I’m sure we’ve all seen the memes of how eldest daughters of Brown households have practically completed an unpaid internship just by being them… from navigating cultural differences, to being a parent to your siblings while you’re still a child, to trying to establish healthy boundaries in order to keep relationships healthy.

Today’s guest isn’t a digital creator, but she’s got a lot of great stuff to share, come join Neha Di & I talk all about the importance of setting boundaries with family.

I thought I would lose parts of my religion & culture when I came out. Having not seen any Queer Brown relationships modelled before me in real life or even in media, I felt as though the two could not co-exist. It didn’t help that when I would tell people I was dating a girl, they would respond with; “but you’re Indian?”, further affirming that I couldn’t possibly be Queer & Desi.

As I’ve grown and matured in my own sexuality and religion, I’ve learned that no one can dictate your relationship to & between the two.

In today’ episode of “Log Kya Kahenge?”, Queer Muslim, Shazmeena, explains her experience balancing sexuality & faith. From understanding her sexuality, to coming out to her family, to receiving death threats from her own community & finally; nurturing her relationship with sexuality & religion.

In this episode of "Log Kya Kahenge?" we’re talking all about how tedious the process of understanding your sexuality and gender identity can be as a South Asian, especially when you grow up surrounded by mostly white and heteronormative culture and media. Naveen shares their experience from coming out as Bisexual, to coming out as Trans and what that meant for them & their family.

Nothing can quite put into words growing up Brown in a western culture. Constantly torn between the individualistic society that you’re growing up in vs. the very collectivist way that the Desi community operates, I felt stuck in the middle. The values I gained from the individualistic culture encourage me to be independent and focus myself… the exact things that are seen as selfish for the collectivist. I never knew which part of my values to pursue, because the unique experience of being a child of Brown immigrant parents gives you the blessing & curse of being torn between the two in every decision you make.

Come listen to Hemali Mistry & I talk all about the specifics of growing up Desi; including generational trauma, toxicity within the community & double standards, beauty standards & colorism. 

As a Brown kid, I grew up VERY conscious of the way my body was going to be perceived by everyone else around me. I was taught to be aware of what I wore and what it said about me. I grew up thinking Browns women's bodies are never really their own. Learning that a lack of agency of our own physical vessel is normal, heavily stemming from the fact that this has just been the "norm" for the women before us, truly hinders our process of fully connecting to our bodies.

Brown girls have to grow up and re-parent themselves on what their bodies mean to them and the world. Personally, this has been one of the hardest lessons I've had to teach myself. but I get a lot of confidence from Seerat Saini 💪🏽. Join us in today's episode where we talk all about Brown Womens bodies and the pure POWER they hold.

"Laugh quieter, sit like a lady, let the men go first", all examples of how Brown girls are taught to shrink themselves from the moment they're born. Today's topic is one of my favorites and I feel DEEPLY about it. Actor, comedian & badass, Rahat Saini, and I discuss how Brown girls are taught to live for other people from the beginning of our youth and how that impacts us as young adults and women. Not only are women pinned against each other in this idea that there's only enough space for one, but we're also conditioned to plan our lives according serve those around us in our life. I could go on forever about this... just listen to the episode!

Mental Health in the South Asian community is STILL extremely taboo. The lack of conversation around it personally made me feel stuck while growing up. I had NO idea what was going on and if what I was experiencing was "normal". I didn't know who to speak to or what to even say to express myself because I didn't grow up with the verbiage to discuss this kind of topic. Growing up and understanding that what I thought was “stress cleaning” was actually OCD and my “feeling down, like I’m in a funk” was actually called depression, I wish I would’ve known those words earlier.

Not giving the tools to kids to discuss how they feel can make them feel very alone and detached while growing up. Come listen to artist, Somaya, and I talk about out Mental Health journeys and how we established our needs in households that otherwise didn't speak of mental health.

Starting the "Log Kya Kahenge?" series off with digital creator; Manasi Arya! From her viral Desi Power Puff girls graphic, to all the empowering Brown content she creates now, I am SO excited for this episode.

I didn't realize the damage that lack of representation could do to a kid until I grew up. Not seeing Brown princesses, cartoons or main characters in media subconsciously told me that I did not belong in those spaces. No one who occupied a "main character" or "princess" role in books and movies looked like me; and I grew up thinking Brown stories weren't worth telling.

When I saw Manasi Arya's Desi take on Powerpuff girls; I cried actual tears because of how SEEN I felt. Come hang out with Manasi and I today; we're talking about the power of Representation 💪🏽