American Desis Podcast: Recent Episodes
American Desis
American Desis is a podcast geared to sharing what it's like to be a South Asian in America through fresh, funny, and insightful interviews. Comedian Akaash Singh and actor Arjun Gupta employ a vulnerable style as they discuss who we are today and the issues we will face tomorrow.
Join us for our new themed season geared toward Health & Wellness, where we speak with experts on mental, physical, and spiritual wellness from both a Western and Eastern point of view!
Sign up for our mailing list at http://www.tinyurl.com/americandesisemail. Send us your comments, questions and suggestions at americandesispodcast@gmail.com
Start off your new year with a quick reminder of all the amazing tips and tricks from our guests this season. And thank you for all the love and support of our new format!
In the last interview of our health & wellness season, we talk to someone who was crucial to Arjun's personal wellness journey - meditation coach Jon Aaron. Jon gives us some advice about slowing down amid the chaos of our busy lives and making the time and space for meditation, whatever form it may come in. He also reminds us that pretty everything from breakups to breakfast is an opportunity to practice mindfulness.
In the seventh episode of our health & wellness season we get to one of our most requested topics: AYURVEDA. We speak with Monica Bhanote of Sundays in Saffron and talk about moms carrying cardamom, running like deers, and why hot water is still cooling. Figure out what your dosha is here: https://www.sundaysinsaffron.com/dosha-quiz/
Episode 6 of our health and wellness season starts off with one of Arjun’s PSAs on mental health but eventually we get to talk to Navin Dargani about why therapy and mentalizing are important, and why cultural competence matters in mental health.
You can learn more about Navin's practice here: http://www.darganimd.com/
In episode 5, we talked to transplant psychiatrist Akhil Shenoy about psychiatry in the desi population as it interacts with parenting, alcoholism and why Akhil's dad still wishes he was a surgeon.
Producer note: When we recorded this episode in June, Akhil was at Mt Sinai but has since transitioned to Columbia University Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital.
In episode 3 of our health and wellness season we talk to yoga instructor Aditi Shah about her personal journey with the practice and how the modern gentrification of yoga has changed dramatically from what it used to be. She also provides some valuable advice for the yoga noobs among us who can't keep up with the crazy intense classes we often come across.
In the third episode of our health and wellness season we talk to Shom Chowdhury, owner of Indie Fresh and the most jacked desi dude we've ever met, about physical fitness. He teaches us why we should aim for 75% during workouts and why we need to give our bodies high quality fuel.
Episode 2 of our health and wellness season starts off with mindfulness but quickly goes much deeper into finding purpose within the chaos of our daily lives. We speak with monk Shubhani Chaitanya who leads the New York chapter of Chinmaya Mission and explains why she chose to take her very unique path towards Vedanta over a career in fashion.
The first episode of our health and wellness season is about something we all love but don’t often know what to do with: food!! In the day and age of this diet and that super food and this cleanse, we invite on to the show the chair of Queens College’s Nutritional Sciences department: Dr. Ashima Kant, to sort through the noise. She educates, demystifies, and gives us all the tools to navigate food in a healthy way that still allows us to enjoy it!
Health & Wellness Season Opener! A quick 7 minute episode to reintroduce ourselves to you because we are insecure and thought you may have forgotten about us. But also to introduce y’all to the new members and new format that hopefully will make our show better! If we happen to charm a few more people into giving us a chance, icing on the cake!
Remember to check your feeds for the first interview that's also being released today!
The boys are back!...kinda...they drop in to wish everyone a MUCG belated happy new year and to share what's up! They explain why they haven't been around for a while and share what they are working on for the future of AD! Then, with the serious shit aside, they received some tweets about basketball and hip hop and realized that they had NEVER had a show about sports or hip hop. Well that is now fixed :) tune in and enjoy American Desis
The tides of change upon us and we here at American Desis are not immune to it. So we decided to drop a State of the Podcast episode to let y'all know what we are thinking, introduce our amazing new producer, and put out an APB for all the help we can get to make this show as amazing as possible. So tune in, and join in!
Happy New Year's, everyone! After a holiday hiatus (forced upon us because Arjun landed a movie role in India) we ring in the new year with an overdue Community Episode. After all, how Desi are we if we aren't late? In this episode, we discuss Arjun's time in India and the shifts that he is noticing within the country and himself, get a firsthand account of demonetization and its impact on India, and question what the best way is to praise and criticize our culture. Tune into our first episode from the Motherland (at least for Arjun)!
The idea going against your parents and marrying the person you choose is an American ideal that has become fairly commonplace for our generation. But how many times have you heard that story from someone in our parents' generation? If you're like us, it's zero. Enter Sujata Winfield- an immigration attorney in Athens, Georgia. She came onto our podcast and was kind/brave/generous enough to tell us a story of falling in love. While that's the only thing she gives herself credit for- "falling in love"- there is much more to the story than that. Tune in and listen to a fascinating and beautiful story of love.
In the second half of our interview with Yassir we make our way around to the less significant details: his racial makeup and identity, how he grew up, his views on race...you know, the stuff this podcast is based on. Or whatever. All jokes aside, even though this took place in May, it's a great discussion about some issues that are very pertinent to this podcast and even to the current state of our country. And get at us: we would love to hear your thoughts!
Our episodes the last few weeks have been quite serious in response to the goings on of the world. But balance is something we care about here at American Desis, and so we thought that this week we would drop something more fun. Enter Yassir Lester, maybe the funniest dude we know. One of those episodes that's just three people having a conversation. It starts off with the worst intro we have ever done and continues on to talk about twitter as a source of news, death threats, Cecil the Lion, why does news suck, and even the end point of humanity. But most importantly we talk about why Yassir has such a crush on Arjun.
After the stunning events of Tuesday's election, we wanted to have a safe space for people to be heard. So we read the emails and tweets that our community have shared and explore the answers to the question: What Now?
*This podcast was originally uploaded two weeks ago but had quite a few technical issues. We edited as well as we could and re-uploaded.
As we realize post election the importance of making sure we are listening to more points of views and cultivating a more true diversity, it is even more exciting to drop this week's episode. Akaash and I are dudes, and in a lot of way brothers. So we brought on two people who felt truly antithetical: sisters! Meet Keertana and Pallavi Sastry. These two Texan ladies joined us in June in LA to talk about the sister relationship and how it has evolved for them throughout their life. They chart the many shifts along the way that have made them similar and the moments that caused them to diverge. We also get to hear their experience post 9/11 and how they each ended up responding quite differently. Please join us to hear about one of the most important -hoods: Sisterhood
On today's community episode, the boys focus on Diwali. They interview each other on what the holiday means to them and share different stories and traditions. Since the holiday represents to them the idea of community, they then reach into their emails and tweets to hear stories of how other Desis celebrated the holiday. They even hear from someone in Trinidad who shared what festivities look like down there! Hope you enjoy this holiday edition of American Desis, and hope your Diwali was full of light, love, and community!
There is a narrative of our community as being apolitical and somewhat isolationistic since we have gotten to this country. This is supported by our voter turnout in election, and the large scale hesitance to get involved in causes supporting other minority communities. Well, that actually does not speak to the roots of our South Asian American history. Actually, many of us don't even know our community was here before 1965. Well thankfully, Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee joined our show to put our heads straight. We drove up to Berkeley, California and partook in their Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour, which they have been running for four years now. It tells stories of South Asian radicals from as far back as the early 1900's. It paints a new picture of our community: the trials and tribulations we have faced, and the power that we have when we came together. Barnali and Anirvan then sat down with us to track the origins of this tour and talk about the shifts that they see in people after learning this history. In this time of poltical and racial unrest, it is wildly important for us to know our history so we can make better decisions about how to shape the future.
Election time is upon us, so we thought it would be fun to bring you an episode from a woman who has actually run for something! Meet Almina Khorakiwala. She works in marketing for Microsoft in global events for their retail stores. But her passion is serving on the board of directors for "Emerge Maryland", a Political Action Committee that helps recruit and train women candidates for the Democratic Party. Before we got to Almina's political work, we got to hear about her time in Microsoft and specifically how she has seen things change how that there is a South Asian in charge. But then we then get to the timely topics! Almina peels back the curtain for us on her election story and shares with us the issues she faced not only as a woman but as a South Asian. And of course, since we're us, we discuss her decision to marry outside of her culture and learn an amazing surprise regarding her personal life!
This past spring, Arjun and I spent three days in our nation's capital. To nobody's surprise, we got the opportunity to speak with a number of intelligent, eloquent, advocacy minded individuals. To that end, we were blessed to speak with Lakshmi Sridaran, the director of National Policy and Advocacy of SAALT- South Asian Americans Leading Together. We speak to her about the origins of her organizations, what their mission is, and how that mission manifests itself on a day to day basis. We also learn about some of the issues facing our community we were previously unenlightened upon- such as the undocumented South Asian population and the importance of the census. We also asked how she came into this field after getting a Master's in City Planning. Last, we are informed about things we can do to help (which is one of many phenomenal questions asked by Arjun). So tune in for an enlightening and inspiring episode!
We talk so much about being brown on this show, BUT we aren't the only "brown folk" out there. To that end, we are excited that Bernardo Cubría could come on the show and help us see through the lens of "the other brown folk": Latinos! Bernardo is a Mexican playwright, actor, and robot-fearer. And in what is Akaash and my favorite style of episode, he joins us for a conversation: pure and simple. It is windy and it is messy but it tackles all of the themes you guys love to hear and we love to explore. Starting from how Mexican culture and Desi culture is basically the same, to the issues of diversity within the "Latino" culture, to representation in Hollywood and the arts. It is a show that really tries to find the nuance in recognizing how different we all are, but how we can thrive together regardless. Hope you guys enjoy!
It's Election season!! You know that means?? The time for civility, compassionate discourse, and peace of mind are thrown out the window. And since the first debate was last night, we kicked off our community episode trying to figure out what the fuck happened. Once we couldn't do that, we moved on to talk about Atomic Living; a philosophy of life by musician Kiran Gandhi. We also not so subtly invited her to be a guest on our show because she is incredibly smart and seems cool. We rounded off the show by talking about the other tweets we received and discussing the importance of voting! Enjoy!
