The Story with Charu

Amanda Brutus-Phillips was always interested in yoga and healing but when her husband died suddenly she fell into her true calling - helping people process death while living fully in the present.

For more information about her work see:
https://holybadassliving.com/
https://www.sacredlifetransitions.com/about

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

This keeps coming back to me as Covid-19 spreads across our nation and we look at what other countries have had to do to control the spread. I am tempted to talk about science and epidomolgy but I’m not a public health scientist or a doctor - I’m a journalist by training - and that makes me a jack of all trades. I know enough to be scared. I’m concerned about what I’m seeing - a lack of organization or awareness.  I feel anxious because I know I can only control so much. Here is what I am doing now: *Looking at only a select few, non-inflamatory, news sources.  See Learn to Discern in Season 1 for more on that.  *Come back to the present moment and be thankful for 3 things in that very moment.  *Being grateful is the remedy for a scarcity mindset - nobody is making good decisions when they panic.*Trying to remember that other people’s actions and behavior is a symptom of their own issues - and I honestly can’t do anything to help them other than show leadership and courage in my own actions and behavior.
This whole thing has come at a weird time for me.  I love being socially and had actually taken a break over the winter months - and now this happens.  I actually wrote a family statement to decline social events:  That is so kind of you to ask! In order for a quarantine to be effective we must all practice it.  This will allow our public health officials and medical doctors/nurses to take care of the upcoming surge of serious cases. Looking at what's happened in other countries (and the lack of organization and acknowledgement on the forefront here) many of us are carrying Corvid-19 and passing it on unknowingly.  We've made a decision to keep to ourselves to allow the spread to slow down some.” 
Trying to fully understand what’s happening is like taking a picture of a fast moving river and saying “this is the river.”  The river is changing every second.  Have grace and compassion for the people who work in public health as they try to work with private businesses, government (which has failed on a national level) and schools.  Have grace and compassion with those who aren’t taking this seriously.  Have grace and compassion for yourself because most of us having never dealt with anything like this.  I feel really called to say and remind everyone that all of us are strong and resilient people.   We will be inconvenienced for months possibly.  We may not have the certainity we want and crave.  We will have to be mindful with our resources and grateful for everything we have.  We can all show true leadership to our communities by preparing and taking steps now.  If nothing else remember that you are strong and you can persevere.  I don’t mean in just recovering from this virus - I mean in all the things you may experience in the coming months.  Be comfortable being uncomfortable.  You are here because your ancestors faced and overcame adversity.  Soldier on - we’re all in it together.
Helpful tips for all of us, not just kids:
https://www.additudemag.com/explain-coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-adhd-child/?utm_source=eletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=parent_march_2

