Desi Outsiders

This week, we spoke to Trisha Sakhuja Walia, the CEO of Brown Girl Magazine. This incredible online magazine serves as an anchor for South Asians who believe in gender equality. Their content provides a connection between the readers, the trailblazers, community leaders, and all the badass women in the South Asian community.

We spoke to Trisha about how this small idea had started back in 2008, and how 10 years later, they’ve grown and expanded in the US, London and Canada. Not only do they have their website running with over 150 contributors, they also successfully run their own YouTube channel and recently launched a podcast - queeringdesi. Trisha discusses everything from the ethos of Brown Girl Magazine to how they strive to become the powerhouse of South Asian media for Desis abroad.

Show notes:

Website: www.browngirlmagazine.com

Get in touch with Trisha: www.instagram.com/tsakhuja_walia

Get in touch with Brown Girl Magazine staff: [email protected]

This week, we’re delighted to bring you one the most inspiring stories you will hear on this podcast. Our guest Malvika Iyer was just 13 when a grenade blast in her own bedroom in Bikaner almost killed her. She immediately lost both her hands, her feet were completely disfigured, she suffered from 80% blood loss, and her BP was zero. Doctors were not sure if she’d survive and once she survived, they weren’t sure if she’d ever walk again in her life.

18 months later, Malvika bagged a State rank for her 10 board exams that she only prepared for three months. A little over a decade later, she walked the ramp as a show stopper for a fashion show, and just a few months ago, she was awarded her PHD and the prestigious Nari Puraskar award on Women’s Day.

Show notes:

Malvika Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvika_Iyer

Malvika’s Website: https://malvikaiyer.wordpress.com/

This week, we have two very special guests on our show!

Chris and Renata have been tirelessly working on building the first ever cricket academy in Czech Republic. Since they started the project in 2015, they have dealt with rejection, theft, extreme weather conditions and culture barriers.

Just three months into 2018, they have managed to reach over 10,000 kids and introduce them to the sport. Despite the resistance they have faced from many locals who have no idea about the sport, they have managed to receive sustainable funding and even getting the local government and mayor involved in their local leagues.

Resources:

http://en.kriketovaakademie.com/home.html

Twitter: @AkademieKriketu

This week, we spoke to Manpreet Toor, a dancer, choreographer, and entrepreneur based in California. You must know Manpreet from her early days where she danced with her friend, Naina.

Now Manpreet has been collaborating with big names in the industry - she recently worked with Punjabi By Nature and also gave us some exclusive news which she hasn’t spoken about just yet!

This mini Navrati, we bring you the internet’s favourite Gujju, Parle Patel from Planet Parle. We discuss his life as a British Asian who spent 6 years of his life in Australia, and also has family roots in Kenya and Gujarat. Parle talks to us about being a blend of these three cultures, his experience with mental health, and his journey from the time he was a child and his parents forced a camera in his face, asking him to make a home documentary, to how he started his own YouTube channel. Today, Parle hosts his own radio show on the BBC Asian Network and is a pivotal force in reviving the Gujarati culture amongst British Asians.

Last Thursday, on International Women’s Day, we interviewed Lauren C. Anderson, one of the first ever women selected for the FBI swat team! When an 11-year-old Lauren toured the FBI Headquarters in New York, she was told by her tour guide that girls could never be FBI agents because they would just sit around all day painting their nails. 15 years later, she not only joined the FBI but also travelled all around the globe after the 9/11 attacks. Lauren speaks to us about her views on women's safety, terrorism, and responsible change making in this world.

On Women’s Day, we present to you our second male guest of this season, Shobhit Banwait. We’re quite sure most of our Desi listeners have seen Shobhit playing his Tabla with his six-winged ceiling fan in the background. He started off by making videos using his simple smartphone and zero equipment but today, Shobhit is one of the most famous tabla artists on the internet, creating beautiful fusions within all genres of music. Enjoy!

This week, we bring you our conversation with Zohra Moosa, the Executive Director of Mama Cash, an organization that supports the financial prospects of women, girls, trans and intersex people around the world who fight for their human rights.

Mama Cash was conceived around a kitchen table in Amsterdam in 1983. Since then, they have grown from a group of five feminist activists into an international fund that supports women’s, girls’ and trans people’s movements around the world.

As a brown, queer, Desi migrant, Zohra talks to us about intersectional feminism and the work she does with Mama Cash to support feminist causes around the world.

This week we are in conversation with Pranav Punjabi - a youtube, Viner, and online content creator. Pranav started his comedy journey at the age of 16 and he fell in love with the laughter of others around him. He continued to work hard on his passion for comedy and today uses his platform to address some very serious social issues which are difficult to voice in our desi community. So join us as we discuss comedy, mental health, and feminism with Pranav!

This week we bring you our conversation Shaili Chopra, a face you might already be familiar with. She’s an Indian business journalist, author and entrepreneur who has worked extensively with NDTV and is also the founder of shethepeople.tv - “A video story-telling space that inspires women, strengthens their efforts, exchanges leadership ideas, fosters networking and reinforces their ability to contribute to growth.”

Shaili’s world is full of incredible experiences as a journalist including one where she and her husband covered the Mumbai terror attacks live for three days from the Taj Mahal palace hotel in Mumbai. She was named one of India's 50 most influential women in media, marketing and advertising by Impact Magazine. Enjoy!