As we state in our intro Desis are a community from South Asian countries not just India. So it's a thrill when we get to have on our show someone from one of the other countries as it helps continue to expand and specify what it means to be Desi. To that end we are thrilled to have on our show Gowri Koneswaran, a Tamil American from Sri Lanka. As we begin the show we dive straight into how the language we use around what community we are from can be so important. How an issue with a government might cause you to press pause on identifying with that nation state but you still want to honor that area from which you sprung. Gowri walks us through the fog of ignorance around the civil conflicts that have plagued Sri Lanka for the last few decades and through that journey we learn about her transition from lawyer to writer and poet. And how her choice to be a poet is rooted in the same social advocacy as her lawyering. Please tune in to this brilliant woman helping us to be a small bit smarter and better.
We all see how Colin Kaepernick's relationship with the US Flag is causing a huge uproar. Well this isn't a solely American issue! Listen in to this clip as we talk, as Desis, about our relationships to our TWO flags!
Louise Keshaviah is a caucasian woman dedicated to the brown cause. So dedicated, in fact, that she is Arjun's agent. So SO dedicated, in fact, that she recorded an interview with us a year ago, then came back when audio errors ruined the first one. So tune in as we speak to agent and Political Correctness Powerhouse Louise Keshaviah talk to us about the ways in which people of color (mainly the South Asian ones) are under and mis-represented in the entertainment industry, the marriage to a South Asian man that sparked her activist streak, her trips to India, and the inside secrets she's learned about brown people (much to Akaash's chagrin). We wrap up the discussion with how she would raise her kids (of course), and her relationship with her identity.
Continuing our theme around literature and its importance with children, this week we welcome Sanjay Nambiar. Sanjay is a man of the moment: sensitive, intelligent, an entrepreneur, and a feminist. I am not sure he would call himself a feminist but his work in creating the "Super Amazing Princess Heroes" children's stories/ brand surely qualify him as one. Sanjay shares with us how being raised by a single mother laid the foundation for a viewpoint that would erupt into action when he had daughters of his own. His experience trying to find worthwhile literature for his young daughters caused him to say, "Enough! I'm doing this on my own." Please join us for an eye-opening episode that gave me hope for our future.
Today we welcome to the podcast two people with an incredible business that is perfect for children and anybody who wants a simple way to learn about South Asian culture (us): Gauri Manglik and Sadaf Siddique. The business is Kitaab World- a one stop shop for South Asian parents to find books (kitaab) that help kids connect to their South Asian culture. It's ideal for kids, or people who know nothing about South Asian culture (Arjun and me). Sitting down with Sadaf and Gauri, they explained to us the challenges they had teaching their kids about their South Asian heritage. Specifically the challenge to instill in them "strength of identity"- a strength that is difficult to develop without immersion in that culture. We discussed the importance of books and entertainment as a form of representation and reflection, the "spectrum of Desiness", and changes Gauri and Sadaf noticed in their own children since exposing them to these books. So sit back and listen to two women speak about a service we can all benefit from.
Our community episode this week obviously starts with a conversation around the Olympics and the Desi and American Desi athletes we want to applaud. But because sports are a lens through which to view society, our applause leads us to discuss the importance of the three female athletes from India. Their dedication and successes inspired us to hope that all people can understand that fighting like a girl means winning. This message is even more poignant in light of the emails that we share today dealing with misogyny in our community and the correlation between abuse and the joint family structure. Oh yea, we also talk about Glenn Beck being a clown. In a wide ranging set of topics we heard from you and it is our pleasure to share that voice back.
Akaash and I are in way over our heads as went to the United Nations to interview the Bureau Chief for the New York Times, Somini Sengupta. Somini has been a journalist for over 20 years and has been the Bureau Chief for the Times covering South Asia, Western, and Central Africa all before ending up at the UN. She generously took time after a huge vote to talk to us about her latest book End of Karma: Hope and Fury among India’s Young, as well as her journey from being born in India, to growing up in Canada, to college in the US, to going back to India to work. Her journey allows her to share the unique aspect of inhabiting each of the identity spaces with which we so often talk about being in conflict. It is a powerful discussion that goes so far as to even question the very concept of the East/West construct. Akaash and I were taken to school, and I gotta admit, it was beautiful.
We started off our west coast road trip of our show at the majestic campus of UC Santa Barbara, where we got to interview the professor of "Asian American Studies": Dr. Sameer Pandya. Not only is this gentleman rocking a mirch on RateMyProfessor.com, he is also a brilliant mind and published author. After sitting in on one of his lectures, we sat down in his office to discuss his latest book, the origin of the Model Minority myth, Linsanity, and sports as a vehicle through which to understand culture. In classic style, Akaash and I are the students asking all the stupid questions so you guys don't have to. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some edutainment.
Judith Williams is a know it all. No, I don't mean one of those annoying people who thinks they know everything. I mean she actually knows everything. With degrees from Harvard and Stanford, the Global Head of Diversity at Dropbox came on the show to school Arjun and me on just about all things diversity. After explaining what diversity really is, and all the different types of diversity that are necessary, she explains how companies are looking to achieve it. She also explains the unconscious bias that we all have, and how to correct for it. Basically, she sits down and teaches us for forty minutes. So sit back and soak in the knowledge.
Few cases have captured our collective attention as much as the murder trial of Adnan Syed, brought to our attention by the podcast "Serial", which caused a national stir & brought a wealth of attention; however, it's safe to say that the follow up podcast, "Undisclosed", is the reason Adnan has a new case. We were honored to welcome one of the founders/hosts of that podcast, as well as fellow Desi, Rabia Chaudry, to the show. Listen in as we talk to her about her current work, the origins of Undisclosed, and ask for an education about the headscarf/hijab. I promise you will learn things (like for instance, hijab and headscarf aren't the same thing) while being entertained by a wonderful woman. Do not miss this episode.
After our community episode surrounding Black Lives Matter, it felt right to drop an episode with one of the brilliant activists in our own community. Enter Anand Subramanian, Associate Director at PolicyLink in Oakland, leading their efforts to advance community-centered policing. Our conversation begins with a reading from their Equity Manifesto and continues to explore the difference between equity and equality. We then get to explore how he got started, examples of how history has created advantages for different communities that makes equity necessary over equality, and how being South Asian plays into this whole narrative. In a time of such racial unrest centered around policing, this conversation could not be more necessary. Consider this a jump off point and come join.
In light of recent events, Akaash and I felt moved to do a special community episode to discuss the BlackLivesMatter movement as well as our role or responsibility in it. We needed a space to process what has been a difficult week and wanted to hold space for you guys to join in the conversation. Listen in to what that conversation provoked and join the discussion on Twitter or in our email box.
We talk often about how to be more Indian, or how we feel disconnected in America. Well, in honor of America's Birthday we bring on a gentleman who moved here from India and is a proud American! We have the pleasure of talking with Puneet Sabharwal, a tech industry star, who moved here from India for a woman. Puneet and this nice lady from the midwest got married, and then in true American fashion, realized a few years later it wasn't working out. We chart the journey of his relationship from meeting in India to its amicable demise. In the course of this roller coaster, we explore the differences between dating in India and here, Tinder etiquette in Delhi, and how a beard can raise you from a 4 to a 7 in Brooklyn. Come celebrate America with a conversation about the ways this country has helped a man become happier, more confident, and more swaggerific. Enjoy!
On Wednesday, June 29th, over 100 high school students will depart for a two week journey that will shape the future of their lives. I know that sounds dramatic but that is what Uplift Humanity offers and provides. These students are going to drop into juvenile detention centers all across India and work with the young kids to help them break out of the cycle of recidivism. Before they leave, we had the pleasure to chat with a handful of these volunteers to get a snapshot of who these young volunteers are: why they decided to join Uplift? What they were trying to gain? What they were nervous about? Once they get back we will get to speak to them to paint the picture of who they become. Akaash and I were thrilled with the smart, thoughtful, and wildly confident people we encountered and we think you guys will as well. So enjoy a peek into our collective future! Enjoy
We begin this community episode with a discussion about family. I just had the fortune of spending some time with my Nani in DC and I ask Akaash if there was a point in his life that shaped the importance he held for family. It springboards us to a moment of advocacy around spending time with those we love, but we had to keep it short because y'all showed up big time this month! Had many beautiful emails to respond to, on top of our normal Twitter fodder. Emails that asked us about Asian solidarity, Sikhism, Yves, and Physical Disabilities. All of the questions were thought provoking and insightful. We responded to our Twitter friends including a request to interview a 6 year old. An interview that I believe would be our finest hour. And with our closing we got to talk about Orlando and end this week's episode with some poignant words from Akaash. Proud of the community and all you bring to this show. Excited for you all to hear this episode!
On today's episode we were fortunate enough to speak with Vaani Gupta- a teacher in Washington D.C. She is also Arjun's, and by extension my own, Didi. Arjun doesn't call her "Didi" though, because he's super disrespectful and an awful brother. And that's the topic on which we begin our discussion. We delve into our terms of respect for our elders, and how Arjun and Vaani used them growing up. We also speak about something Arjun has touched upon frequently: the year he spent in India. We learn that Vaani's year there, along with her most recent trip five years ago, affected her relationship to the Motherland quite differently than it did in Arjun.
We then delve into her profession. As a teacher, Vaani easily has one of the most important jobs in the world; however, it is not really viewed as a "typical South Asian field." We ask her what it's like to be a South Asian public school teacher. We also ask how her peers treat her, how her students see her, and of course how the South Asian community has received her.
So take a listen as we finally speak to a Gupta who has intelligent things to say. It's refreshing, to say the least.
"We started this partnership because we realized we didn't have a National Voice." In what feels like a perfect follow up to the Yves episode, so begins our wildly informative conversation with Aarti Kohil, the deputy director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus. After unpacking why the name of the organization is so long, we dive into a collection of topics and thoughts that are incredibly important and fun to think about for our community. We explore how the South Asian voice fits into a larger narrative of Asian Americans, as well as how our history has taught us about our responsibility to other communities. Thankfully for you guys, we are the kids in the classroom who aren't afraid to say "I don't know." It is a phrase we say repeatedly to Aarti during this chat and it forces her to explain some of the historical events that have shaped our community even though most of us don't know about them! Aarti breaks down for us all the issues that are hindering our community from flourishing, and the steps we can take to address them. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed doing it!
Imagine waking up to the smell of breakfast on the stove and your mom and dad chatting it up in the kitchen. You check the clock and it's 6 am. Suddenly there is banging on the door. "It's the police open up!" And at that moment your life turns upside down. You are interrogated in your own home, and your father is taken out the door in handcuffs and deported. It is the last time you will see him.
