In today’s day and age, it is getting harder and harder to stand out. Traditionally, we as desi people have always put a huge premium on education, but after a certain point, does more education really help us stand out? What are the ways that we can stand out in today’s competitive world? In this episode, we discuss the ways that individuals can stand out in an increasingly competitive world.

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below. Enjoy!

01:23 – Why are Desi People so Obsessed with Education?

03:07 – [MOVIE Reference] – “Life is a race” via 3 Idiots (Compete or DIE?!)    

07:31 – [STUDY Reference] – Is the World More Competitive Today than Ever Before? (feat. College Admissions (1995 vs. 2020: How College Admissions Has Changed Over the Past 25 Years))

08:10 – How is “Standing Out” in Today’s World Different than “Standing Out” in the Past?

18:36 – [SCENE Reference] – Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address – Sometimes life will hit you in the head like a ton of bricks – do not lose faith. The only way to do great work is to LOVE what you do.

26:50 – Spaced Repetition – This is one of the best ways to improve your memory and learn more about topics that are really important to you. Prerak has created a TON of videos related to this topic, and you can find them here (Anki: ALL YOU WILL EVER NEED)!

Last time we did a Q&A, we got far more questions than we could answer. So, to make sure we could answer a few more of them, we are doing another Q&A. The details for each of the questions and the scenes referenced in the episode can be found below!

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

01:03 – Inside the mind of a master procrastinator via Tim Urban – shows you how to deal with procrastination like a boss!

01:57 – How we deal with Procrastination (& Sofia’s blog post on productivity)

06:50 – Toxic Productivity: What is it and how to manage it?

12:19 – [BOOK Reference] - Atomic Habits (One of the BEST Productivity Books of ALL TIME, please check it out!)

13:18 – SCREW Goals and Focus on Systems Instead (feat. Ali Abdaal)  

14:41 – What are the Factors to Consider When Picking College/Medical School? (feat. Prerak’s Video: Picking a Medical School? Here's What You Need to Consider!)

22:24 – What We’d Change About Our Experience in College and Medical School

Today, the dream job for many kids – including desi kids – is to become an Intagrammer, TikTok-er, and YouTuber. This demonstrates just how interesting the creator economy has become in our day-to-day lives. In this episode, we are going to discuss the details behind what it means to be a creator and some great creators in the desi-space.

The creator economy is defined as the class of businesses built by over 50 million independent content creators, curators, and community builders including social media influencers, bloggers, and videographers, plus the software and finance tools designed to help them with growth and monetization.

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

00:40 –What is the Creator Economy? (there are more than 50 million “creators” and it’s fascinating to see how they’ve created an economy)

02:29 – [Article Reference] Kids now dream of being professional YouTubers rather than astronauts, study finds    

04:49 – Sofia’s Creator Economy Contributions and Prerak’s Creator Economy Contributions

07:20 – Misconceptions Individuals Have Regarding the Creator Economy

14:18 – Challenges of Being a Creator on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube

17:50 – Prerak and Sofia Gossiping about FAKE Creators

Do you ever wonder why our parents often are so averse to us taking “time off” to figure stuff out? Is this a prevalent theme among all desi parents, and if so, what does this say about our culture? If you want to join our next Q/A discussion, please drop us a follow at @redwhitebrownpod. Also feel free to connect with both of us on Instagram: Sofia (@thisgirlnamedSofia) and Prerak (@prerakcity).

 

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

02:56 – [SCENE Reference] Gully Boy Scene about How Harvard Literally Waits for NO ONE (feat. Ranveer Singh

It seems like the older we get, the more we turn into our parents. We’ve been seeing that a lot in ourselves lately and we wanted to use this as a chance to talk about “adulting.” We chat about what it is, how it works, and how we can (slowly) get better at it!

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

01:30 - Progressive Commercial        

03:03 - Adulting Definition 1: This is a really fun definition to get the conversation started! To carry out one or more of the duties and responsibilities expected of fully developed individuals (paying off that credit card debt, settling beef without blasting social media, etc). Exclusively used by those who adult less than 50% of the time

We’re in our mid-20s, and it seems like you can’t turn a single corner without getting into a conversation about weddings. So, we decided we may as well just embrace it and have an entire episode on the topic. The good part is that one of us is married and the other isn’t, so this episode (hopefully) provides a nice balanced view of desi-weddings from a novel perspective.

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

08:21 – [SCENE Reference] – The Big Day (via Netflix): Describe just why weddings are so importent in Desi culture because they symbolize the two families coming together.

