What if the women at the centre of our most beloved stories were allowed to tell them themselves?
For generations, Punjabi folklore has celebrated tales of love, longing and sacrifice. Names such as Heer, Sahiban and Soni have travelled across continents through songs and storytelling, becoming woven into the cultural memory of South Asian communities. Yet Satnam Galsian, a British Asian singer-songwriter and progressive folk artist from Leeds, believes there is another side to these stories—one that is often overlooked.
As she prepares to perform at this year's Khushi Festival, an annual celebration of South Asian arts, heritage and community, held in Oldham, Greater Manchester, Satnam is revisiting these familiar narratives not as timeless romances, but as stories that raise uncomfortable questions about choice, control and the expectations placed on women.
It is a theme that runs through much of her recent work. For Galsian, music is not simply performance; it is a way of stirring hearts through art.
Reclaiming familiar stories
That commitment to creating art with purpose lies at the heart of her latest work, Love or Sacrifice, a project inspired by Punjabi folklore and the experiences of women navigating societal expectations.
The project emerged following an Opera North residency, one of the most rewarding experiences of her career. Working alongside poet Hafsa Anila Bashir and fellow collaborators, Galsian helped create a feminist retelling of the Punjabi folk tale Mirza-Sahiban.
"The question I kept returning to was: what would these stories look like if they were told through the eyes of the women at their centre?" she said.
The process encouraged her to delve deeper into traditional narratives and explore how they continue to resonate with contemporary issues affecting women today.
That exploration continued with Love or Sacrifice, co-commissioned by Manchester Jazz Festival, Oldham Coliseum and The Old Courts. Drawing inspiration from the legendary tales of Heer-Ranjha and Sohni, the work examines themes of love, autonomy, family pressure and sacrifice.
The questions at the heart of the project
Yet the project extends beyond folklore. As part of the commission, Galsian facilitated workshops with women's groups in Oldham and Manchester, inviting participants to reflect on the expectations placed upon women and what life might look like without them.
At the heart of the project were three questions she repeatedly returned to:
- What expectations are placed on women?
- What would life be like without those expectations?
- And what strengths do women possess?
The responses became an important part of the creative process, informing a spoken-word element within the performance and helping shape its central themes.
For Galsian, these conversations are deeply personal.
Finding her voice again
She spoke candidly about spending eight to nine years in a controlling and coercive marriage, a period during which music largely disappeared from her life.
"One of my biggest achievements is simply finding my way back to music," Galsian reflected. Returning to songwriting and performance in 2018 marked a significant turning point, allowing her to reconnect with a part of herself that had been absent for years.
Those experiences have influenced much of her recent work.
"My work often centres female perspectives and challenges harmful cultural practices," Galsian said. "Through reinterpretations of traditional songs and folk tales, I've explored issues including honour killings, forced marriage and women's freedom to make their own choices."
Looking beyond the romance
Speaking about her creative work, Galsian noted that her EP Fragmented Truth revisits traditional Punjabi songs through a contemporary lens, while her recent single Dishonour reimagines the Irish folk song "She Moved Through the Fair" from a woman's perspective, highlighting honour killings and raising funds for Karma Nirvana.
"I'm not interested in rejecting tradition," she said. "I'm interested in engaging with it critically, preserving its beauty while questioning the assumptions and inequalities that sometimes sit beneath the surface."
That philosophy is evident throughout Love or Sacrifice.
While the stories of Heer-Ranjha and Sohni are often celebrated as timeless romances, Galsian believes they can also be viewed through another lens.
"We romanticise these stories, but what happens when we look at them from the woman's perspective?" she reflected.
She invites audiences to look beyond the romance and consider the violence, control and loss of choice experienced by the women at their centre.
In doing so, she raises a provocative question: are some of the region's most cherished love stories also stories of honour killing?
Art with purpose
Alongside her solo work, Galsian continues to perform with her band Kinaara, while also collaborating with a new group of musicians for Love or Sacrifice. She spoke enthusiastically about incorporating instruments such as cello and flute into the project, describing the experience as creatively enriching.
Looking ahead, she hopes to continue touring, releasing new music and reaching wider audiences.
More importantly, she hopes to continue creating work that encourages reflection and conversation.
"I want people to think about these stories differently," she said.
"I want women to see themselves reflected in them."
And perhaps most importantly, she hopes audiences leave with the same question that has guided her work throughout the project: what happens when women are finally allowed to tell their own stories?
For Galsian, art can bring people together. But when pursued with purpose, it can also stir hearts through art, challenge perspectives and give voice to stories that deserve to be heard.