This is not a scene from a movie. This is a real moment from Yves Gomes' life. He is part of an all too often unseen community of South Asian undocumented immigrants. Yves joins us this week and generously shares his story with us. He walks us not only through what happened with his family, but also how he stumbled into the undocumented youth movement. He educates us on some of the problematic language that is used around this issue and how the "model minority" myth may be a big part of why this community is so unseen. He also updates us on his status and how community and social media are helping him stay in this country to pursue his Master's Degree. There are episodes that help Akaash and I understand why this podcast can be important. This is one of them.
Deepa Iyer is many things: lawyer, professor, and writer. But above all, she is an activist. Arjun and I were fortunate enough to speak with this enlightened YOUNG woman on this week's episode. We begin the discussion with a talk about her book: "We too Sing America". We discuss the inspiration for the book, some of the people she wrote about (including a future guest of the show), and what she learned from the process of writing. We also discuss the passion of the younger generation she see encounters at the University of Maryland, and how she has helped stoked the fires of activism within them. We then chart Deepa's path to becoming such a racially aware, dedicated, and inspirational YOUNG activist. We close the discussion with a pledge to action and/or inaction from Arjun and myself. Please listen in to an extremely intelligent and passionate woman, who, as our first interview in D.C., set the tone for a series of amazing interviews from our nation's capital.
Akaash makes his long awaited return to my arms in this latest episode. He regales us with how annoying brown folk are in Italy and I sing him an amazing version of Happy Birthday. As soon as we are done with the pillow talk, we dive into our thoughts of the last few episodes. which mainly consists of us just shouting out how amazing Anish, Diana, and Dr. Manchanda are. Then I take us down to Twitter Valley and we respond to you guys! Been some amazing twitter involvement the last few weeks and we get a chance to respond to it all...we even learn a new word...on air! Akaash then wraps us up with an incredibly sweet and powerful email from a woman who had an intense response to Dr. Manchanda's episode.
Also, a question: Do you guys feel anxious when you're not connected to your phone?
In part one of our love affair with Dr. Manchanda we dove into what was the concept behind going "upstream." So for part 2 the big question became: "OK, so how do we do this?" Our conversation continues right from where we left off last week answering that question. We ask about the very nature of humanity as being reactionary and whether that needs to change first for any other shit to occur. We explore how upstream thinking can be used in other realms of society, which leads to a spirited discussion of Trump, Bernie Sanders, and our political system in general. Finally we implement upstream thinking to deal with a real life situation: Obesity. Dr. Manchanda walks us through how an upstream-ist system would affect the way we deal with that issue and in the process blows our mind by letting us know that a calorie is not a calorie....Yea. This episode gets nuts. So nuts that Akaash nearly pees his pants. You won't want to miss this episode.
Our health care system is broken. Its a sad but true fact. We have become a system that is based on volume of care rather than value, so we now have a healthcare system that is not focused on health! Enter Dr. Rishi Manchanda. A doctor and social medicine advocate who is going to make it right. He is leading the charge with a community of what he calls upstreamists to bring health back into this system and make it more accessible for all. We had the honor to sit down and talk with him outside his home in the LA area where he walked us through his virally successful Ted talk, how he knew he wanted to be a change agent; and most importantly, what it means to go Upstream. The conversation was so informative and enlightening that we recorded twice what we normally do with guests so sit back and enjoy part 1 of our interview with Dr. Rishi Manchanda.
This week we get to hear from the person who brought us into the Audioboom family. And surprisingly they are not South Asian. Diana Velez is a New York born Puerto Rican, or "Nuyorican", who was searching for diverse content stumbled upon our podcast and thought it was great. But aside from the life-changing insight offered on our episodes, there was a more personal appeal. Diana's son is part South Asian as her partner is a Pakistani Christian; which makes her son "Pakirican." Listen in as we dive into the Bollywood proposal that snagged her, the issues that arose as they raised a child, and the cultural differences that ultimately helped end their relationship. Thanks to Diana's generous honesty, we are able to explore some of the challenges and joys of inter-cultural relationships! Listen in and then send us your thoughts!
By the age of 22, most of us consider ourselves successful if we've graduated college, possibly with a job in hand. But then there are people like Anish Patel who make most of us feel like absolute losers. Anish is graduating college in a few weeks, but instead of having a job in hand, he has a non profit that he's been running for 6 years! That's right, when Anish was just a self proclaimed sophomore nerd, he started "Uplift Humanity." It was born as a simple idea from a kid who spent summers and winters traveling to India and wanted to give back. It started with one trip to India with 15 friends who volunteered at juvenile detention centers! It has become a full fledged non-profit organization with year round programs, as well as their original summer programs, taking high school and college kids to India to work with this underserved community. Anish walks us though how this journey started, the obstacles he faced, and his dreams for the future...all the while making Akaash and myself feel really old and useless! So listen in and be inspired by a young man who had an idea and is now quite literally changing the world!
In the third edition of our wildly popular community episode, we talk about you guys and all the things you care about...but only after we talk about a few things we care about first! I wanted to talk about pressure, but as soon as we started, Akaash reminded me that we hadn't talked about Cuba!! I just returned from there a week and a half ago and wanted to talk about how amazing it was and how much it reminded me of India. This started a discussion about similarities and differences. That lead to a conversation about my time in India, which lead to a conversation about living with a large family. All the while I keep trying to bring up pressure, which we finally get to 15 minutes into the show. Once Akaash and I decided to get off our soapbox, we dove headfirst into our Twitter notifications which have been sprightlier than usual. We thank you for that. We discuss skin color, fair and lovely, and our overwhelming presence in the NBA. We also hit our email that asked us why Pakistan wasn't represented in the media. I am gonna be honest with y'all: Akaash and I are killing our game these days so you don't wanna miss this episode! Sit back with some chai and enjoy!
This week we're excited to have on the show one of the more famous South Asian actors in America: Utkarsh Ambudkar. He is a musician, rapper, actor, and basketball nerd who has been on everything from The Mindy Project to Pitch Perfect to being the first Indian American on The Simpsons to Barbershop 3 (which drops April 15th). He joins us for what turns into a free-flowing conversation amongst three brown men who are figuring shit out. We dive into topics from showing up on time to work, to how someone showing their DD's to Utkarsh is how he started acting. We also talk about the insecurities we faced growing up, whether it would be easier being white, and who were our role models as kids/what kind of role models can we now be. But as if that wasn't enough we also got to hear about his amazing experience working with South Asian kids in a program that took Basketball to India. This meandering but fascinating conversation cuts into the core of what we are trying to do with this podcast: we question the status quo and keep on questioning...so pull up a cup of chai and listen in. We know you want to.
After hearing from the Super Duper Movie Producer Megha Kadakia last week, it was only right to hear from the other part of this amazing partnership. Megha's husband Saurabh Kikani joins us this week and helped us create maybe our funniest episode ever. Akaash did a spit take during recording, I was in tears I was laughing so hard and Saurabh was just killing it. All because we started talking about how dating an Indian woman was a pain in the ass (fear not women listeners, it was all from love.). We also talked about how he grew up in completely white towns, his ties to South Asian culture, how he inherited a social misfit mentality from his father, and how he was a complete doofus in the way he pursued Megha. As if that wasn't enough, Saurabh clues us in to how he came to be on the board of the International Hip Hop Museum! You won't wanna miss this amazing episode so press play NOW!
On this week's episode of American Desis, we bring in someone who has melded the ideals of the professional life Desi parents pushed on us with the rebellion of working in the arts Desi parents pushed us away from. Megha Kadakia is a filmmaker, business woman, wife, activist, and dope lady! We get her on the mic to talk about her Desi-centric upbringing, her early years as a business woman, and how those impacted her career today. We also discuss whether she always set out to merge her worlds as an artist and a businesswoman, or if that happened organically. Her story takes us all over the country and gives Akaash many opportunities to make fun of me. We also get a chance to talk about her latest venture: Super Duper Princess Heroes!!
Thanks to Dropbox, this week we got to do a live taping of our show at SXSW! And since we were in Austin, there was no better fit than one of the few brown hipsters I know. Vishal Agarwala grew up down the street from me, but we had very different experiences and grew up in different communities. So we explored how those differences shaped our identities. We also speak on the South Asian culture in the start up world, and his growing connection to his south asian roots (he even has a brown girlfriend, much to Akaash's delight). And since the episode was live, we had an opportunity to connect with our audience and hear their questions and opinions, so we took it. Hope you enjoyed listening as much as we enjoyed doing it.
Thank you to SXSW and especially Dropbox for giving us this opportunity. Fuck Box 4 Lyfe!
On today's community episode, we discuss International Women's Day, at least at first. That quickly leads into a spirited conversation about how to become empowered. Afterward, we move to the community- which an includes an email about the identity of Desi widows as well as an email about Muslim identity. We then dip our toe into the Twitterverse, and close the episode with a spirited debate on the movie "Inside Out".
Entrepreneurship is a calling in and of itself. Often a person knows he wants to start his own business, but never takes that leap until he sees the right opportunity. For Hernan Lopez, that opportunity is podcasting. After years of being the president at Fox International, with a career most people would dream of, he left to start Wondery- a media company specialized in mobile and on-demand storytelling. We discuss why he left his job at Fox to start podcasting, the future of podcasting, and what drew him to the medium. We also speak about Hernan's upbringing in Argentina and the "gay ceiling" he faced due to his sexuality; why he left to come to the U.S., his perception of the United States, and our misperceptions of homophobia in Latino culture. So tune in as we discuss a podcast about podcasts!
Parents are often our strongest influence. They model behaviors that we internalize and set the foundation for what kind of people we will be. On last week's episode we had the pleasure of talking with Pooja Patel, a young woman who is going to change things in the world. When we were recording our episode with her, she was brought to the studio by her father. So Akaash and I thought "Let's talk to one of the parents of this incredible young adult, and explore what they have done to raise someone so service-minded and entrenched in her culture." So without further ado, sit back, stick those headphones in or over your ear, and join us for our conversation with Kamlesh Uncle.
As we recently learned, Arjun Gupta has been named the official spokesperson of "Uplift Humanity", a service organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of juvenile inmates in South Asia. Part of his duties as spokesperson was selecting a winner in a video submission contest with the volunteers of Uplift. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with that winner: Pooja Patel.
Pooja Patel is a South Asian high school student in New Jersey who is advocating for human rights and education in third world countries- I know, she's' a better person than all of us-. We spoke with her about Uplift Humanity, how it operates, the bonds she formed while she was there, and how the volunteers ended up learning more than the juveniles they were supposed to be teaching. We also discuss why she was drawn to this project, and try to further explore the mindset of our South Asian-American youth- a subject that fascinates Arjun and myself because we're super old.
