Have you ever been asked invasive questions from an auntie or uncle such as, "How much do you make?" or "When are you getting married?" Or have your parents urged you to touch the feet of an elder even if it made you uncomfortable? A lack of boundaries can be damaging to one's sense of self worth. In this episode, we talk about the power imbalance this creates, and how to assert your boundaries. We delineate the concept of ownership vs caretaking as it pertains to parents and elders, friends, and more.

In this episode we continue the conversation about trauma bonding and domestic violence from last week. We talk about how the lack of structure in a dysfunctional family affected by domestic violence can affect youth, and the challenges posed by language barriers when reaching out for help. We define how trauma bonding transcends relationships and nests inside an individual, and can often become the root of mental health issues.

Trauma bonding is a serious and often unrecognized psychological concept that is behind a lot of the continual cycles of abuse and violence within the desi community. In this episode, we identify and break down the components of trauma bonding and how it leads to repetitive cycles of abuse. Our guest speaker who has experience working with victims and survivors of domestic abuse gives us a look into what goes on in these types of desi families.

This episode is about anxiety and how it relates to the Desi Condition. We discuss ways in which anxiety manifests as a result of being desi living in the diaspora and reasons for why it has such a negative impact on quality of life.

In this episode, we discuss the prevalence of codependency and it's impact on desi culture. We explore the roots of codependency, trace it back through history on the subcontinent, and touch on colonization and famine culture. Understanding codepency and how it affects our lives on an every day basis is a way for us to grow and heal as a society.

As a desi, have you heard the phrases "sharam nahi!", "besharam", or some variation of that? Most of us are familiar with the sentiment. Shame can be crippling for one's mental and overall health and is a frequent reference for what is acceptable behavior in desi society. But why is shame such a large factor of desi culture? In this episode we explore shame and its ties to South Asian history, mental illness, and the desi condition as well as ways to take our power back and cope by silencing shame.