halsa's grandmother played a major role in her childhood. With her parents working abroad, it was her grandmother who took care of little Dayal. And it was through the magic of her stories — her spectacular escape to America, her attempts to find a husband, her two rules for survival, and her poker-playing skills — that Khalsa awakened to the imaginary. It was in this relationship that she would weave the privileged bonds of tenderness and understanding that would later be transposed into her work.

*Tales of a Gambling Grandma. Text and illustrations. Montreal: Tundra Books, 1986.

		e spent most of our time under the great weeping willow tree in our front yard. My grandma sat like a flowering mountain in her big green garden chair. All day long she knit scarfs and shawls and socks. She told me stories of her life...
9 x 6 1/2 inches Pencil	9 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches Combination of coloured pencil and gouache

		here were occasional visitors under our willow tree — other children in a quiet mood, the next-door cat on its way somewhere else, the mailman, and two tall nuns who lived around the corner.
9 x 6 1/2 inches Pencil	9 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches Combination of coloured pencil and gouache

		"...Your grandma died this afternoon.... Then I opened her closet door and stepped inside. I closed the door behind me and hugged and smelled all my grandma's big dresses."
6 x 7 1/2 inches Pencil	7 3/16 x 6 1/2 inches Combination of coloured pencil and gouache