In much the same way that she learned more from the youths she counseled than she taught, Arjun and I learned more from Pooja than we probably ever could have taught her. It was truly a pleasure to talk to such a mature, intelligent, thoughtful young lady. The future is in good hands.
After hearing too many stories on our podcast about domestic abuse, Arjun and I wanted to talk to people who could actually help deal with this problem, as opposed to just complaining loudly about it like we would do. This week, we were fortunate enough to speak to Hemali Shah and Neha Duggal, both of whom work for The South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency, or SAHARA. SAHARA is an organization committed to serving the South Asian community and survivors of domestic abuse. In our conversation, we first learned about the formation and evolution of SAHARA, as well as the needs it services. Then, as we attempted to scratch the surface of a complex problem, we spoke about the mentality of victims of abuse, what it takes to get help, what that help looks and sounds like, and how we individually can help. We also spoke about the demographics of abuse, some of the preconceived notions about who is abusive and who gets abused, and if any of those notions hold up. As we move toward the end of the conversation, we learn about patterns that are specific to the South Asian community, victim shaming, and how we can be better. While Arjun and I in no way think we are solving this problem, we do think that if we are all more comfortable having this sometimes ugly conversation, progress can be made. To that end, please send us your thoughts, emails, tweets, etc. so we can all grow.
Today we drop our first Community episode- the epiosode that's all about you guys! What you have written to us, what you want us to talk about, and sharing what you have to say. This week, we discuss Coldplay and Beyoncé's new music video, learn something new about Gujurat and then Akaash (sort of) interviews Arjun about becoming the new Brand Ambassador for Uplift Humanity India! Hope you guys enjoy, and please keep sharing thoughts with us! We wanna hear what's up in the community!!
Continuing with our theme of history, we speak to someone who was in the game before we were even a part of it. Samrat Chakrabarti is a classically trained actor, producer, and musician, who called moving to New York in 2003 "a slap in my face". We explore why he felt that way and if he still feels that way. Within that conversation we deal with how to pronounce names, what fights are worth fighting and how that's changed, and what our responsibilities are within our community. Then playing with a new segment, the three of us get in a discussion about meritocracy, and whether or not that's something we really want. Samrat then closes by dropping another great history lesson of who preceded him and paved the way for all of our success. Tune in to this enlightening and fun episode and please continue to share. Hope you enjoy.
The Indian Subcontinent is dominated by three religions: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. But just there are thousands of dialects, there are also many different religions. This week we bring to the show someone who grew up with Arjun on the mean streets or Palm Harbor, Florida: his close friend Freya Motafram. Freya is from one of the aforementioned undervalued religions of India: she is Zoroastrian. She blesses us this week with a general overview of a faith that has been relatively ignored in our community. She breaks down the basic tenants of the religion and the ways in which it is practiced. We then ask her how people treated her for practicing an "obscure" faith, and during that explanation she divulges the info that Arjun played with Barbies as a child...much to Akaash's delight. Listen in to this fascinating episode that opens the curtain on a beautiful faith
As we start 2016 and look to the future, we thought it was important to take a look back- to look back at our history as Desis in this country. So we welcomed Shilpa Mankikar, a filmmaker and activist, to tell us about her experience making films in the states and in India. Through this conversation, we were schooled on the trials and tribulations our community has faced, from the Sikh isolation in the early 1900s to the "Dot Busters" of the 1980s. But this isn't just a history lesson. We dive into the present day to understand what we can learn from the Indian filmmaking experience, as we try to build a better infrastructure for American Desi filmmakers now.
In our last episode of 2015, I talk with Akaash about his recent 3 week trip to Southeast Asia and what he learned. He tells me how differently we are perceived. For example, apparently in other parts of the world we are the athletes…so like, I am Michael Jordan…He also breaks down why he appreciates America so much more. We hope you enjoy, and thank you for sticking with us this whole year, wish you the happiest and safest of new years, and are excited to bring you great new content in 2016!! Much love and God Bless.
Everyone loves a good spin-off right? Frasier, The Jeffersons, The Colbert Report. Well, Akaash and Arjun unintentionally created their first spin-off episode with this week’s guest. Last week with Arpita, we broke from the usual format of the post interview discussion by turning it into a three-way conversation. During that section you heard Vineet, the famously supportive husband, call our hosts cultural imperialists. We were so intrigued and thrilled with his take that we threw him on the mic as an impromptu guest. He becomes the first engineer on the show and truly brings a different, but important, perspective to the questions our hosts ask. Vineet graciously continues our education with some history of India’s migration and talks about how this is the first time in human history of voluntary migration. The conversation then moves to why he immigrated to America, and through that discussion is born an argument on the Indian Education system. Of course, we could not have Vineet on without stressing him out and having Aunty’s back so we conclude our interview talking about Arpita and Vineet’s non-existent children.
Akaash ran away to Singapore to get sick and do shows close to the homeland so he left me alone with the keys to the castle. I took advantage of this by bringing back the awesome Prashanth to chop it up. You guys will remember him from our episode: Chipotle Gets It. Well in that episode we did more of a conversation than traditional interview and for this one we followed that model. I had Prashanth on to follow up on the idea of vulnerability and get his take on Jackal language. From there the conversation went to ISIS, refugees, how we can do better and then somehow went to tackle death. So yes, the episode goes a lot of different places but it does so with a lot of intelligence and, certainly, charm! Had a blast talking with him, hope you enjoy listening!
Today Akaash does a solo interview with his good friend and roommate, Kase Raso. Kase is a fellow New York City comedian who happens to be Persian. The thing that fascinates Akaash most, though, is that Kase looks, and has been perceived through his entire life, to be a white man. How this has impacted him, and how he goes about telling people he is not white, fascinates Akaash. Since Arjun is busy being famous, Akaash does his first solo interview with his good friend. As conversations with good friends are want to do, things meander a bit, but the general focus remains on Kase's background, and what Akaash perceives to be Kase's reluctance to speak about said background. Again, we thank you for your patience as Akaash and Arjun figure out how to juggle this podcast with their growing careers, and hope you enjoy this conversation between two good friends.
We switch it up this week as it's Thanksgiving- and we wanted to just talk to each other and you guys! We start with catching up a bit, since I have been too busy to even talk with Akaash very much lately. We then move into a discussion about the trending topic of #IntolerantIndia. We speak on our confusion over what's going on and I call out Modi. So if anyone can pass my message along to him, that would be great! We then dive into an email from listener Reema Patel about our responsibilities to other brown members of our community in the wake of the Paris attacks. To close, we ask for your help. We are still tweaking and building this show to be what we want it to be, and we want input from you guys! So dive into our Thanksgiving week episode and listen through till the end to hear us talk about how grateful we are for you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!
In this week's discussion, we drop the discussion portion of our chat with Arpita. After recording our episode with her, the conversation we had with her off air was so dope we just threw her back on the mic and went in. She really challenged the way we thought about things and also called us imperialists! Enjoy!
What is it like to idolize a country and then move there? Do the realities you face stand up to the fantasy you created? How do you now identify? Because they have lived in the US for the duration of their lives, these are questions that Akaash and Arjun don’t have to face; however, there are many people within the South Asian American diaspora who do. Meet Arpita Kumar: a Lucknow native from the state of Uttar Pradesh. Arpita left home to come to America and is now an exciting new filmmaker. Arpita came here 11 years ago and has been a staunch lover of the United States ever since. So as you imagine, there were some fireworks in this interview. Akaash and Arjun ask how her journey to the US shaped the creation of her award winning short film My Dear Americans, as well as how it shapes her marriage and general identity. In a departure from their normal format, a captivating discussion post interview sparked our hosts to include Arpita in their usual one-on-one discussion.
We have had several artists on our show from different mediums, but today we welcome our first circus performer! Of course, being South Asian, she had to take a non-traditional route. Our guest, Meetu Chilana, worked with Cirque du Soleil for 3 years. It was a journey that took her to Moscow, Spain, and all over the Americas; however, it also left her feeling quite unsure where home was. It was this disconnect, coupled with a deteriorating relationship with her mother, that sent her on the next phase of her artistry- a phase that has left us all with a new EP to check out: In a Sense. You won't want to miss this interview where Meetu not only shares with us her journey, but also gives you all an exclusive tease of some of the songs! Hope you enjoy, and please share!
I'm back on the mic to talk to Akaash about the interview he and Surina had with Suraj Patel, and man was I refreshed. Hearing him talk about the state of politics and where we all fit in made me feel really hopeful. His stance on the fact that South Asians feel like they are outsiders, but that is only in their head is an important message for us all of us. We also dove into the divide in our community politically, and predicted what the political landscape will look like in 25 years. As always, we end with tweets and emails from the community that address past episodes, including an important email from a listener that gives better tips on how to look for therapists! Enjoy and please share!
In our dope new episode, Akaash and guest host Surina Jindal sit down with our first political guest and possibly the Brown Obama: Suraj Patel. They sit down and chart all the wild things he did before finding himself as an “advance man” in Obama’s first Presidential Campaign. Suraj also tells us about growing up in Indiana in a small town with no diversity, and how as a young man he subscribed to the societal philosophy of a melting pot and how that has now shifted. He then breaks down our community’s influence in politics and what that is/where that comes from. He then shares his thoughts on how we all need to be more involved. Finally he drops a profound message about privilege and what we really should do with what we have. Make sure to tune in and send your thoughts!
I jump back on the mic with Akaash to discuss the interview with Kanishk about us all being mentally unsound! I provide my outsider opinion on the discussion and throw out my ideas in support of everyone benefiting from getting help. To make up to those of you who missed my dulcet tones, I talk a lot. We then jump on Twitter to discuss the thoughts the community shared with us. Hope you enjoy and we will get you on Tuesday with our next!
On this week’s episode of American Desis we welcome our first guest host: Tushar Singh. Tushar joins Akaash as they talk to Kanishk Solanki. Kanishk is a psychiatrist in New York City hospital and he breaks down for us the reasons we all need therapy. He very clearly explains how psychiatrists are trained to look at Asian Americans (East and South) with the understanding they are probably skirting some psychiatric issues. Basically if a South Asian or Asian student is referred to a clinician and they say everything is fine and I’m just a little stressed, the good clinicians will recognize that the cultural context from which they come probably means that this is more dire than that. He lays out three big factors as to why that is: high academic/professional pressure, cultural incongruities, and chronic invalidation. Listen is as Kanishk breaks these down for us all and encourages us to get the help we need!
