Shobhan Bantwal | India's Shy Heroines And Silent Heroes

When I took up creative writing--romantic fiction no less--I faced some tough challenges. I wanted to write about my own Indian Hindu culture with all its colors, tastes, scents, and textures, with the firm belief that it was interesting to non-Indian readers.

However, most people don’t associate romance with India, where arranged marriage, dowry, male dominance, repressed women, and loyalty to family overrules individual needs and aspirations. To add to that, I decided to become a novelist at the ripe age of 50, so my writing career began as a"menopausal epiphany."

Needless to say, I had quite a task ahead of me. Shy virgins, despite being educated and emancipated in terms of career in contemporary India, are in many ways still dominated by the men in their lives--fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and brothers. A well-brought-up young lady is never to question the wisdom of her elders. Modesty is a virtue prized in Indian women.

When it comes to Indian males, in a highly male-oriented society they are naturally raised to dominate and rule over females, and never to display any emotion other than anger. Rarely does an Indian man tell anyone that he loves them, or that he is amused, or overwhelmed by elation or grief.

Despite all these roadblocks, I boldly decided to turn shy virgins into heroines and men of few words into heroes. Although hard to believe, there is an abundance of romance in Indian culture. Remember India is probably the only country that had a primer on sex, the Kama Sutra, some 1,700 years ago. We can safely say we wrote the book on sex.

So with all the naiveté and enthusiasm of a novice writer, I began to write Indian romances. Creating sexual tension between the hero and heroine was not easy, but a challenge sometimes produces a better scene, where the reader wonders how things are going to turn out. The sari, in spite of its multiple yards of fabric, can be a very sexy garment, and very intriguing to a curious and hungry man in love.

In the end, my reticent virgins and quiet heroes have proved to be interesting to many readers. They rise to the occasion when needed. The cultural elements that I pack into my stories have worked well for me in terms of creating unusual backdrops for the romances to spark, develop, mature, and culminate in the happily ever after.

THE SARI SHOP WIDOW is the story of a young Indian widow born and raised in the U.S. and her struggle to fulfill her own needs while trying to meet her conservative family’s expectations. There is plenty of sexual tension in her life, something she needs to address in secret.

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