Ayesha Aleem speaks to The Ilm's audio editor, Sharad Joshi, about Season 1 - just a fun chat about learnings, challenges and favourite parts. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

For the final episode of Season 1, Ayesha Aleem spoke to Kim of The Picha Project based in Malaysia, an organisation that helps refugee families rebuild their lives by supporting them to build sustainable food business. It's a delicious dose of positivity and change towards a complex problem and what makes Kim and her co-founders cool women doing a cool thing in the world. 

Check out The Picha Project at www.pichaproject.com. 

Thank you for listening to Season 1. We're working on Season 2 and will be back soon. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

If there's anything more frustrating than figuring out how to file taxes, it's probably managing legal formalities. Even at the best times, the law can feel convoluted and confusing. If you're a woman going through a personal crisis, it can feel downright daunting. The reality is that nearly all women will need to access the law, either for themselves or a loved one, at some point during their life. Whether for a case of domestic violence, to file for a divorce, an FIR, to report sexual harassment or dowry harassment, which is still a common problem in India, the law can feel isolating instead of protective. Knowing your rights when going into a complicated situation is a huge part of succeeding in it. Women's rights lawyer at the Bombay High Court, Veena Gowda, tells us what women need to be aware of when navigating these painful circumstances. 

And we'll also hear from Deepika Bhardwaj, a filmmaker who has produced a documentary called Martyrs of Marriage, currently on Netflix, about false accusations of Section 498 A and why she thinks this is a side of crime that deserves more attention. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

On the previous episode, we talked about women and their bodies. This time, we're talking about women and their minds - because mental health isn't talked about nearly enough. Therapist Aakriti Joanna is using Instagram to spread awareness about mental health and in this short conversation, she speaks about some of the issues she's seen affect women in particular. Think of this as an insta-therapy session?

An entire book can written about it. And maybe followed by an entire series. How women feel about their bodies has had us thinking about the topic since forever. The media, the mirror, sometimes our own mothers and our minds have told women what they should look like, what they should eat, what they should wear and how they should behave. And that's when everything is going according to plan. 

No one has accounted for times when our bodies rebel against us. Too many women suffer in silence because their friends and family don't make the effort to understand their ailment. Because, as one woman puts it, the medical community fails them. Because women's health and wellness isn't given as much priority as it needs. 

Ayesha Aleem speaks to three women who cope every day with complex health conditions. These are brave, honest stories that I hope will encourage everyone to love themselves more, to be truly grateful for what our bodies do for us each day, which we often take for granted. And that these stories will remind us to pause and pay attention when someone might be silently calling for help. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

There isn't a single woman who hasn't at some point in her life felt physically threatened either because of how someone looked at her, by what someone did to her or what they said to her. Every woman recognises those pangs of fear that can grip our insides, whether it's dark outside or in broad daylight, whether wearing something that shows skin or while completely covered up, whether the incident followed an action or nothing at all. 

Speak to men and many will say they just don't have these concerns. They don't panic about how to get home late at night. They don't feel like they need to "cover up" their shoulders or legs. They don't worry about how their choice of clothes, attitude, time of day or how something completely unrelated might make them a target of violence. But most women are familiar with all of this. Women in India - a few times over. 

Ayesha Aleem speaks to Holly Wise, Sania Farooqui and Sarah Khan for three different perspectives about what it means to be a woman - and feel safe - in India. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

There are plenty of theories about why hate is directed at women, at their bodies, at their choices and minds - for control, for cultural and social reasons, to remind them that they are inferior and powerless. We'll challenge each of these reasons and undoubtedly win every argument. But when the crime is perpetrated by people who claim to love you, by someone who wins your heart, your trust and fills your life only to take over it - what happens then? Where do you go? How do you run when the only way out feels like an undoing of yourself. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

It's on all our minds, often always on our mind. And yet it doesn't seem like we're any closer to figuring it out. It's complicated and not, simple and not. Why does it seem like we're always at a loss for words when it comes to love? In this episode, Ayesha Aleem speaks to three women who have wildly different experiences with love. Amreen Ahmed is navigating the arranged marriage scene in India, Loretta Abraham has had to cope with the death of her husband a few years ago and Ramya Pandyan has tried a bunch of dating apps and websites. What's your love story? 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

Women and the media, women in the media. How does mainstream media affect women? How does access to certain kinds of information influence their decisions? And who are some of the women shaping media organisations today? How do they work, what kind of work do they do and why do they do what they do? Ayesha Aleem speaks to Dhanya Rajendran, Editor in Chief of The News Minute in Bangalore, India and to the co-founders of the women's newsletter, The Broadsheet, Lakshmi Chaudhry and Shuba Visveswaran. 

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Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram) 

As women's careers get longer and more complex, we could all use a little help to be our best professional selves. Hena Mehta, CEO of Basis and Divya Narayan, Director of Strategy at Lego, share their valuable knowledge about managing money, how to negotiate better salaries and why it's important to focus on yourself and other parts of your life as much as paying attention to matters in the office. 

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Email: [email protected] 

Produced by: Sharad Joshi (@sharadmakesmusic on Instagram)