On our second "State of the Podcast Address", Akaash and I discuss what has and hasn't shifted for us in the last few months. Surprisingly, the themes are quite similar for both of us as they deal with nuance and balance. Both of us reference an aspect of growing less extreme in our beliefs and holding more space for different ideas. I am being purposefully vague for two reasons: one, so that you will listen to the whole show and not just read this description, and two, so I can sound smart.
We then get into conversation about the nature of cultural appropriation and race before getting into our community and responding to their emails and tweets. We end with a few news items about whats coming down the pipeline for y'all on future shows. Enjoy and share. Please :)
Today we re-release one our favorite episodes: Dr. Soni. Listen in to see the origin of Akaash’s epic man crush as we talk with a brilliant man, teacher, and leader. We have talked about Bollywood, we have talked about language, and we have talked about gender: but what about religion? Often, religion is the single biggest influence on how people live their lives. So that lends the question: when we all come from such different faiths, what is the role of religion in the South Asian American community? And not only that, Hinduism (which a majority consider themselves to be a part of) is a decentralized religion with little to no organization, that sometimes can even be called a science of thinking. When their religion is so hard to define, how do members of the Hindu community approach being the standard bearers for their faith in this new world ? To help Akaash and Arjun approach these questions, we welcome the esteemed Dr. Varun Soni. Dr. Soni graduated from Harvard Divinity school and got his phD at the University of Capetown. He is an author, who aside from writing books, edited a journal about Islamic and Near Eastern Law and is currently the Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. In other words, he schooled the s**t out of Akaash and Arjun, and they couldn’t have been more pleased. After the interview Akaash and Arjun engaged in a humbling discussion about our responsibilities as first generation South Asian Americans, and their hope for the future.
We jump on the mic to throw it down over the second part to our Varun Lella interview, but first we have to address the mud mask I was wearing (which I graciously let Akaash make fun of). Then we move to the interview with Varun. We talk about holding space for two ideas: the idea that other communities have advantage,s and the idea that that advantage does not define us as people. We also talk, of course, about the topic of East Asians not being seen as sexy. Akaash expresses his surprise...that there is surprise! Once we move into community we discuss an article sent to us about Ahmed being black and not brown, and another article about how we are language shaming people and what that may be about. We had a blast recording and we hope you have a blast listening.
In part two of our time with Varun Lella, we finally dive into what it’s like being South Asian in the corporate world of Hollywood. He tells us how a dream to be the Indian Scorcese turned into becoming an agent after realizing he didn’t have a big enough ego to be a director. He walks us through the tricky world of agenting that is rife with networking and hand-holding. How as a South Asian with no previous connections to this world, he faces an uphill battle to be taken seriously. We explore how he navigates those tricky waters and what intention he has for his South Asian community. Of course because we are us, things go to dating and we end up having an interesting conversation about the perception the industry has of South Asian men, and how we may be better off than East Asian men. Enjoy and look out for our discussion episode in a couple days.
Listen as Akaash and I talk about the interview we did with Varun Lella. We speak on the way that he painted a more nuanced vision of the Southern philosophy on race, and of course about his situation with that Desi girl in college. We then got into a thrilling discussion on where identity comes from: us or outside or both. From there, we move into the community and our first negative email. Frankly, we were stunned this was the first. We also discuss an article about a racial slur thrown at a student body president and the national conversation that may or may NOT be needed. Hope you enjoy.
This week we welcome someone from an industry we don’t often associate with South Asians. We have explored that we are becoming well entrenched (Akaash would say too entrenched) in the entertainment industry; but there is an important sector of that industry where we are still developing our presence: agents. Varun Lella is an Literary and digital agent at Paradigm Talent Agent. We bring him on the show to talk about what exactly he does as an agent and his distinction as the first Indian crossover agent. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men get effed up…so we ended up talking mostly about how he was raised in Tyler, Texas and how he navigated being one of the only Indians in a small town. That story became harrowing during his freshman year after 9/11 occurred and he was thrust into a role of being the cultural spokesperson for a community he knew little about. Be sure to send us your comments so we can include you in our discussion episode in a few days, and keep spreading the word!
We started off the podcast wanting to discuss the interview we re-released with Pallavi Dhawan, but we got completely sidetracked by current events surrounding #IStandwithAhmed and Sureshbhai Patel. We then somehow end up in a discussion about statutory rape versus police brutality. It's been a strange Friday morning. Sit back, enjoy, or get uncomfortable with our latest discussion.
We continue our re-releasing of Indian, American episodes with one of our favorities: Pallavi Dhawan. We are re-releasing some episodes happened before we had a space for you guys to discuss and join in the conversation. This episode allows for a lot of discussion, particularly on the heels of the Neel Nanda interview. Also, for the first and only time: I look stupid and Akaash looks evolved...so you gotta check this one out, folks!
There are many traditional paths we can go down in the South Asian American community; however, this week we find someone traveling a traditional path in an unconventional way. Meet Pallavi Dhawan: deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County DA's Office . Not only did she eschew corporate law to work with family crime dealing with rape and assault in the home, she is a woman working in a typically male world. We delve into her work, and how she copes on a daily basis with such an emotionally taxing position. We discuss her upbringing and what brought her to this field, and how her Indianness affects her, both in court and with those she serves. But work is only part of her life; and as we start to discuss her personal life. the conversation moves into the realm of dating. Here, Arjun says some stupid shit and Akaash for the one and only time on the podcast seems evolved. We explore the trials and tribulations she faces dating Indian men.
Akaash and I start today with two important messages about resources that aid domestic abuse victims, as well as places y'all can reach if you need help. We cannot encourage enough to use these resources and seek the help you deserve. We then had as much trouble as I do right now transitioning to discussing the interview with Prasanth. But we just do, and so will I! We talk about the two topics that really stuck with us from the interview: wishing we had been vulnerable sooner, and entrepreneurs vs. artists. The vulnerability conversation really takes us to fun places as we talk about fear, its toxicity, and the idea of jackal language. We then move to community to discuss the tweets and emails we have received! Enjoy what is, as always, a fun episode.
The last few weeks have been quite intense over here at American Desis, so we thought we'd take this week to go back to our roots: conversations. We invited Akaash's friend Prashanth to have a low key, informal conversation and just see where it went. This episode is more winding than usual, but some amazing things come up- ESPECIALLY how we start off peeling back all the mythos that surrounds co-host Akaash Singh. In telling the stories of how we met, Prashanth and I get to gang up and demystify our lovable clown. We then get down to business and discuss the nature of art versus entrepreneurship, how Chipotle gives you the best meal possible, and starting a production company to serve South Asians. As always, we bring up stuff that doesn't get resolved, so throw you opinion at us! Hit us up on twitter, on the website, or call Akaash.
Heavy in heart and mind, Akaash and I come at you with today's discussion episode. Of course the topics that dominate the episode deal with Neel's truly generous sharing of the abuse he dealt with. We discuss the ways in which we must be better and pose the question: Why as a community have we not been more proactive in dealing with this? We underline the necessity for us all to be better and Akaash makes a passionate plea for those in the situation to feel empowered to get the support they need and leave those people that hurt us. We then jump to the community who overwhelmingly supported Neel and a few emails that share their stories of abuse and how it affected them. As always we thank those community members who participated in the discussion and encourage you all to join in. We truly want to hear from you.
In what may be our most important episode to date, Neel Nanda generously and bravely shares the stories of abuse that he, his sister, and his mother dealt with at the hands of his father.
In the previous episode, while exploring why Neel felt such an aversion to Desi culture and their women, Akaash noticed a pattern: Neel would never say anything positive about his father. As you heard, Akaash eventually asked about his father, not knowing where it would lead. Join as we go down a path of unwarranted attacks that led to multiple stays at the hospital and a childhood of silence and isolation. Join as we discuss the immediate need of our community to be better at stepping in when things are wrong, instead of simply leaving it to the family. Join as Neel presents a model of compassion and the attitude of learning so we can be better in the future. And also please join in a discussion that can hopefully allow for children to be safer and our community to be better.
This is simply something that we can never allow to happen again- and sadly it is far too common.
This week on American Desis, we decided to hold off on our discussion of the Neel Nanda interview until after the second part, which releases Monday. Instead, Arjun discusses the roles of "coolness" in the South Asian American Identity, and whether or not it is necessary for us to come together. He also discusses diversity in the entertainment world, which apparently exhausts Akaash to no end.
They close with thoughts from the community- topics ranging from trigger warnings to the potential benefits of North/South Indian marriage.
Keep sending us your thoughts and spreading the word. We are only as strong as our community!
When we say we want to talk to everyone, we want to talk to EVERYONE- even people who don’t agree with us and don’t follow our lines of thinking. One such line: Akaash and I agree on the desire to pursue and uphold our heritage. A line of thinking with which this week's guest does not necessarily agree. Neel Nanda is a comedian and an actor and someone who doesn’t identify with his Indianness. We have a raw, honest conversation with him as we put him on the therapy couch to explore where this came from. It is a truly funny and heartbreaking journey that you will definitely want to listen to. So do it….now!
We re-released the Omi interview from the OG podcast, "Indian, American" to revisit the themes and topics brought up then and see how they hold up. Our discussion started off with a conversation about how Omi used comedy as a defense in his childhood and quickly moved to a conversation about compassion. Compassion in the way we deal with other peoples boundaries, and compassion as it relates to comedy. We then move to the topic of what Omi meant by, "India is relationships" where Akaash and I give our different interpretations. I am right of course. During our community section we revisit the caste system in response to an email that Apoorv sent and its my turn to say my piece. enjoy!
Since we started "American Desis," our new listeners have missed out on some amazing content we had with "Indian, American." We also at that time did not have a space for the community to engage with the interviews. Today that all changes. We will now release once a month an old interview and be able to discuss in a few days how it stands up and get your thoughts! First up: Omi Vaidya, Bollywood Star.
Bollywood is the world’s largest film industry, with over 800 films made a year. It has captured the imagination of millions of people and been portrayed in many lenses….but not this one. Our first interview takes us into the life of an American born actor who becomes a Bollywood star. Meet Omi Vaidya. We dive into what it was like growing up the only Indian in a small town in California and how that shaped him as he entered the glamorous yet strange world of Indian Cinema.
*We cut out the original follow up discussion and will do another follow up in a few days, to see if we glean anything different from the interview today than we did a year ago. So hit us up and give us your thoughts!
