Expert By Experience Podcasts

Expert By Experience is incredibly proud to launch our 2nd podcast series which is entitled 'Hum Baat Karenge' (translation: 'Let's Talk').

Hum Baat Karenge is a podcast led by Arooj Khan and Taimour Fazlani and it is a bi-weekly podcast where we discuss 3 topics from an intersectional & critical lens.

Our aim is to look at everything going in the world & discuss how it will impact people of colour/communities, those with mental health issues & intersecting identities.

For our first ever episode we discussed the following 3 topics:

- Lockdown no.2 in the UK

- PPE and the Tory government

- Imran Khan banning Tinder & Grindr

We hope you enjoy our first ever episode. As always, if you have any feedback please do send it through to [email protected]

Love,

Arooj & Taimour

For the 13h episode of Voices Of Experience,  I was joined by Kapil Seshasayee who is a musician, activist & founder of Desifuturism.com

In this episode, Kapil and I spoke about caste, music and performative activism in South Asian communities. Kapil also explored identity and belonging as someone who's proudly Scottish.

It was so much fun speaking to Kapil who is quite a vocal & passionate individual. It's been a pleasure to get to know Kapil during lockdown and I look forward to supporting his music as he takes his deeply political taste farther into the music industry. 

For the 12th episode of Voices Of Experience,  I was joined by Sajni & Rupa, who make up the founding team of Dear Brown People. DBP is a incredible Instagram community which explores life within the South Asian diaspora.

In this episode, Rupa, Sajni and I spoke about the inspiration behind DBP, their aims going forward and ultimately what drives them on a daily bases.

Following our dialogue around DBP, we also spoke about identity and culture. More importantly, we delved into the work that they do and how their view of the role they play as progressives in South Asian communities has shifted since founding DBP.

It was so lovely to speak to both Sajni and Rupa, especially as they recently invited me onto their interview series. I really look forward to seeing DBP grow and will be supporting their critical work every step of the way.

In this special episode of Voices Of Experience, I had a candid conversation with my close-friend Arooj Khan. Arooj and I both grew up in Essex - which is a predominantly white-area with its own unique 'culture'. 

During this podcast, Arooj and I had an honest conversation about our experiences of growing up in Essex as desi folks. Detailing our experiences we spoke about our white curiosities, desire to fit in the 'Essex way of life' and the severe racism we experienced growing up and still do to this day.

While we recognise that South Asian folks in Essex make up a very small minority and that the audience we're catering to in this podcast is quite a niche,  there are for parallels for other South Asian folks who have grown up in predominantly white areas. 

We hope you enjoy our candid conversation.

#TheOnlyWayIsNotEssex

For the 11th episode of Voices Of Experience,  I was joined by Kaya Kannan who is a disability stigma activist.

In this episode, Kaya and I spoke about the stigma she's experienced due to her physical disability. Kaya also explored disability stigma in South Asian communities through her own experiences.

Following our dialogue around her personal experiences,  Kaya and I spoke about what able-bodied individuals such as myself can do to tackle disability stigma in our homes, communities & wider society.

It was such an honour to speak to Kaya, especially in the context of me knowing her for 17 years through secondary school. It's a joy to see Kaya continue on her journey of self-acceptance and we at EBE will be supporting every step of the way.

For the 10th episode of Voices Of Experience, I was joined by Dr Pavan Joshi who is a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS and he also has his own private practice.

Dr Joshi is a specialist in the field of Series Mental Illnesses, which is why we invited him onto our podcast dedicated to World Suicide Prevention Day 2020.

In this episode,  Dr Joshi and I spoke about mental health for the LGBTQ+ communities in the South Asian diaspora and the challenges they face in terms of accessing the right support that they need.

Following our dialogue around mental health in South Asian communities with a specific focus on the LGBTQ+ communities, Dr Joshi and I spoke about suicide. Dr Joshi elaborated in an accessible language the data around suicide in South Asian communities.

It was an honour to speak to Dr Joshi about a subject like suicide and self-harm. These are not easy subjects to explore, however, it's important that we do discuss them and I very much appreciate that Dr Joshi spoke about it in such a loving and accessible way.

Trigger warning: suicide, self-harm

For the 9th episode of Voices Of Experience, I was joined by Har1karan, who is a coordinator for the Chai in the City forum in Central London by Taraki. Harkaran is also a self-published photographer who's recently released his own book entitled 'PIND' which is a beautiful portrait of a village in rural Punjab.

In this episode,  Harkaran and I started our dialogue by talking about the male mental health forums created by Taraki where he is a facilitator. Harkaran spoke about his journey as a facilitator and he also gave tips for any self-identifying male out there on how to get started if they wanted to set something similar up in their area.

Following our dialogue around mental health Harkaran and I spoke about his beautiful community-based photography. We spoke about belonging, diaspora experiences and the role photography plays in allowing South Asian voices to create their own narrative.

Hope you enjoy this wonderful dialogue I had with an incredible photographer, facilitator and ultimately a friend.

Invited on as a guest I was recently interviewed as part of an Instagram live Q&A with the wonderful people at Where I'm Coming From (WICF).

Where I'm Coming From is an important monthly open mic which features underrepresented writers in Wales - an ethos that aligns with our mission to platform underrepresented/marginalised voices ✊🏽

In this Q&A we spoke about a variety of subjects such as my history, the inspiration behind Expert By Experience,  boundaries as a writer who delves mainly in mental health & more!

Hope you enjoy this wonderful Q&A.

For the 8th episode of Voices Of Experience, I was joined by Manvinder Kaur, who is a co-lead at Asra.

Manvinder's research and work focus on the intersections of Sikhi and alcohol.

In this episode, Manvinder spoke about alcohol abuse/misuse in the Sikhi community.

She also delved into what drives her work at Asra, which is an initiative designed towards helping Punjabi families navigate problems with alcohol.

an incredibly passionate activist and researcher, Manvinder and I had an important yet honest conversation around alcohol.

We hope you enjoy the episode and find it informative.

Really looking forward to having her back on the podcast!

For the 7th episode of Voices Of Experience, I was joined by Dr.Devika Patel, who is a psychiatrist based in the UK.

In this episode (a first of its kind for me as Devika asked me to not do any research!), Devika took me through the whole journey of being referred to a psychiatrist through the NHS for a serious mental illness - with me serving as a hypothetical patient. 

Being referred to a psychiatrist is a process not many people are aware off in the general public (including me) unless you've previously engaged with this process yourself or for a family member/friend. 

Taking incredible care, Devika explained each step of the process in clear and accessible language while allowing me to ask questions. 

An incredibly important and educational podcast, we'd highly recommend listening to it because our aim is to have Devika on the podcast again soon so that we can continue the dialogue around Serious Mental Illnesses. 

More importantly, if after listening to this podcast you have any further questions please do message us directly. 

Our aim is to cultivate a whole series around Serious Mental Illnesses and the help you can get for them.