Avani Modi Sarkar is the Co-founder of Modi Toys, an award-winning children's brand of toys and books, rooted in South Asian culture and Hindu faith. After welcoming her first child, she set out on a mission to spark curiosity in children about their roots. On this episode, we talk to Avani about starting a business, investing in yourself, building a community and working with family.

Rajvinder Khaira is a lawyer, author and anti-oppression activist.

In this episode, I talk to Raj about Ladoos, smashing the South Asian patriarchy, one sexist custom at a time. We also talk about reindeer, kidlit and belonging.

Raj is the founder of the globally acclaimed, award winning campaign, the Pink Ladoo Project. The Pink Ladoo Project is a global gender equality campaign dismantling patriarchy by encouraging South Asian families in the diaspora to abandon sexist customs and celebrate girls' births. The campaign has inspired the celebration of the birth of thousands of South Asian girls across the diaspora.

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A conversation on motherhood, with my mom Deena Mirchandani.

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Trisha Sakhuja-Walia is the CEO and Founder of Brown Girl Magazine, a digital stomping ground for South Asians to challenge traditions and embrace feminism.

Neha Patel is a writer and Brown Girl Magazine staffer. Her short story, Someday, Maybe, was published in the Brown Girl Magazine anthology, Untold: Defining Moments of the Uprooted.

Untold, a Brown Girl Magazine anthology, is a collection of real stories that explores the South Asian experience in the US, UK and Canada through the lens of identity, being, and relationships. Thirty-two emerging voices share deeply personal moments relating to immigration, infertility, divorce, mental health, sexual orientation, gender identity, racism, colorism, casteism, religion, and much more.

In this episode I talk to Trisha and Neha about our Untold stories, something they are both working on changing.

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Aarti Virani is an arts and culture writer, covering the South Asian diaspora. Born and raised in Kobe, Japan, she now lives in Jersey City, New Jersey, with her husband and son. 

Steered by curiosity, empathy and cross-cultural communication, Aarti tells stories that shine a light on people and communities that are often overlooked. It’s a passion she's nurtured since arriving in the United States nearly 20 years ago. Her writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Saveur, Surface, Endless Vacation, and Travel + Leisure, among other publications.

In this episode we talk about immigrant parents, diasporic Desis and hyphens.

You can find Aarti in Vogue India, where she’s a contributing editor, and at aartivirani.com.

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Brown Mom is back for Season 2 and we're kicking it all off with Satjeet Kaur, Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition. On this episode, we spill the chai about Pandemic holidays, Khalsa school, growing up Brown in New Jersey, Sikhi and lots more.

Satjeet Kaur serves as the Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States. Though she became Executive Director in 2018, she has worked in nearly every core facet of the organization’s work throughout her more than 10 years on the team. During that time, Kaur has served as a leading organizer and activist providing direct support to Sikh communities across the country, from responding to crises such as hate crimes to organizing advocacy campaigns for Sikhism to be accurately included in education standards and mobilizing Sikh civic engagement. Last year, she was named as one of 15 Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress.

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SikhCoalition.org on the Interwebs

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Glad we're back for Season 2? So are we! Subscribe, review and share. Not glad? Keep it moving. The Internet is a big place and you're bound to find *something* you like.

I’ve been thinking about the kisan protest for months now. I've been educating myself with articles, talking to friends and community leaders and making donations to organizations like the Sikh Coalition And Khalsa Aid. But let me be clear: I am not an expert. I want to learn more and I know lots of us want to know what is happening in India and what we can do.

That’s why I’m really grateful to have Mallika Kaur on this special episode of Brown Mom.

Mallika Kaur is a writer, lawyer, community organizer who focuses on human rights, with a specialization in gender and minority issues in the United States and South Asia. Her new book “Faith, Gender, and Activism in the Punjab Conflict: The Wheat Fields Still Whisper” was recently published by Palgrave MacMillan. She is the co-founder of the Sikh Family Center, the only Sikh American organization focused on gender-based violence. Kaur teaches skills-based and experiential social justice classes at UC Berkeley School of Law.

Brown Mom stands with the #FarmersProtest.

Aparna Shewakramani is the breakout star of Netflix's hit TV show Indian Matchmaking. She became an overnight ambassador for women demanding to be heard—in their love lives, workplaces, and in every space they occupy.

While she did practice law full time for 10 years, Aparna is currently on sabbatical and working on her first book based on the show and her life experiences.

On this episode, I talk to Aparna about marriage, Seema from Mumbai, dating after being on a hit TV show, villain music, career switches and Lilly Singh. I also may have signed up to be her new matchmaker. (Just call me Raakhee from Hoboken.)

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For our first live show, Brown Mom teamed up with Brown Girl Mag and Ravi Patel and Neel Shah, Creators of Netflix's Bhaag Beanie Bhaag. 

In this episode, we talk to Patel and Shah about babies, bathroom leaks, shooting in India and what it’s like to be Brown in Hollywood. 

A little about Bhaag Beanie Bhaag: Unhappy at work and engaged to a man who doesn't quite get her, aspiring stand up comic Beanie Bhatnagar realizes she's on a fast track to a life that she doesn't exactly want. The first season of this hilarious new Netflix comedy, created by Ravi Patel and Neel Shah, and starring Swara Bhaskar, follows Beanie as she chases her dreams. 

Ravi Patel is an actor, documentarian, philanthropist and director of the autobiographical documentary, "Meet the Patels." He is also the director of HBO Max's four-part docuseries "Ravi Patel's Pursuit of Happiness." Ravi currently lives in L.A. with his wife and daughter. Follow him on Twitter @showmetheravi. 

Neel Shah is a writer and producer, known for The Bold Type, Powerless and Men at Work. Neel lives in LA with his partner and a newborn daughter.

Supriya Kelkar is an author, illustrator, and screenwriter who grew up in the Midwest, where she learned Hindi as a child by watching three Hindi movies a week.

Supriya’s books are exceptional. There’s the award-winning Ahimsa, the darling and important The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh and American As Paneer Pie, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2020. And she's got three books coming out this year: Strong As Fire, Fierce As Flame, Bindu's Bindis and That Thing About Bollywood, all available for pre-order now.

In this episode, I talk to Supriya about Bollywood, Bakwaas and Brown stories. We also talk about Sridevi, bringing PB&J for school lunch, Amar Chitra Katha comics and dive into our complicated love of 90s Desi movie classics.

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