Her Kajal Won't Smudge

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with renowned Bharatanatyam dancer, Mythili Prakash. Bharatanatyam is one of India’s oldest dance forms. Through distinctive hand gestures, movements and facial expressiveness, its dancers convey ancient stories from Hindu texts. In performing these stories, we also perpetuate patriarchal social norms about a woman and a goddess’ place. Mythili’s choreography probes these norms, rewriting ancient stories and writing new ones in which women are represented in their full humanity and without the need for a pedestal.    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website.www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @mythiliprakash on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

Zara Suhail Mannan is Shana’s guest on this week’s episode of Her Kajal Won’t Smudge. Zara studied English at Yale University. After Yale, she could have sought out the best-paying corporate job she could have found, but instead Zara returned to Pakistan to teach at an all-boys underprivileged school. By day, she taught, presenting as a man, and mentored young boys and, by night, she was one-half of a glittery, sparkly, pop band called Mystical Shayari. It all came to a head when Mystical Shayiri did a photoshoot, glammed up, in front of a monument to the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah.    Next came  online trolling, death threats, arrest, TV shaming and more. But what Zara has won in the process is truly a testament to the force that she is. Let’s just say, she set the record straight about what it means to be a Pakistani and she continues to live this activism through Kitab Ghar, a public library truly open to all.    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar  

Our guest this week is Kirat Assi, a popular radio personality who was catfished over a nine year period. What began as a long-distance friendship with Bobby Jandu, a man she knew through her tight-knew community, turned into a controlling and coercive relationship that took over Kirat’s life. Kirat never met the man she spent countless hours chatting with because that Bobby simply did not exist. His identity had been stolen. To our absolute surprise, the catfisher turned out to be Kirat’s closest confidante during this entire ordeal, her own female cousin.     We might just be the only podcast that delves deep into the social norms that shape this story.    Was Kirat gullible? Or could this have happened to any one of us, with the right/wrong circumstances?    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Read more about Kirat’s story on her website.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

Shana is joined by Tracy Vadakumchery, who goes by the moniker “Bad Indian Therapist”. As an Indian-American therapist, Tracy wants us to unpack what it means to be a “good desi”. Her clients are South Asian Americans who are struggling with desi social norms and expectations and beauty standards.    For most of us, self-criticism is natural. We judge ourselves against log kya kehenge (what will people say), model minority myth and idealized perfection. Tracy helps us see that by people-pleasing, living in guilt and shame, our mental health is under constant attack. She empathizes with our lived experience, because it has been hers too, and she wants us to know that our authentic inner voice can co-exist in harmony with our culture and community.  Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @thebadindiantherapist on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

Award winning visual artist and photographer Ashfika Rahman chronicles the stories of the marginalized who get written out of history. In this episode, Shana asks Ashfika about how she came to be an artist, what inspires her to document the lives of Bangladeshi disappeared and survivors of rape and how these stories reflect the lives of women all across South Asia.    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @ashfikarahman47 on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh, Saakshi Samant Editorial Assistance: Meghna Gulati Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

Anonymous visual artist, Princess Pea features this week on Her Kajal Won’t Smudge. Shana asks Princess Pea about her iconic headgear - a giant anime-like helmet that creates a safe space for Princess Pea and the women who become part of her practice. This headgear is not a mask and it is not about hiding from the male gaze. It is about much much more than that; it is about self-awareness and authenticity.   Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @princesspeaindia on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

Award-winning science journalist and author, Angela Saini joins Shana on this episode to discuss The Patriarchs, a book which asks the bold and important question: how did men come to rule? Shana asks Angela if we live in a patriarchal world because it is our biological destiny, if religion has created gender stereotypes that persist to this day and if there ever was a golden age when women were in charge. Angela and Shana also talk about desi mothers-in-law and how they have come to be  part of the patriarchy. Angela’s book delves into what is the root cause of patriarchy and what she finds is so eye-opening that you will see both history and the present differently.    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @angeladsaini on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

Trigger Warning: This episode contains mentions of self-harm and violence against women. Listener discretion is advised.   Actress and activist Jameela Jamil joins Shana to talk about body positivity, the “experiment” of social media, how the diet industry preys on women’s insecurities around body image and Jameela’s own struggles with beauty standards. They also talk about “female perfectionism”, a paradigm that locks women of all ages in the belief that perfectionism is the only standard of success. Anything less is failure. Jameela sees herself as a “feminist in progress” and she accepts her mistakes, openly admits them and shows herself compassion. Another big topic they hit upon is toxic masculinity, how we got here and the role and responsibility women have to help men do better. Shana and Jameela do not see eye to eye on this, but this is a podcast that gives space to a range of feminisms.      Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @jameelajamil on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