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

I lobbyed early on in my marraige for Indian first names for the kids. I was eager to give them a piece of my heritage, knowing that I had no control over what would remain of that within a few generations. I wanted names that could be pronounced easily and not abbreviated into something “American” sounding.  We had considered Akshay for our son, but I was afraid that would become “Shay.”  I wanted it to be Indian enough so it would always be a part of them. 
In my life the thought of saying my name to somone for the first time always brings up anxiety.  In school Charu became “Ch-roo” and I was quick to move on from any tutorials on how to pronounce it. Too often SUCH a big deal is made over how to say it, the person seems unable to move past it. Charu isn’t a hard name to say and it seems to become a weapon used to identify/classify me as “other.” Eager to be accepted but also fiercely proud I never allow any substitution of my name. When I started working as a television reporter I went by my given name. Random viewers would occasionally say “Why didn’t your parents give you a normal name?” Unaware and oblivious. 
Resentment over the mirco aggresion continues to build for me. Almost everytime I make an appointment or have to call a customer service line, I go into a canned response when asked my name, “I’ll say it then I’ll spell it.” Sometimes still - awkward conversations with strangers ensue that neither of us have time for.
So I decided to speak up. I had purchased a month of classes at a pricey fitness boutique. The instructor approached me asking if I was new and showing me the equipment. She asked my name, I told her. She became discombobulated and kept saying it, asking again and again if she was saying it correctly. I told her yes and kept trying to move her away from the conversation.  I was the only non white person in the class (that I could tell) and was starting to get uncomfortable. I reassured her that it wasn’t a big deal if she got it wrong - but she kept saying it over and over, even drawing another student into the conversation, asking if it was “like charcoal.” I said it one last time “CHA-ROO.” The confusion continued so I finally said “You’re making me uncomfortable.” She said “Oh, oh - I’ll just call you Lisa.” This isn’t the first time the suggestion has been made to give me an anglo name. In college a small town news director told me she’d never hire anyone with “a name like that” to be on air.  Certainly some ethnic minorities do decide to adopt another “white” name to avoid conflict. 
Charu is my given name, it represents my heritage and I have the privilege of keeping that alive and not being stripped of my roots. That pride has cost me though. It costs me whenever I was not called back for a job interview, anytime I was not promoted in a newsroom, anytime someone seeks to make me an outcast, or anytime that’s the only thing someone chooses to see. Names are so much to us. They are an extension of our ego, identifying us. Parents try to find a unique and uncommon name to set their kids apart. In Hinduism, names are part of a ceremony within the first weeks of birth when the divine is brought in to witness and bless the child. Now we’ve got a plethora of gender neutral names, Becky and Felicia memes and dozens of ways to spell “Kaitlyn” but ethnic names allude us. 

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

A grown woman and her dad talk about their love of food, grocery stores and grocery shopping and growing up in India.

Follow @thestorywithcharu on Instagram for pictures of the handsome Dad in this story.
www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

Charu Kumarhia sits down with psychologist and author Dr. Chasity Adams about the power one’s mind has on everything we do.

https://www.drchasityadams.com/

Follow @thestorywithcharu on Instagram!

Find out more about Charu here:
www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

Journalist and writer Charu Kumarhia talks to the owner of Main Street Books in Davidson, NC about the ins and outs of running a small business with an iconic history. 

Adah Fitzgerald speaks about taking care of the itty bitty details of running her dream book store but also keeping her passion alive for her love of books.

https://www.mainstreetbooksdavidson.com/
https://libro.fm/mainstreetbooks


http://takenote.space/

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

Charu Kumarhia sits down with speaker, storyteller and poet Hannah Hasan for one of the most uplifting and interesting conversations you’ll ever listen to.  She talks about how she came to her current line of work, being courageous and her faith and growing up as a Black Muslim in a small North Carolina town.

Follow @thestorywithcharu on Instagram to see Hannah Hasan and find out more about her work.  Hasan is on IG as @iamhanahhasan.

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

Journalist and writer Charu Kumarhia and the award winning memoir author Gilda Morina Syverson had so much fun talking the first time they had to do it all again.  In this episode, Syverson talks about an upcoming project in the Charlotte area she’s excited about.  See link below for “Seeking Refuge:  How Stories Can Save Us”:
https://sensoria.cpcc.edu/event/795/
For more information on Syverson’s work:
https://gildasyverson.com/

And don’t forget to follow The Story with Charu on Instagram @thestorywithcharu

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

Charu Kumarhia talks to award winning writer Gilda Morina Syverson about her memoir “My Fathers Daughter.” 
The two discuss shared experiences navigating two cultures and the search to find out more about one’s family history.
More information on Syverson can be found at:
https://gildasyverson.com/

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg

After an interview cancels and the week goes crazy, Charu Kumarhia’s son steps in to talk about what it’s like to be a newly 8 year old boy.

www.charukumarhia.com

www.charukumarhia.com

Got a story we should share?  Email us:  [email protected]
Find us online:
https://charukumarhia.com/
Find us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thestorywithcharu/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/CharuK
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3VqE2HKl-9oNDnhz_xP9dg