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| "Everyone
has an author in them," says Neeta Balwinder.
Neeta Balwinder is a prominent writer and public
speaker within the South Asian community. From winning
poetry contests, to nearly participating in the
1976 Montreal Olympics, and interviewing greats
in Hollywood such as Eddie Murphy, she states that
raising two kids is her most rewarding achievement. |
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| We
sit in her dimly lit backyard on a warm night in
October discussing her life and how it led her to
become such a widely sought out public personality.
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| MD:
When did you realize you had an interest in writing? |
| NB:
When I was about five or six I was very shy.
I would sneak around reading and writing behind
my father's back. It sounds ridiculous today, but
back in those times females were not supposed to
read and write. They were supposed to concentrate
on learning how to stitch and so on, the tasks of
a housewife. |
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| MD:
Who encouraged you to write and how did they recognize
your talent? |
| NB:
My uncle, Sadhu Singh Gobindpuri, saw that I had
talent after reading a piece I wrote for a contest
in grade ten. I won. My uncle got me one of my first
jobs as a radio personality on a local youth program. |
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| MD:
What was that like? |
| NB:
It was rough. I used to say things the way it was.
I got a lot of flack from my grandmother. "Oy
holi bolo!", that's what she used to say to
me. |
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| MD:
What sort of topics did you discuss? |
| NB:
The ones that no one else did; exploitation of women
was probably the most personal one to me. It was
a subject that many people would have preferred
I ignored. |
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| MD:
Who are your mentors? |
| NB:
In college I was lucky enough to have been
learning under the supervision of such greats in
Punjabi literature, Prof. Mohan Singh and the late
Amrita Pritam. |
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| MD:
Impressive, Prof. Mohan Singh and the late Amrita
Pritam, what were they like? |
| NB:
I didn't realize their celebrity until I came to
Canada. I was a naïve kid. I used to sit with
them and have tea, oblivious to the fact that I
was in such great company. |
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| MD:
When did you come to Canada and how did you adjust? |
| NB:
In 1975, and it was hard to adjust. I was
very lonely and settled in the small town of Brantford,
Ontario where I knew no one. I had to make money
and so I entered the field of real estate. Writing
was not paying the bills. In fact I won in sales
for up to $12 million dollars - from then on I was
known as the Indian lady in the Mercedes. |
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| MD:
Wow that's quite an accomplishment, what other successes
are you proud of? |
| NB:
Well I was offered to go to the 1976 Olympics
for field hockey but I didn't go. |
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| MD:
Why not? |
| NB:
My parents didn't let me. It still bothers me to
this day. |
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| MD:
So how did you get back into writing here, in Canada? |
| NB:
Writing was my companion in these lonely times,
so I never stopped. I had heard of a local Punjabi
newspaper, Pardesi Punjab, and sent them some of
my poems. They published them and from then on,
people began to talk about me. In 1982, there was
a writing competition in New Delhi on the topic
of mothers and daughters and I submitted a poem
about my daughter and me. It won 1st prize. |
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| MD:
A shining moment for you indeed. As a writer/journalist,
who have you interviewed? |
| NB:
Many individuals but I guess my most memorable one
was with Eddie Murphy. He's a funny guy. But there
were a lot of individuals - I even interviewed Leslie
Nielsen. Those were good times. |
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| MD:
What are you working on now? |
| NB:
I am a member of the American Literary Association.
I work for the province of Ontario as a commissioner
of oath and interpreter/translator for immigrants
within the courts. I am also the secretary for the
Indian Air Force Veterans Society and a public speaker
at many events. Currently I am working on a book
that will release next year that is a collection
of poems regarding relationships and the issues
surrounding relationships. |
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| MD:
Anything you'd like to say to the MeraDesh readers? |
NB:
If you're not part of the solution, you are part
of the problem. Women should take advantage of the
freedoms of this country and try to reach their
highest potential, knowing that those freedoms should
never be taken for granted.
Thank you, Neeta Balwinder. We'll keep our eyes
out for that upcoming book. |
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