This diptych delves into two intertwined emoceans: ‘birhā’ (the pangs of separation) and ‘bal’ (strength) experienced by Mata Sulakhni, the wife of Guru Nanak.

The two pieces center around poetry—one, a mid-19th century epic (Nanak Prakash), and the other, my 2024 response to that very text. Both rendered in the Braj language, via the Gurmukhi script.

Sikh women’s history often leaves significant gaps in detail or imagination. These missing narratives allow us to extrapolate, creating new possibilities to honour their stories.

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In one panel, as described in Nanak Prakash, Mata Sulakhni expresses her sorrow to her father: her husband is never home; always traveling; spending time with saints; serving the poor. Yet, as I imagine the emotional toll this must have taken, I also envision how Mata Sulakhni transformed her pain into an incredible power. In my response, I write a new chaupaī-esque meter of Kavi Santokh Singh’s 19th-century poetry. It serves as an expansion, adding to the rarely told aspect of her story.