Arjun did a "Lovingkindness" meditation before we started, and Akaash was in a feisty mood, so this became one of the more serious but fun discussion episodes we have had. As you can tell by the title, the mood faded towards the end :)
In this episode we discuss our conversation with Anshika and how we would like to speak with more of the youth to get a sense of their voice and persepective. It takes Arjun into a philosphical query about the relevance of culture to our identity, and then focuses on the exposure required for the formation of that identity. We then dive into the tweets and emails that talked about the gang violence in Canada, the rise of Indian managers in the tech world, and a fascinating discourse about the caste system. Hope you enjoy.
On this week's episode, Arjun and Akaash go where they have never gone before, at least not in many years: high school! Our hosts welcome to the show their youngest guest to date: Anshika Bagla, who just graduated this past May. They welcome her to discuss the changing landscape of what it means to be South Asian and end up feeling really effing old. Anshika paints a picture of a world that is less racist, more global, and yet still as perilous. She discusses her and her peers' views on identity and assimilation, and shares with us the biggest issue that young people deal with. Listen in to find out what that is and feel old along side our hosts. Enjoy!
On today's podcast, Arjun and Akaash deal with South Asian gangs in Canada, and why they exist. They talk about whether Canada does a better job of assimilation than America, and then finally get into their interview with the ladies of Brown Girl. They dive deep into Bollywood and whether that is a barometer for your "Indianness" while saving room to talk about their body hair. As always, they speak on to the responses from the community, which dealt a lot with shaving and body hair, but also about Bollywood and Disney's responsibility in how they portray love. We hope you enjoy listening. Please keep sharing what we do because we are only as strong as our community. Much love and we will catch you soon.
We had such a good time interviewing the ladies at Brown Girl Magazine we brought them back to talk again. This time, we spoke to them from the cushy offices of their day jobs at Zee TV. We pick up right where we left off in our first interview, discussing homosexuality. We explore what the "Girl" in "Brown Girl" represents, and who specifically can be a part of that community. We move quickly to the world of Bollywood and discuss the ways in with Bollywood stories are progressing, as well as the impact they have. One impact is revealed as the ladies recall some personal anecdotes, and how Kamini's parents' divorce cause a shift in her relationship with Bollywood. We also are gonna get destroyed by the internet because we both judge the greek system, and weren't exactly shy about doing it...so listen to our episode and join us to discuss in a few days!
Our heroes return to their sorely missed second episode a week with a discussion about the two episodes with Tushar. They discuss how they might be stuck in old ways about India and marvel at how much India is changing. Arjun also explains why he challenged Tushar so much about religion and Akaash is revels with joy in a comment about Arjun being an arrogant douche. As always the boys then dive in to comments from the community that this week mainly deal with meditation. #americandesis #vancouver #awesome
Comprised of 5 countries whose histories are long and winding, South Asia is a complex region. Pakistan and India did not exist as they do now until 1947, and Bangladesh until 1977. These countries are in the toddler phase of development. What makes that crazy is that they are also, to use the same analogy, the eldest people in the room. As can be expected, an identity crisis is at hand. How much of the old world do they want to keep with this new world? This is a question we actively follow here at the show, because if the Desi culture we are holding on to is deemed unworthy of existence in this global-capitalistic world by the originators, are we being foolish? Fortunately, in part 2 of our conversation with Tushar Singh, he is able to answer some questions about what is going on with this identity conflict. Now here is the line where I tell you if you haven’t listened to part 1, that you should stop reading and go listen…but seeing as I will never be able to verify if you've done it…do what you want.
Through the lens of the comedy world that Tushar depicts, we see an India that is simultaneously provocative and oppressive. An India that pushes boundaries, while being deeply uncomfortable with the waters it is entering. There are segments of the population that accept the west and what comes with it, and others that are boisterously using any means possible to stop it. A specific incident involving 4 comedians and many of Bollywood’s elite illustrate these dualities in shocking detail. Make sure to listen and enjoy! We hope this moves you to write to us and be involved with the convo that will happen on Thursday! Until then!
American Desis has explored what it means to be South Asian in this country; but this week, and what will turn out to be next week as well, we flip the script. We decided to talk to an American Desi who went back to India. Meet Tushar Singh. He is an American born stand-up comic from a bastion of liberalness: Huntsville, Alabama. He is our guest today because he filmed a documentary about his experience going back to India to do stand up comedy. Filming just finished this past February, so Tushar was fresh enough to relay his experiences. But first in what could only be typical Akaash and Arjun style, they take our guest into a deep discussion about religion and its place in our culture. But don’t worry, he talks a lot about being a fat kid growing up in the South so there is plenty to laugh about. Enjoy and hit us up to be apart of our discussion in a few days.
This week on American Desis, it’s the State of the Podcast! Arjun and Akaash do their first installment of what could become a quarterly addition to the show. The episode centers around an intimate conversation of what has shifted for them over the last few months, if anything. It takes into account the things that have surprised them, concepts they still struggle with, and conclusions that have been reached. But they also look forward, discussing what should be talked about in the coming months and the types of guests that they would like to see. Hopefully by seeing behind the curtain on how they go about the creating the podcast, you guys will better understand the conversations at hand; and maybe even suggest tweaks! So tune in and get your typing fingers ready. State of the Podcast is here!
In this discussion episode about our time with Parvesh Cheena, we start of with a realization I had about my energy in the interview. Akaash and I discuss this sense that I was seeking something specific from the interview and not allowing it to just develop. I come to understand that I was looking for Parvesh to become an advocate for something that may no longer need it. We explore the root of that and discuss the possible reality that we can the world is a much better place for the gay community and we should become excited for this future generation that will guide us into a space of further openness and compassion. We then continue talking about how we want our American Desi community to be inclusive and that the politics of exclusion should not be tolerated.
We then move into community and discuss the tweets and emails we have received. One of them harkened back to our live panel at USC and gave us the opportunity to talk about overlapping communities and how this concept can free some of the ethical pressure that surrounds the intrinsic exclusion that occurs when a community is formed. We can create an American Desis community that is centered around our “desi-ness” because there are other communities that focus on religion or dance or sports. We also get an email from a white man about race that triggers some conflict for Akaash, and then later Arjun makes some stupid jokes and says “hoes.” Listen. we called it swings and misses for a reason folks. Listen and enjoy!
You may know him from his role as Gupta on NBC’s Outsourced; or maybe you know him from his time in theatre; or maybe you just know him because he's the kind of guy that everybody knows. We know him as all of the above, but especially our guest. This week we are so glad Parvesh Cheena could come sit down with us and chat. Now on this show we have had interviews that were more formal and guests that were casual, but Parvesh was easily our most relaxed. He is truly an open and generous guy who spoke with us about anything and everything that came up in our conversation. But just because it was relaxed, doesn’t mean we didn’t have some true debate. The episode starts off with us on different sides of the plane regarding community. Parvesh advocates for a larger sense of community: a global community. Akaash strongly believes in the standpoint of a Desi/American Desi community. I, Arjun, am still figuring it out and kinda play both sides. But we begin by diving deeply into unpacking what a global community means. Parvesh is far too interesting and expansive for us to simply stay on one topic so we move into technology, traveling to India, music we grew up on, proper ways of cuddling, and theatre, all before we reached talking about how his homosexuality affected him in this community and his journey growing up. I truly don’t want to say much more than that because I want you guys to just sit back and enjoy. I hope you have as much fun listening as we did doing this episode. As always we are going to do our discussion in a few days so get at us with your thoughts, we love talking about them. Enjoy.
This is the Q&A section that immediately followed our panel event at USC. The conversation was lively and incredibly free flowing, but stayed within the themes touched on during the panel.
Even though this podcast was recorded a few months ago, fittingly to today we get into Bobby Jindal off the bat. We dive into his thoughts and how they pertain to cultural preservation. From there, we get into really interesting conversation about media and its effect on us as a community. Arjun then rails into our community for its lack of putting its money where its mouth is. We as a community are horrible at funding art and horrible at funding art that is specific to us. We need to change that and he say so. We then move to talking about economics and how far our community has come so quickly.
The beauty of the panel was being able to hear from people of many different backgrounds within this community, and the last question of the day is definitely work sticking around for. Brings up a really important question we have to answer as we move forward in continuing to build a strong American Desi community. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.
After our interview with Dr. Varun Soni last year, we started discussing a way to get more involved with students. We have a strong belief that students are the biggest factor in determining our South Asian American mainstream identity. We also find them fascinating since we rarely get to hang out with them.
We batted around a bunch of different ideas, but settled on the idea of a panel discussion with two professors and two students: one undergraduate and one graduate. One from India and one American born. We wanted as many identities present as possible.
So on April 7th, we did our first ever live event. We didn’t know if we were going to release it ever but a lot of great stuff came out of it and we wanted to share with you guys!
The topics centered around three questions: Are we a South Asian American community? Should we become a South Asian American community? How do we become a South Asian American community?
For the next 35 minutes you are going to hear four individuals from wildly different backgrounds discuss. Enjoy and then tune back in on Thursday to hear as we opened up to the audience for questions….shit got real then folks!
This week on our discussion episode we take the time to discuss the interview we had with Ahmed Deria. But first Akaash and I get lost in a conversation about where I am right now, why I am there, and where my family is moving. Frankly he remembers very little of the things I have told him in the past and it makes me momentarily sad.
We survive this test of our friendship, however, to dive into our conversation with Ahmed. Our focus quickly goes to his definition of home. While we underline the conversation confirms our theory that basically all immigrants who are first generation have a similar experience, there are some differences. One of the big differences is where “home” is. Akaash and I discuss Ahmed’s response to this question in relation to how for us we feel home is in India. We then segue into another difference which is Ahmed’s identity conflict between being Black vs. being African. The final topic from Ahmed’s conversation that we talk about was the label “American.” Ahmed posits a fascinating theory about what that label means in regards to what generation we are (first, second, third, etc.).
We, of course, then move into community. We address an email from Sonum where I speak a length about what it means to “be a man.” Akaash then disagrees with everything I say and we, you know, talk about it. We then talk about appropriation and the few emails and tweets we have received about it. Finally, we dive into Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal and how maybe we should thank them for creating a villain we as American Desis can bond over.
In response to the second part of Mala’s interview Akaash and Arjun dive into the many topics that were discussed during their interview, and respond to the community. They start with a discussion of her compassion and the holistic way she is able to see the world. Arjun gives a passionate response on why he finds that to be a more evolved way of looking at the world, and Akaash generously allows him to ramble on. They address the tragic truth that Mala’s parents marriage seemed to be doomed to fail since it wouldn’t work in India and the move to America seemed to destroy them. There really wasn’t more to say that "it is sad," but the boys being verbose and slightly annoying managed to turn that into a few minutes. They sum that segment up with a discussion of sitting in the murkiness of the world and the truth that life is not black and white.