11:53 – [DATA Reference] – What Percent of Desi People Do/Did Feel Pressured to Have a Large Wedding  (done super meticulously through IG

**SPOILER ALERT: We do discuss scenes of Never Have I Ever in this podcast, so if you are planning to watch the show, please go ahead and skip this podcast!**

Never Have I Ever is a coming of age show that announced that it will be releasing season 3 soon! In light of this announcement, we wanted to talk about the issue of desi-representation within the media. In reviewing Never Have I Ever, we are talking about the normalization of diversity in SO many ways. There is the normalization of mental health struggles, lived experiences, sexuality, and even race. It’s interesting how the show incorporates each of these themes without making them the central tenet of the shot.

 

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

06:56 – [SCENE Reference] – Never Have I Ever: Where Rebecca totally Schools Paxton (LOL)

10:11 – [SCENE Reference] – Devi Breaks Down Sexism in a Pretty Damn Awesome Way  

11:42 - [SCENE Reference] – Kamala goes HAM in Standing Up for Herself!

13:30 – [NEWS Reference] – Canada's Maitreyi Ramakrishnan named one of TIME's next 100 most influential people

15:51 - [SCENE Reference] – The Subtleties of the Indian Accent  

18:12 - [SCENE Reference] – The TRUE Desi-American Accent   

20:12 - Criticisms of the Show

24:14 – Where is Season 3 Headed?

Remember that box of cookies that you had as a kid that turned out to be filled with household supplies? What about the plastic bag at home that’s filled with a million other plastic bags? Isn’t it crazy how these experiences are so shared among desi-immigrants? And more importantly, isn’t it interesting how both of these examples show how there is a certain level of sustainability built into the first-generation immigrant mentality? In today’s episode, we dig deeper into the realm of sustainability and what it means to be sustainable from the desi-immigrant lens! Throughout the episode, we discuss how we, as desi-americans, can become more sustainable and be more proactive about the forces negatively impacting our planet.

 

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

07:17 – [MEME Reference] – “Remember Royal Dansk Cookie Jars?”  (LOL)

12:08 – [VIDEO Reference] – The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion via the Stud Muffin Hasan Minhaj (Patriot Act)

14:18 – [Article Reference] – Recycling in India: A Market in Transition

08:22 [ARTICLE Reference] – “There are more S&P 500 CEOs named Michael or James than women chief executives” (I said KEVIN in the show, so slightly off, but my point still stand haha).

16:17 [VLOGGER/COOL PERSON Alert] – Afshan Nasseri – Creator who is VERY Knowledgeable about the Sustainability

According to the BBC, Desi individuals account for 1% of the US population and 6% of Silicon Valley's workforce - and yet are disproportionately represented in the top brass. Why? Is there something in the water? Is there something about our culture?

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

01:02 – [ARTICLE Reference] – “Parag Agrawal: Why Desi CEOs dominate Silicon Valley”

01:40 – [ARTICLE Reference] – Chanel’s Leena Nair joins an expanding tribe of global CEOs with Indian roots

02:05 – [MEME Reference] – “You either die as a founder-run company or live long enough to see your company run by an indian dude.” LOL shameless plug for our Instagram!

08:22 [ARTICLE Reference] – “There are more S&P 500 CEOs named Michael or James than women chief executives” (I said KEVIN in the show, so slightly off, but my point still stand haha).

12:17 [VIDEO Reference] – Indra Nooyi on the role of women in the workplace and on retaining humility | My Life in Full

14:08 [PODCAST Reference] – Satya Nadella on Freakonomics Describing: ““The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”

19:25 [VIDEO Reference] – “Funny indian pronunciations of words Dangerous”

We are BACK! Welcome everyone to SEASON 3, EPISODE 1 of Red, White and Brown. WE have a TON in store for you this season, but we wanted to start with a Q/A to address some common questions we get. If you want to join our next Q/A discussion, please drop us a follow at @redwhitebrownpod. Also feel free to connect with both of us on Instagram: Sofia (@thisgirlnamedSofia) and Prerak (@prerakcity).

Relevant Memes and Bollywood Scenes: 

NOTE: We've hyperlinked the memes referenced in the show below, but they are usually only "click-able" when you listen to the podcast via Apple podcasts on your phone.

00:42 – What is the best way to Cope with Anxiety?

06:29 – [BOOK Recommendation] – The Power of Now written by Eckhart Tolle. You can find the book on Amazon, but you can also listen to a free version of it on YouTube!

06:54 – Things We Regret Not Doing More in College?  

09:31 – [SCENE Reference] – Log Kya Kahenge (Double dare y’all to guess where this is from before clicking on it)!

10:27 – What are the Pros/Cons of Being First Generation Desi-Americans?

12:41 – [SONG Reference] – The OG: None Other Than Vande Mataram!

16:39 – How to Get Started as a Creator on Social Media

18:09 – [BOOK Recommendation] ­– When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi