A Holly Jolly Diwali Quotes

“Being in love wasn’t just about how you felt about the other person. It was how you felt about yourself when you were with that person. It was knowing, without a doubt, that you were living each day as the best version of yourself.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Diwali was the Festival of Lights. The celebration of the goodness in this world over darkness. A holiday that could be whatever anyone wanted it to be. And for Sam and me, having first fallen for each other on Diwali, I knew it would always be the day we celebrated our love for each other, too.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Inequality is everywhere, Niki,” Diya continued. “Even in Seattle. Some countries are simply better at hiding it.” I smiled weakly. She was right. But it didn’t make it any less difficult to see up close.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“(I also barely understood Punjabi, nor did I speak Hindi or any of the hundreds of languages spoken across the subcontinent.) It was a land of unknowns, a place that in my mind existed in the past, a history book of where our family came from. The thought of facing the place for the first time without my parents was suddenly making my heart race.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“And then, as if overnight, we’re of marriageable age. Suddenly, we’re not girls in need of protection but women, and being very single was our very own fault.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“All we can do is stand up for what we believe in, be a good person, and do our best not to harm anyone in the process.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Oh, you know,” he answered. “I’m just in my car, listening to a power ballad, wondering why you never called me. Again.” “Poor you.” I raised one eyebrow at Jasmine, who was devouring her salmon and nodding approvingly. “Sounds like you’re having a terrible night.” “It could get better.” “Could it?”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“A babe who hurt you, so as far as I’m concerned, he has warts on his face, his hair line is prematurely receding, and he has three and a half balls.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“I would have FedExed you one of my sweaters,” I joked. “And you could have worn it like a hug.” “Would you have sprayed it with Dior?” I laughed, happy that she remembered my brand of perfume. “Absolutely.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Do you know what I remembered?” I interrupted, unable to bite my tongue any longer. The bridesmaids turned to look, as did Masooma, Sam, and the others in our vicinity. I waited a beat, holding their gaze. “My manners.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“We always loved each other as sisters, but now we were starting to love each other as friends, too. The resentment I’d been hiding my whole life had dissolved—completely—and it had left a space for so much more to bloom.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“I was one of the lucky ones. I’d only been followed, and in broad daylight at that, and I had the privilege and the means to order myself a ride back to the hotel, to pay for accommodation, where I could fall asleep feeling safe.
What about all the women and girls who didn’t have that option? And not just here in India, but even in the US and the rest of this whole damn world? My head spun, thinking about all of them. Wondering if the world would ever fucking change.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“My whole life I’d made practical decision after practical decision, and yes, my parents were happy with me, but I wasn’t. I had a career I wasn’t passionate about and an older sister I was jealous of and an addiction to romantic comedies that I lived through vicariously, and that was it.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Jasmine was right. I’d caught feelings. I’d caught them bad. And lying there with Sam as he looked so deeply into my eyes it hurt, I knew that he’d caught them, too.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Diya was exactly like her namesake. She was a light, a shining gift to the world. And I was determined to help wind her back up to the one hundred percent sparkly, optimistic, and love-fueled Diya she always was.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Basically, every auntie who’s ever been told to buy Fair and Lovely.” “Haven’t you heard? Colorism has been dismantled,” Sam joked. “It’s called Glow and Lovely now.” I laughed out loud, as if changing the name of the skin lightening cream made a single bit of difference. As if people of color all over the world, particularly women, weren’t still made to feel inferior for having a healthy dose of melanin.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“I laughed out loud, as if changing the name of the skin lightening cream made a single bit of difference. As if people of color all over the world, particularly women, weren’t still made to feel inferior for having a healthy dose of melanin.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Rationally, I knew I shouldn’t feel guilty. My parents had worked for the life they built in the US for their daughters’ futures, but I wasn’t feeling all that rational these days. “I don’t know how I feel.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Our presents on Christmas morning were minimal, our school supplies the generic brand, our extracurricular activities limited to those freely available through the community center or local Y.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“two bridesmaids’ lack of compassion and awareness over their own privilege was nothing short of astounding. Not everyone could afford to holiday at beachside resorts and eat out at restaurants. Until recently, they were luxuries my own family wasn’t able to afford.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“So of course I had to be the good daughter. Live my life the way they wanted. I didn’t want to cause my parents that sort of pain. I had to think carefully about how not to make those same mistakes, to be the calm in the storm rather than the hot, dizzying puff of air that caused it.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Jasmine had made them cry harder than she’d ever know, their bedroom door shut, their voices only audible to me when I pressed my ear hard against the wall.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Maybe she didn’t feel like she owed Mom and Dad, but I did. I still lived under their roof. Everything I had was because of their sacrifices, and if they wanted me to be their good Indian daughter, I needed to be.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Fun, giggly Jasmine thought she could go around doing whatever she wanted her whole life, and then tell me not to? How was that fair?”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“felt his breath hot on my neck. My body was roaring. I was not myself. I was not Niki the good Indian girl who obeyed her parents, whose life revolved around her career, who never let herself get carried away. I didn’t know where the hell she’d gone, but without her, I felt lost and free in equal measure.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“What about all the women and girls who didn’t have that option? And not just here in India, but even in the US and the rest of this whole damn world? My head spun, thinking about all of them. Wondering if the world would ever fucking change.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“So, you don’t think you were meant to lose that job?” Sam whispered. He moved in closer to me, his elbows resting against the guardrail. “That it was the universe’s way of forcing you to look for one you will love even more?”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“They all lived within a stone’s throw from the gurdwara, went to Punjabi school twice a week, and hung out together afterward at one another’s houses—watching Bollywood movies or Punjabi dramas, or practicing bhangra dances they made up and performed at folk festivals and celebrations.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Even though Diya was privileged, she was still a woman, and sexism cut through everything—class or caste or socioeconomic status—no matter the industry. No matter the country. Back home, tech was notoriously male, and although strides were being taken to make the industry more equitable, there was still a way to go. At my old company, the board of executives that had mandated that ten percent of the company be laid off was made up of one hundred percent men.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali

“Until you are stuck in an Indian traffic jam of speeding cars, rickshaws, scooters, and occasional livestock, you can never really know what it’s like.”
― Sonya Lalli, A Holly Jolly Diwali