They then move to the community and discuss some of the amazing emails they received, starting with a quite negative reaction to the Mala discussion. Amongst the negative thoughts though was a comment about south asians and african americans and a comparison of their struggle. This prompted a conversation about whether we should be compared to them or any other minority at all, which allows for Akaash to stand upon a soapbox about militant people, and that ends up segueing beautifully into an email about dating interracially. They concluded their discussion episode with a talk about names. Enjoy and please share.
"We have our life experiences not to tear us down, but to find a higher octave of peace. So running away from what occurred or trying to avoid what occurred didnt make sense to me. It goes back to the truth. what is the truth of it?”- Mala Mukherji.
In Part 2 of our interview with Mala, our conversation hits new depths and really takes off in a space of exploration. In the break between, Mala and Arjun took a shot of tequila to connect, or celebrate, or just live life. It triggers a question regarding drinking for Akaash, and the ensuing conversation around alcohol, addiction, and self set the tone for the ensuing 40 minutes of time spent together.
Akaash and Arjun tackle her relationship with her father and what state it is in now. Mala breaks explains that years of introspection has led to looking at this man, and all people, with an understanding that they are doing their best. Is their best always positive and healthy? No. But they are doing their best in that moment with the limitations they hold. It’s a stunningly compassionate, truthful, and strong way at looking at the world.
This quickly became one of the episodes we feel is important. We love what we do and every guest that comes on brings something special, unique and fun. But some become personally important for what they mean to us. Arjun particularly found meaning as we addressed things he battles. As a man who is seeking self, talking with her about that journey and where she is now, was incredibly resonant. Our discussion of enlightenment and how accessible it is was encouraging. Her compassion for her father and the abuse she was subject to, was eye-opening. Her desire to help the world stop being afraid to “sit in the murky” as she calls it, is inspiring. This is not going to be a synopsis where we tell you details of what happens, because if you are still reading, then stop. just press play. right now.
In the discussion portion of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun discuss the interview from the previous episode, then delve into a conversation with their community. Well, that's what they attempt to do...but things get away from them a little
They begin speaking about Mala, but the theme of ego and shame that came up so much in her book and interview took on a life of its own. Akaash and Arjun dive into the idea that our community cares far too much about what external people think of us. It's why there is so much privacy around our families and what goes on in them. "You can't bring shame on the family, so you can't display weakness." "Don't try something risky because you might fail and that would be shameful." And of course, "Don't talk about what we are struggling with, because struggle is a perceived weakness and our 'community' may look down on us." Akaash and Arjun discuss how this has manifested itself, citing modern day Desi weddings as a prime example.
Because the book is so much about family, the conversation keeps living in that area, and it segues perfectly into the community section. The fellas discuss whether or not there is a need to say "thank you" as they respond to an article that a listener emailed them about that phrase. They then speak on another emailed article about Sikhs being held out of the military. Finally they, wrap up with the, in their opinion, ridiculous trend to name kids names that are pseudo Indian so that it's easier for non Desis to pronounce.
“A giant, unspoken worry filled my childhood. My parents didn’t understand how America worked, and I could tell by the way they looked at each other with terror when seemingly small choices presented themselves. Each of their faces tightened, Dad clenched and unclenched his jaw, and Mom’s eyes grew wide, while her thin eyebrows lifted a little. They didn’t speak of their uncertainty yet I knew.”
So begins Ashes, a memoir by a first-born child of Bengali immigrants from Calcutta. With courage and vulnerability, though she would just say truth, Mala Mukherji charts a childhood filled with cultural confusion, self-hatred, bullies, an abusive father, and a consistently loving mother. The book continues on to share the journey Mala takes to discover herself and how that journey is changed completely when her mother commits suicide. It is an inspiring and poignant tale of transformation and love. It shows that people are not alone in their struggles, and that they can look within themselves to survive and grow from life’s experiences.
We are so fortunate and excited to share this episode with you. Mala generously came on our show to talk about the book. Akaash and Arjun thought it would be a straight interview about aspects of the book and a way for her to promote it, but we were thrilled when it became a conversation about much more than that. Within moments of starting the interview, we had launched into a discussion about the nature of vulnerability versus truth. About the need growing up in a fully white community to look and feel bulletproof, and learning that it was only when she held her feelings that no one could touch her. It continues on to explore themes the book deals with and how they hit both Akaash and Arjun in their particular ways. We hope you enjoy the episode today and our discussion will drop in a few days.
If you are inspired to get the book it can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/ASHES-story-about-cigarettes-cremation-ebook/dp/B00CMUM1P8
In the weekly discussion segment of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun discuss themes that resonated with them during the interview. In response to theinterview with Sharad Nani, Akaash and Arjun discuss how refreshing and enlightening it was to speak with Naniji. They discuss how surreal it was to learn about the freedom movement from someone who witnessed it first hand, as well as the idea that "she was born a slave". They also discussed our responsibility to our peoples, both at home and abroad, vs. our responsibility to a country. As always, this is followed by interactions with our community. We discuss an important online movement to document the 1947 Partition experiences, Bobby Jindal, and the general sense of love and nostalgia that everybody had listening to Naniji. As always, we ask y'all to review and rate. Discuss and share our podcast! We are only as strong as our community and we continue to hope you join!
One of the tenants of South Asian culture is respect for elders. We are an incredibly deferential people to those who have lived in this world longer than we have. We have customs where we touch their feet as a greeting to that we are only at the level of their feet. In hindi, there is even different words for elder brother and sister. Being as our elders are important, we felt it necessary to speak with one of our elders. Meet Sharad Bagla. She is a close friend of my Nani and has become also like my Nani. She was born near and raised in Kanpur and now stays with her son in Cerritos, California.
We went out to see Sharad Nani back in April, mainly because we wanted some good ass Indian food, but also because we wanted her thoughts on the world and life. We started by talking about her upbringing and what Kanpur, and through that city, what India was like back from 1933 through the revolution. She paints a picture of a city that was ripe with industry and brimming with money. But not only was it a city of industry, it was a hotbed for the revolutionaries and freedom fighters that fought for India’s independence from England. She tells stories of what it was like during those last few years of England’s rule and answers the question of how much anger was present.
After fascinating us with tales of the past, we move to the present. How does she feel being in America? What did America represent back in the 80’s and what does it represent now? We also get to talk with her about her grandkids and how she identifies them to be and explore what it means to her to be Indian.
We were fortunate to be able to speak with Sharad Nani and if you are anything like us, how would you not enjoy listening to a Nani. Its like being wrapped up in a hug :) Enjoy and make sure to share.
In the weekly discussion segment of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun discuss themes that resonated with them during the interview. This week, however, things break from the norm and the fellas open with a Memorial Day tribute to an American Desi Hero. Then they express concern for their people in India who are suffering through the heatwave. That leads to a conversation inspired by a point made by Arjun's Nani, and the fellas wonder whether struggle leads to unity. Then, one last order of housekeeping as there is a discussion about Bobby Jindal that was supposed to happen last week. Arjun is justifiably appalled by some comments made by Bobby Jindal (no surprise there), while Akaash believes we should just stop giving attention to him altogether. Then, once all the housekeeping items are taken care of, they discuss their interview with the ladies of Brown Girl Magazine. They recall the tension that the word "fluff" seemed to invoke, but repeat that in their eyes it's not necessarily a bad thing. They also speak on the struggle that it must be to report news- balancing news with entertainment, speaking on behalf of a company rather than simply yourself, and so on. Then, once again, the conversation moves to how to communicate with your parents about uncomfortable topics. Arjun recalls a story about his own parents' maturity, and Akaash implores the listeners to simply overcome the awkwardness and talk. Finally, we close with thoughts from our community. As always, we ask 'all to review and rate. Discuss and share our podcast! We are only as strong as our community and we continue to hope you join!
Two brown boys meet two Brown Girls. Is there truly anything else to say about what this episode is? Fine. We'll say more. We had the pleasure of speaking with Trisha Sakhuja and Kamini Ramdeen- the two managing editors of Brown Girl Magazine. What is Brown Girl Magazine? Its an online daily publication that is geared to South Asian female issues and their empowerment. We talk to these fine brown ladies about the origin of their publication and how they both got involved. We chart the growth from a small infrequent blog to the daily magazine it has become and what pitfalls they avoided along the way. We find out how these two women were raised and what part of their history inspired such a passion for their fellow chocolate looking females.
The conversation then moves towards the structure of the magazine, from the title itself to the way they navigate the type of material they post. The ratio of fluff to hard hitting to opinion pieces that get published prompts a debate on the nature of fluff itself and its necessity and somehow leads to a spirited discussion about make up. We question the make-up industry’s intention and whether the very nature of make up might be a disservice to female empowerment. Upon reaching a semi-conclusion of that topic, we dive into one of the articles that was posted during the week of the interview that discussed a Desi woman who was living with her family and discovered her pregnancy. It happened out of wedlock and was a pregnancy she hid until she ended up at the hospital. Purvi tried to abort the pregnancy with pills she had gotten out of country and ended up with a still birth and seriously injuring herself. This triggers a conversation about the nature of the South Asian family and the lengths we go to to seem perfect to our parents. We then discuss what needs to be done to make these relationships better or at least healthier. Our discussion of this episode will drop this coming Friday so if you have something you wanna say, reach out. Enjoy.
In the weekly discussion segment of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun discuss themes that resonated with them during the interview. In response to the two part interview with D’ Loco Kid, Akaash and Arjun discuss their gratitude and enjoyment of speaking with D’ Lo about the transgender community and his journey through that transition. They discuss the compassion with which their ignorance was received and speak candidly about their anxieties and feelings before the start of the interview. They address some of the topics from the interview that hit them hard, such as the suicide rate for trans people of color and also the shame that was put upon D Lo from an early age. Then they move into the identity of South Asian families and talk about vulnerability. Akaash drops some serious wisdom about happiness, and for once Arjun has little response. They then engage with the community through their new forum section of the website, as well as the tweets and messages they receive. This week that includes topics of queerness, Bruce Jenner, first generation vs. second generation, and a twitter rant from what we hope is a new writer for us. As always, we ask y'all to review and rate. Discuss and share our podcast! We are only as strong as our community and we continue to hope you join!
