens individual connections with all of humanity.

It is evident that history is relevant to what is going on in the world today. A past event is not an isolated episode, a monument, or a date entered in some history book that one reads about, admires, or notices. It pulsates from the past to the present, to the unknown future. That is why I believe that its imperative to look at history from multiple point of views in terms of culture, country, time period, and current events. That way we not only illuminate the events, but also connect then to present and imagine their future relevance. I have tried to offer a glimpse of world through the eyes of a sensitive Sikh youth facing uncertainty, bullying, and self-doubt. I hope the story resonates with readers and illuminates a multitude of interconnections through the eyes of a Sikh boy.   

Meet the author

Kashmira was born and raised in India and comes from a family of storytellers.  Although she spent several years as a scientist, her love of reading and stories nudged her into writing. Kashmira writes picture books, middle grade novels, and young adult fiction. Her books have received many awards and honors, including the Asian/Pacific American Librarian Association Honor Award, the International Reading Association’s Notable Book for a Global Society, and the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults. Her novels have been translated into more than half a dozen languages. She served on the faculty at Pine Manor College in the Solstice Low-Residency MFA program. Kashmira is the author of the Nina Soni series. I’m From Here Too is her middle grade novel in verse.

About I’m From Here Too

Kashmira Sheth’s eloquent verse novel follows an Indian American Sikh boy through a year of change, challenges, and growth

Anoop is many things: a brother, a son, a grandson, a friend, a middle school student, and a budding writer. He is also Indian American and Sikh.

When he joins a new class, separated from longtime friends, aspects of his identity—especially his long hair, covered with a patka—draw attention in new and uncomfortable ways. At the same time, his beloved grandfather in India is nearing death, leading Anoop to think about faith and identity and his place in the world, especially as attacks on American Sikhs accelerate and he is reminded of his grandfather’s experiences during Partition.

Can the tenets of his faith—equality, justice, service, honesty—help Anoop navigate life? Can he even maintain them?

ISBN-13: 9781682636060
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 07/02/2024
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

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