Deep, Down & Desi

In this episode of Fresh To Death, Saima and Maleena discuss how honest you can be about your grief and what it’s like dealing with death in unfamiliar surroundings.

Maleena uncovers an incredible story of a young woman who goes on holiday with her secret boyfriend and tragically has to return home without him.

Back at the café, Saima and Maleena chat about the complex cultural issues when discussing the most personal of circumstances, including who you can share your love and pain with.

Saima opened Masala Wala cafe with her family, a small Pakistani restaurant that serves her mother’s recipes with love and charm. Out of nowhere, she was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer, before she even turned 30. Her life has been dramatically cut short - without treatment, she wouldn’t be here today.

After dealing with her diagnosis, she talks frankly on how she’s getting over dying, so she can get on with living.

Maleena, a Journalist and Producer, lost her brother when they were both teenagers, after a long battle with leukaemia. As she became an adult, her father passed away suddenly and without warning. She shares openly what it’s like growing up with grief, the guilt of being left behind and how her identity as a British Asian was tested to its limits.

Together, they bond over their unique perspectives on life and death and ponder the ultimate question - why?

Join them for their chat over a cup of chai - this could be the most important podcast of your afterlife...

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can find support at the BBC Action line for bereavement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement

In this episode of Fresh To Death, Saima and Maleena explore what it's like to deal with death in the family.

They speak to Raj, who started a Will writing service for the Sikh community with his wife, before being hit with the cruellest of coincidences. Can the experience of dealing with death as a professional help you grieve your own personal losses?

Saima opened Masala Wala cafe with her family, a small Pakistani restaurant that serves her mother’s recipes with love and charm. Out of nowhere, she was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer, before she even turned 30. Her life has been dramatically cut short - without treatment, she wouldn’t be here today.

After dealing with her diagnosis, she talks frankly on how she’s getting over dying, so she can get on with living.

Maleena, a Journalist and Producer, lost her brother when they were both teenagers, after a long battle with leukaemia. As she became an adult, her father passed away suddenly and without warning. She shares openly what it’s like growing up with grief, the guilt of being left behind and how her identity as a British Asian was tested to its limits.

Together, they bond over their unique perspectives on life and death and ponder the ultimate question - why?

Join them for their chat over a cup of chai - this could be the most important podcast of your afterlife...

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can find support at the BBC Action line for bereavement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement

In this episode of Fresh To Death, Saima and Maleena share their experiences of dealing with death.

Saima opened Masala Wala cafe with her family, a small Pakistani restaurant that serves her mother’s recipes with love and charm. Out of nowhere, she was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer, before she even turned 30. Her life has been dramatically cut short - without treatment, she wouldn’t be here today.

After dealing with her diagnosis, she talks frankly on how she’s getting over dying, so she can get on with living.

Maleena, a Journalist and Producer, lost her brother when they were both teenagers, after a long battle with leukemia. As she became an adult, her father passed away suddenly and without warning. She shares openly what it’s like growing up with grief, the guilt of being left behind and how her identity as a British Asian was tested to its limits.

Together, they bond over their unique perspectives on life and death and ponder the ultimate question - why?

Join them for their chat over a cup of chai - this could be the most important podcast of your afterlife...

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can find support at the BBC Action line for bereavement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement

In a community saturated by talk of babies and marriages, British Asian bereavement is curiously complicated - and often ignored.

Family, religious and cultural issues make each passing unique from the mainstream and brings in sharp focus the generational expectations that can cause further heartache at a time of sensitivity.

Fresh To Death is out to change that.

Restaurateur Saima Thompson is living with a terminal diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer and filmmaker Maleena Pone lost her teenage brother to leukaemia and father to a sudden heart attack.

Together, they explore their own perspective of being British Asian women dealing with death - and speak to others with a range of unique perspectives, from will writing to funerals, mental health to cultural traditions.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme you can find support at the BBC Action line for bereavement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement

Raul considers the paradox of being an atheist Hindu, but the truth is hard to digest.

Raul has always loved the old stories of Hinduism – the monkey gods, elephant heads, and frolicking milkmaids – but he’s not so sure what they actually mean to him, spiritually speaking.

In his quest to find out whether Hinduism has to be a 24/7 commitment or more of a pick ‘n’ mix thing, Raul has a final heart-to-heart with the Pandit Satish K Sharma, reads some of the most outrageous stories in the Vedas and, well, experiences a purge of sorts…

Raul attempts to justify his diet – but will the Pandit have beef with the way he eats?

In this episode, Raul weighs up the needs of the planet, the advice of the Hindu scriptures and the demands of his own stomach to figure out if it’s time to give up eating meat. He goes out for breakfast with his comedian friend Kiran Morjaria, entertains his audiences with a story about sausages and returns to the temple to chew it all over with Pandit Satish K Sharma.

As a kid, when Raul went to the school dinner hall he’d have to wear a big sticker saying NO BEEF. When he was a teenager, he smuggled meatball marinaras into the house under the cover of darkness. But now, what with climate activists making us all feel guilty, he’s starting to think that Hindus had it right all along. But if humans weren’t supposed to eat meat…why do we find it so darn delicious?!

Millennia before the West started reassessing the concept of gender, India had the Hijra.

When researching for this podcast, Raul was surprised to discover that, in Hinduism, gender non-conformity is nothing new. The origin of the Hijra can be found in ancient Indian folk stories, but they are also a real community of transwomen that live in India today. Many people still believe that they are mystical beings and that they can confer blessings and curses.

In this episode Raul investigates the complex subject of gender in Hinduism and in India. He speaks to his comedian friend Sindhu Vee, the trans activist Kalki Subramaniam and, of course, his ever-helpful guide Pandit Satish K Sharma.

What’s the role of marijuana in Hinduism? Raul takes it upon himself to find out.

When Raul was 19 years old, he received a surprising call from his mother. It was Maha Shivratri, she said, and officially the one day in the Hindu calendar that smoking marijuana was permitted. (Not by UK law, of course.) This got Raul thinking – maybe his lifestyle was more aligned with the Hindu faith than he thought?

In this episode, Raul has a surprising conversation with the Pandit Satish K Sharma, he talks to Hannah Deacon about her battle to get access to medical marijuana for her son and introduces us to the notorious Spekky Rizwan.

Raul Kohli discovers that he owes the universe the debt of his body. No pressure then.

When it comes to the birds and the bees, Raul was arranged a marriage before he was arranged a sex education lesson. Add to that the confusing depictions of romance in Bollywood films and the fact that Krishna married 18,000 milkmaids, it’s fair to say that there are some mixed messages going on. So, Raul sets out to discover if Hindus are as conservative about sex as his Mum wanted him to believe.

In this episode, Raul chats to his comedian friend Anuvab Pal, seeks advice from his pandit, the Hindu scholar Satish K Sharma, bares all to his live audiences and reads the Kama Sutra cover to cover…for research purposes, ok?

Raul discovers there’s way more to yoga than sexy leggings and expensive beach retreats.

As a stand-up comedian, Raul’s mind is always going at a million miles a minute, while his body travels to all four corners of the globe performing comedy to late-night crowds. But this lifestyle is taking its toll, and he wants to find ways to keep the stress down.

In this episode, Raul chats to his comedian friend Sukh Ojla, seeks advice from the esteemed scholar Satish K Sharma, finds his flow with wise yogi Ravi Dixit and puts his theories to live comedy audiences.

Turns out that, thousands of years before the West started banging on about mindfulness and self-care, Hindus had already found the path to tranquility.