We didn't get enough of D' Lo so we had to have him back for a part 2. If you missed part 1, stop reading...seriously...go listen to the episode called "He, Him, and His"...we will wait... Great! Now welcome to this week's episode, where we continue the education. D Lo picks off right where we left off talking about his transition and how that has affected his body. He opens up about his top surgery, and the etiquette that is required around talking about it. He shares how it is the best decision he has made and what other steps there are to transition, i.e. testosterone.But we wanted him back not just to talk about his gender identity, but also his identity as a South Asian/Desi. We explore the discomfort many Sri Lankans feel with the term "Desi", and that many Lankans found a less than reciprocal cultural relationship with Indians. He clues us in to the similarities and differences between the two lands, and how those differences contribute to a hierarchy we experience here in the states.The conversation winds down with discussion of his partner and how they came together. Was it important to be with someone South Asian? Did that just happen? How did Anjali, D'Lo's partner, and him navigate their relationship with her parents? This leads us to the topic of where the community is now in terms of the way it handles these issues. Back from our week off of discussion, in a few days we will drop a fun discussion of both these episodes so chime in on our social media platforms and our website. Happy listening.
If we are going to talk about creating a space and explore the idea of community, we must explore every facet of the South Asian experience. That means exploring some of the darker aspects of our culture and our people. We grew up in a generation that has seen an immense change in the way we look at homosexuality. That is why we are always surprised then by the homophobia in the South Asian American community. It does exist, it can’t be denied, and it bothers us greatly. So we wanted to open the space for it to be talked about openly and safely. Enter, with panache, D’ Lo. D’ Lo is a friend of Akaash’s and a Sri Lankan dude who grew up in the states. He is a comedian and a story teller and is currently performing his one man show in LA. Oh yeah: he is also transgender.
D’ Lo sat down with us to talk about everything about himself but had to first do a little educating, not without a little mockery of us. He starts by breaking down the difference in the terms between gender and sex, explaining how gender is assigned based on sex at birth. We follow the best as we can being the idiots we are, but soon enough D’ Lo is able to get us up to speed. Conversation naturally evolves to his journey from assigned female to trans-male. He tells us about growing up in the west coast birthplace of the KKK: Lancaster, California; and how the Sri Lankan community came together and formed the protection and safety that he needed, yet not enough safety to be who he really was. Talks about the move to college and how his transition evolved once out of the confines of Lancaster and the community, but doesn’t shy away from sharing that things got incredibly dark at times. Dark enough to where he thought if things didn’t get better by 30 he was going to have to kill himself. Thankfully they did! And the thing about D’ Lo is that he is so much more than just transgender. We explored his journey to storytelling from hip hop and spoken word. Talk about who his influences and idols are and how he incorporates social justice into his art. All of this happens while having some of the most fun we have had in an interview.
In the new discussion segment of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun discuss themes that resonated with them during the interview. In response to this week's interview with DJ Rekha, our host discuss the nature of what was one of the more difficult interviews they have had. Akaash was particularly angry about how he felt dismissed and condescended to. They attempt to sift through the tone and attitude to get to the things they valued from the interview. Some of those topics include the necessity to know history, and how it affects the way we see the present; the nature of our community differentiating from other members of the community and how that hurts us; and fashion somehow also comes up, in regards to how the change in attitude towards South Asian clothing is reflective of where we are now. They then engage with the community through their new forum section of the website, as well as the tweets and emails they receive. This week that includes topics of black and white identity, a series of critiques about the past interview, and the possible futility of cultural preservation. They also get to announce their new partnership with audioBoom! As always we ask y'all to review and rate. Discuss and share our podcast! We are only as strong as our community and we continue to hope you join!
It's funny: in discussing culture and community, we have talked about language, movies, family, religion and sex. I think we are missing a fairly major one though...Oh yeah! Music! Music is one of the purest form sof expression- an art form that cuts through to the core of who we are. So it stands to argue that look at a people's music gives a glimpse into who they are. So what does that mean for the American Desi community? Well, there has been one form of South Asian music that has come to dominate the landscape of Desi music in the US: Bhangra.This week we are thrilled to speak with Rekha Malhotra, better known as DJ Rekha. Akaash calls her the first "cool indian" in American culture and others have called her the reason Bhangra came to the US. She is best known for her monthly parties that have been going on in NYC since 1997 called Basement Bhangra.We sit down with her to speak about the origins of her monthly parties and how they grew out of her childhood home basement. We talk about how her South Asianness affected her growing up and how that has influenced the way she lives her life today. How a streak of activism was borne into her that manifests in the contracts she has for her parties. We then segue into the nature of the South Asian identity and what that really even means. There of course was no concrete resolution as disagreement and debate broke out about the need for community. Rekha expresses her thoughts on the negative aspects of it and in general seems to disagree with much of what we say. Make sure to check it out and let us know what you think!
In the new discussion segment of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun discuss themes that resonated with them during the interview. In response to this week's interview with Aman Ali, Akaash and Arjun discuss the nature of a Muslim community versus a Desi community, and how they can integrate or be the same. They also talk about the nature of integrity and how that ties in with responsibility for entertainers. They discuss Aman's point about addiction to fame and then somehow get off topic into the nature of addiction itself. Our hosts get passionate about how dope it is that Aman is doing this for his people and addressing the issues that really affect them. They then engage with the community through their new forum section of the website, as well as the tweets and messages they receive. This week that includes topics of youtube superstars shifting paradigms, anti-blackness in the Indian community, and a white woman who seems to care more about our community than brown folk. As always we ask y'all to review and rate. Discuss and share our podcast! We are only as strong as our community and we continue to hope you join!
We often talk about the different countries that make up the South Asian region: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. But we haven’t spoken as much about the different religions that contribute up the South Asian experience: Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastriansim, Jainism, Sikhim, Christianity, and on and on. That changes today. We were thrilled that Aman Ali took some time to sit down with us to explore issues facing the Muslim community in America, and how that community can be integrated into the Desi community we so often discuss. Aman started off as a comic from Ohio who transitioned to storyteller when he got notoriety for his critically acclaimed project: 30 Mosques in 30 days. The conversation naturally starts of with that project and how it came about. Aman shares the naiveté he brought into the idea and the rich history of the Muslim community he was able to find. We, much to nobody's surprise, then move the convo to the idea of community, and chart how his cultural identity shifted at different points in his life. Aman then opens up about how even though he identifies strongly with a Muslim community, he struggles with the portion of that community that he deems, “holier than thou.” He tells us how he thinks the “purity” that that segment pushes is a root cause of many of the issues affecting the youth he knows. Once we have explored where Muslims are at this moment, we move to the broader community and pose this question: if Islam becomes the primary identifying factor for Muslims instead of their Desi identity, can we create a true South Asian American community? We debate the cause of such a phenomena in the first place, then discuss how we can move forward to what Aman says is his dream of integration. We end with a passionate intellectual sermon about the responsibility of an artist and how the addiction to fame can create a reality where there is just too much noise, and not enough talking. As always there will be a discussion in a few days so hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or our website:www.americandesispodcast.com
In the "discussion" segment of American Desis, Akaash and Arjun speak about themes that resonated with them during the interview. This week, in response to Gotham Chopra's interview Akaash and Arjun begin by with gushing about Gotham's humility and hospitality, and dive into Arjun's man crush on him. The conversation then moves to a discussion on what we're holding on to, holding a space for South Asian and American Culture, and Gotham's name change. In the community section, Akaash continue the name discussion in response to a lister's thoughts on the issue, and then move into language. How important is holding onto language when holding onto culture? Also, Arjun has big news to share with us, and he is extremely complimentary of Akaash, and Akaash handles those compliments poorly. As always, remember to rate, subscribe, review, download, and spread the word. We are only as strong as our community and we continue to hope you will join!
Mentors. Teachers. Gurus. Friends. Sponsors. What do all of these have in common? They are people who help us find the way. Whether its the way through a specific issue, as a sponsor does with substance abuse; or in a big way- how to walk though life as the most open and full version of ourselves. Sometimes they come to us and stay with us for long periods of time and sometimes they pop in for a moment of a time and then disappear. On this podcast, we have been fortunate to speak with several people who taught us something, who in some ways showed us the way. To share one of those interviews with you feels like the most appropriate way to start off this new journey as “American Desis.” So today we are pleased to drop our interview with the wonderful Gotham Chopra. Gotham is a first generation Indian American who is now a filmmaker/story teller and while he may be well known as being Deepak Chopra’s son, in reality he is so much more. He had a big year in 2015, directing two documentaries about two legendary sports figures, Muse and the The Little Master. Muse is about the American cultural icon in Kobe Bryant, and The Little Master is about an Indian Diety Sachin Tendulkar. We start the interview at this point asking whether it was important to tell a story from both American and South Asian culture, and from there we dive right in to identity. We chart how these projects got started and learn why Gotham may need to be called the godfather of cricket in America. We explore the commonalities between these Kobe and Sachin, and how the exploration of “greatness” is the spine between both.
We then chart Gotham’s personal growth from a Journalist to a filmmaker, and how his Indian identity influenced those transitions. We discuss how he changed the spelling of his name to move further in his career, and yet as the founder of "Graphic India", feels a responsibility and passion to represent his heritage in a more grounded way. We speak on his transition from identifying as "South Asian" to "American", which leads to the hosts fascination with Gotham's ability to hold space for both identities without conflict, and how he manages to do so. Finally, the conversation moves to his son- the next generation- and how he goes about treating this next generation, as well as his responsibilities to it. A discussion will drop in a few days. So please go to the website and comment in the forum. Also feel free to tweet us @AmericanDesis, or respond to our Facebook page at "American Desis Podcast". Also please rate, review, and subscribe to the episodes. And keep downloading!
Welcome to American Desis. This is a show where two young men, Akaash Singh and Arjun Gupta, explore what it means to be a South Asian in America today. They navigate issues such as assimilation, cultural appropriation and preservation, shame, language and accents, and even names.
In their inaugural episode, Akaash and Arjun tell you why they started this podcast, what they are trying to accomplish, and they introduce you, the listeners, to their unique format. After releasing an interview with a guest one day, they release a discussion episode a few days later. During the discussion episode, Akaash and Arjun speak on things that came up during the interview and how they personally relate to these issues. In an effort to further build a community, they read and respond to tweets, website responses, and Facebook messages from the listeners.. To give you an idea of what the discussion will be like: in this first episode Akaash and Arjun speak about a Facebook message that was sent to them recently which deals with insecurity and how it affects their ethnic identity. They also engage with some tweets about how sex fits in to the shifting the western identity of Indians and whether racism plays into South Asian success.
So who are these guests? Where do they come from? And is this discussion fun? Well, I guess you gotta listen to this episode to find out!