JiVA Talks: Unfiltered

Umna Khan is the founder of UMNA, a purpose-driven crystal clutch brand rooted in creativity, community, and charity. A Pakistani-American creator and marketer, Umna transforms personal experiences of advocacy, reinvention, and healing into meaningful storytelling and impact-driven design. Through her work, she hopes to remind others that rebuilding your life and speaking your truth can also be an act of self-honor.Fear will tell you starting over is the dangerous part. But sometimes staying in a life that no longer fits is the real risk.Not every ending is failure. Some endings are invitations. Some of the best things in my life arrived disguised as devastation first. I’ve learned to congratulate people when life falls apart a little because sometimes that’s the exact moment they stop abandoning themselves. The world will call it messy because people confuse unfamiliarity with failure. But there is something incredibly beautiful about having the courage to choose a life that actually feels like yours. Instagram: @wearumnaWebsite: www.wearumna.com

In this raw, unfiltered conversation, psychiatrist Dr. Huma Qureshi sits down with writer and Netflix personality Vyasar Mamudha Dennison for a deeply honest exploration of what it means to grow up South Asian in America — carrying secrets, shame, and the weight of a family history no one will name out loud. Vyasar opens up about discovering, alone in grad school, that his father had been imprisoned for conspiracy to commit murder; about the layers of cultural silence that kept that truth buried for over a decade; and about how therapy, writing, and one courageous moment on national television became the unlikely path to liberation. By turns funny, heartbreaking, and profoundly human, this episode is essential listening for anyone who has ever hidden a hard truth — and wondered what life might look like if they finally set it free.

Kausar Mohammed is a queer, Muslim, Pakistani actress, writer, comedian, and equity consultant based in LA. She co-founded The Get Brown, an all South Asian sketch comedy troupe. She wrote and starred in a queer Muslim romcom that premiered at TIFF. She has spoken publicly about using humor as liberation and therapy. She has a wife. She is your humor and identity episode. 

Ektha Agarwal founder of Jiva Mental Health sits down with Dr. Huma Quereshi psychiatrist and impact board member for Jiva have a conversation about breaking the stigma around mental health, and their four part series in honor of Mental Health Awareness month.