On this episode, Shana talks to investigative journalist, Suddaf Chaudry, about her reporting in South Asia and in war torn countries, her time in Afghanistan and how the lives of Afghani women have been impacted by Taliban rule since the withdrawal of US troops in 2021. Suddaf also shares how, growing up, she was inspired to become a journalist by the incredible female journalists she watched on TV. Suddaf reminds us how very important it is to have female representation in all walks of life and how the present erasure of Afghani women in public has future repercussions for what young Afghani girls and women will imagine as possible for themselves.  Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Read more of Suddaf’s work on www.suddafchaudry.com.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant, Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

This week, Shana is joined by photographer and artist, Habiba Nowrose. Habiba breaks down her photo series ‘Concealed’ and ‘Life of Venus’, which visually depict the many ways women are expected to conform to society’s expectations to such an extent that they feel lost, even to themselves.   Habiba describes some of her photographs in this episode, you can see them here.   Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @habiba_nowrose_photography on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant, Quoyina Ghosh Editorial Assistance: Meghna Gulati Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

In this episode, Shana chats with model and Instagram creator, Sobia Ameen. Sobia shares how she ended up on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar India even though she’s an architect by training. Sobia talks about beauty standards and her activism around topics like menstrual shame and sexual assault, both of which are very personal to her.    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @sobia93 on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant, Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

This week, Shana is joined by the Indian Urdu poet and activist Sabika Abbas Naqvi. Sabika paints a picture of her home and neighbourhood in Lucknow, India, and her deep connection to both that is reflected in her work. She talks about reclaiming male-dominated poetry spaces as a woman, how her poetry is  a tool of resistance against oppression.    Sabika recites her poem, Maadari Zabaane (Mother Tongues) in this episode. You can read the English translation of the poem here.    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow Sabika (@boltiaurat) on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant, Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

In this episode of Her Kajal Won’t Smudge, Shana is in conversation with Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn. Zarrar talks to Shana about his award-winning horror film ‘In Flames’ which captures, you guessed it, the horrors of patriarchy as told through the lives of the protagonists,  a mother and daughter. In Flames  conveys the daily experiences  of life in a patriarchal society and even though this film is set in Pakistan, its message is a universal one.     Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @kahn.zarrar on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant, Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

