Bullet Nani: And Other Badass Indian Grandmas
About this ebook
Contemporary Indian women are smashing the patriarchy every day. Many of them are the first generation in their families to invest in their education, move cities for work, marry on their own terms and continue to build a career after having kids. But all around us are the women who sowed the seeds for this change generations ago. Some did so quietly while others were outright revolutionaries.
Inspired by her own nani who broke barriers, Jasreen Mayal Khanna set out to find more such Indian grandmas. She discovered women who pushed boundaries from their youth all the way into old age – they’ve dodged bombs and bullets, were among India’s first scientists and IPS officers, faced down threats and garnered huge fan followings online. Based on four years of research and in-person interviews from all across India, Jasreen draws intimate and moving portraits of a nani, dadi, aaji, ammoomma, thakurma, abi, abok and baa who refused to be put in a box.
These twelve women are among the many who, in the face of entrenched patriarchy, laid the seeds for future generations to live their lives on their own terms.
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About the author
Jasreen Mayal Khanna is an author and travel journalist from Mumbai. She did her MFA from New York University and taught Creative Writing there as an Adjunct Professor. She's also been a Visiting Professor at St Xavier's College Mumbai since 2010.
She started her career in travel journalism in 2011 at Conde Nast Traveller India and continues to write for international magazines such as Robb Report, AFAR, and DestinAsian. Her writing has taken across continents, finding stories in places that most people tend to overlook.
Her debut book, Seva: Sikh Wisdom on Living Well by Doing Good was written during the pandemic and released in India, the UK, Spain and France. Bullet Nani and Other Badass Indian Grandmas is her second – a love letter to fierce, funny and utterly unforgettable women who remind us that the best adventures don't come with an age limit.
She now spends her time parenting her six-year-old son, Azad, writing stories, and always, always planning her next trip.
