What the stories in these anthologies have shown me is that understanding our very complexities, differences, histories and the array of struggles we endure, in fact deepens our bonds with each other.
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything more relatable. The compilation of short stories/poems from Indian women from different walks of life has helped to verbalise and make sense of the experiences and emotions I’ve had growing up as an Indian woman in Singapore.
Poignant, diverse and delicately nuanced, the book is a rich cultural treasure trove, with each deeply personal essay offering a valuable glimpse into the lives of Indian folk in Singapore. Parsing through the ways we face adversity and find community, these stories will make you laugh, cry and feel seen like never before.
What We Inherit is such a precious gift. I wish I could go back in time and give it to my 12-year-old self, my 15-year-old self, my 21-year-old self.
It was such a privilege to read all the contributors’ essays, stories, histories, observations and poetry — stories and words that have been missing from Singapore’s literary and creative non-fiction landscape. Our literary archives are now richer.
Reading the collection, I was struck by its sense of perseverance, joy, and community. These stories, each one so different from the next, certainly contained experiences of discrimination, but they were also rife with celebration of what it means to be Indian in Singapore.