On this first episode of season 3 of Her Kajal Won’t Smudge, Shana is joined by the queen of Pakistani pop music – Meesha Shafi. In 2018, Meesha spoke out publicly about the sexual harassment she endured at the hands of a popular actor. Time Magazine described this moment as having sparked Pakistan’s #MeToo movement. In this candid conversation, Meesha shares what it means to live with her decision to speak out and how her music is an expression of her reflective self-journey. The woman we meet is courageous, vulnerable and so completely authentic.    Meesha talks about the music videos for her songs Amrit and Hot Mango Chutney Sauce. You can watch them here: Amrit Hot Mango Chutney Sauce    Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com. Follow @meesha.shafi on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  Head of Visual Design: Minal Jadeja Visual Designers: Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde   This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant, Quoyina Ghosh Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with Bangladeshi women’s rights activist and poet, Sadaf Saaz. Sadaf talks about her journey from the UK to Bangladesh and how she found her feminism along the way, the strides made by the Bangladeshi feminist movement, the role of female garment workers in changing attitudes about a woman’s place in society and Sadaf’s poetry, which has been a constant in her life. Sadaf and Shana also discuss an issue close to Sadaf’s heart, the plight of the Birangona, the hundreds of thousands of women who were victims of sexual violence at the hands of the Pakistani army during the 1971 war. While the stories and records of the Birangona have been systematically erased and covered up by both the Bangladeshi and Pakistani governments, it is the feminists on both sides who continue to acknowledge, remember and build bridges.     Follow Sadaf on X @SadafSaaz.   Follow us on Instagram @herkajalwontsmudge and check out our website www.herkajalwontsmudge.com.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana speaks with award-winning actor, director and producer, Sarmad Khoosat, the first male guest on Her Kajal Won’t Smudge.    In this conversation, Shana and Sarmad talk about Zindagi Tamasha (“Circus of Life”), a movie directed and produced by Sarmad. It was Pakistan’s submission for the 93rd Oscars but it has never had a theatrical release in Pakistan.    Sarmad shares his thoughts on the controversy around Zindagi Tamasha, how men and women are both limited by social norms and the public’s heartfelt response to the intolerance Zindagi Tamasha has faced.    Plus they discuss the influence Saadat Hasan Manto, the writer, has had on Sarmad’s life.    Follow Sarmad on Instagram @sarmadkhoosat.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with Kate Manne (philosopher, associate professor at Cornell University and author of Down Girl and Entitled) and Urna Chakrabarty (graduate student at Cornell University) to ask: why is there so much violence against women in South Asia? This is a question discussed by many academics and multilateral agencies and it is a source of daily concern for desi women who navigate everyday life under threat of violence. Contrary to our preconceived notion that crimes against women are random, Kate and Urna provide a very different perspective. They decode the systemic nature of violence against women and draw out the ‘logic of misogyny’ which perpetuates sexist, gendered roles through the threat of violence and victim-shaming.    Follow Kate on X @kate_manne.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar, Nikkethana Kamal Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana talks to Surabhi Yadav, the creator of Women At Leisure, an Instagram account filled with 7 years of pictures and videos of women simply at leisure - having a cup of chai, climbing a tree, playing football. For Surabhi, time is a feminist issue, which lays bare the many oppressions of caste, class and the invisibility of women’s work.    They also discuss the backstory about how Women at Leisure came to be. After Surabhi’s mother, Basanti, passed away, Surabhi set out to keep her memory alive by asking aunts and her mother’s friends to share her stories. The person they described in story after story was a funny prankster, adjectives that did not come to mind when Surabhi thought of her mother. Who was her mother, when she was not busy managing a large family? This inspired Surabhi to create Women at Leisure as a kind of ongoing conversation with her mother. This conversation led Shana to also share why she created Her Kajal Won’t Smudge. The similarities in Surabhi and Shana’s journeys are a reflection of just how life brings two people together in ways that can be so unexpected and yet so in harmony.    Follow Women At Leisure @women_at_leisure on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with visual artist, illustrator and graphic designer, Mira Malhotra. Mira runs Studio Kohl, a design studio with a very recognisable visual style and a roster of clients that are big name brands, corporations and charities. What makes Mira such a compelling and unique designer is that her feminism is ever present in all she does. Shana asks Mira about the origins of her feminism and how it came to be such a natural extension of her life and work, personal and professional.    Follow Mira @kokumkohla and Studio Kohl @studiokohlindia on Instagram.   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with visual and performance artist, Amber Arifeen. Amber’s art looks at life through women’s eyes, giving insight into how women navigate the world. Take, for example, women and physical safety. Even if it might differ in degree depending on where women live, all women, around the world, can relate to this concept. Amber’s art shows just how this fear of violence against women restricts our freedom and full enjoyment of public spaces, including nature. The wonder of Amber’s art is that by making visible women’s invisible life experiences, Amber creates space for dialogue with society at large.    Follow Amber on Instagram @amber_arifeen   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar, Nikkethana Kamal Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana talks to Krantinaari, a hip-hop artist, activist and a founding member of India’s first female hip-hop collective, Wild Wild Women. She talks about finding her own language of feminism, being a female rapper in an industry dominated by men and how Wild Wild Women came together to create music that they and other women can relate to.   Follow @krantinaari and @wildwildwomen on Instagram   Krantinaari raps acapella from her self-titled single ‘Krantinaari’ in this episode.    Here is a translation of the lyrics:   In the traditional rule of the father and son The woman is hiding her pain, she’s suppressed her scream The thorns on the way that pricked her Those became the sign of progress when she got educated But now that we see she’s not even safe in the house of the rich In such situations she’s holding on strong Even when their mindset is old, rusty and useless Come on, broaden your mind and evolve Dangerous situations occur with 3 out of 5, by their own relatives Stuck within four walls, she sacrifices her happiness She is courageous and not your slave She will smile forgetting all her pain How long will you search for God with your eyes closed If you’ve forgotten your morals, you’re going to be punished She won’t just work hard from 9 to 5, day and night With her heart and calm mind The revolutionary woman is here to bring justice The revolutionary woman is nature’s blessing Revolutionary Woman!    CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with two co-organisers of Pakistan’s women’s march, the Aurat March, who share their candid, very personal, journeys to feminism. They also talk about how the Aurat March came about, what role Aurat March plays in Pakistani society and those incredible, revolutionary, posters and slogans that have fired up the conversation about a woman’s place in Pakistani society.    Follow Aurat March on Instagram @auratmarch   The artist whose work is featured in the cover art is Saamiya Arif.    CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with comedian and social media star, Swineryy, who went viral in 2018 when she posted a video of an animoji pig asking “why am I haraam?” (translation: why am I a sin/forbidden?). We learn about why she is anonymous, how she created her iconic characters Blue Maulvi Saab, Leena Aunty and, of course, the Haraam Pig, what it’s like seeing her characters become symbols of resistance on posters carried in Pakistan’s Aurat March (Women’s March), and why she wants her comedy to be “genderless”.   Follow Swineryy on Instagram @swineryy    CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar, Nikkethana Kamal Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni, Lakshman Parsuram Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

Today, Shana is in conversation with satirist Mariam Shafqat Goraya. Through her character Naik Parveen, Mariam takes aim at women who are the “foot soldiers of patriarchy”. Mariam’s satire takes the sexist and misogynistic rhetoric that gets mentioned in private conversation, the stuff people don’t expect will get repeated, and she says it outloud through the characters she creates and, in the process, she uncomfortably forces us  out of our complacency.    Follow Mariam Shafqat Goraya on Instagram @naikparveensyndrome and Facebook Naik Parveen Syndrome   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer : Nikkethana Kamal, Sonali Gupta  Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with Priyanka Paul, an illustrator, graphic designer, poet, and storyteller, who is also a Gucci Chime for Change ambassador and TED Talk speaker. Priyanka shares her lived experience as a queer, dark-skinned Christian woman from an oppressed caste, her encounters with online trolling and how she turns her anger into impactful art, carving out a space for those who stand apart and don't subscribe to  society's beauty ideals.   Follow Priyanka Paul on Instagram @artwhoring and Twitter @artwhoring   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer : Nikkethana Kamal, Sonali Gupta  Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

 In this episode, Shana is in conversation with Sheema Kermani. You may know Sheema as the dancer in the hit Coke Studios video of Pasoori but, for Sheema, dance is more than an artform. For her, it is also an act of defiance. A classically trained Bharatnatyam dancer, Sheema took on the Pakistani military dictator Zia-ul-Haq when he abolished public dancing. Since then, Sheema has steadfastly defended the rights of minorities and women. In this interview, Sheema talks about her activism, the early days of Aurat March and how she came to perform the feminist anthem “A Rapist in Your Path” in Urdu - a performance that connected Pakistan to the Fourth Wave of Feminism, which has ebbed and flowed around the globe.   Follow Sheema Kermani on Instagram @sheemakermani and Twitter @tehrikeniswan   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer : Nikkethana Kamal, Sonali Gupta  Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

Leeza Mangaldas is a sex educator with 2 million YouTube subscribers and Instagram followers. GQ has named Leeza one of the most influential young Indians. She is also the author of The Sex Book. In this episode, Leeza talks to Shana about why the Glossary of her book has words like “patriarchy” and “casteism” and “internalised oppression”. They also discuss orgasms and female sexuality, the social norm of female virginity and purity and why it is  time we get past guilt and shame-ridden frameworks that don’t serve women… or men.     Follow Leeza Mangaldas on Instagram @leezamangaldas and Twitter @leezamangaldas   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer : Nikkethana Kamal, Sonali Gupta  Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with Sabah Bano Malik, a radio jockey and a founding member of a Pakistani comedians' collective called Aurat Nak. Shana asks Sabah what has surprised her and what she struggles with as a Pakistani American who moved to Pakistan as an adult. Sabah talks about her online presence, comedy as a way to reflect on society, body-shaming, toxic rishta culture, the anger she feels when women are brutally murdered and the sisterhood she has found in Aurat March and with the many women who are resisting patriarchy in Pakistan.    Follow Sabah Bano Malik on Instagram @sabahbanomalik and Twitter @sabahbanomalik   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer : Nikkethana Kamal, Sonali Gupta  Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with comedian, actor and writer Radhika Vaz. We learn about Radhika’s journey to comedy and why she mines the desi female experience as a source for her material. Radhika is one half of the team behind Shugs and Fats, a Youtube series about two curious Muslim women who are navigating life in liberal Brooklyn. We talk about script-writing episodes in which women are doing the street catcalling and the shroud of shame is lifted on the dirty period. Oh, and we also imagine a world in which women just stopped getting married.    Follow Radhika Vaz on Instagram @radhikavaz Twitter @radvaz and Facebook Radhika Vaz   CREDITS: Host and Creative Director: Shana  This is a Maed in India production Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Producer : Nikkethana Kamal,  Sonali Gupta  Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Visual Design & Social Media: Minal Jadeja, Akshat Agarwal, Shaumik Kanvinde

Women from South Asia (and the global diaspora) are challenging patriarchal social norms and expectations by taking to the streets and using the bullhorn of social media to be heard.  Join Shana, our host, as she talks to social media influencers, street protestors, artists and film-makers who are making change happen. With millions of followers and supporters and numbers that keep growing, Her Kajal Won’t Smudge asks: are we witnessing a desi women’s liberation movement? Has its time finally come?