Carolina Desi Podcast

Gurtej Singh & Rashmili Vemula

Carolina Desis Gurtej Singh and Rashmili Vemula explore life as the children of Desi immigrants in today’s America. Constantly immersed in and inspired by two contrasting cultures, these South Asians raised in the American South discuss their experiences with “living a double life” and the challenges in reconciling the cultural and societal differences surrounding them daily.

  • 52 minutes 16 seconds
    CD49 Definition Please, a Conversation with Sujata Day
    Sujata Day is a performer, creator, writer, and director known for her work on HBO's Insecure as well as her film directorial debut Definition Please (now streaming on Netflix), among others. Join us as Sujata discusses her background, her work, how she turned her creative ideas into reality, the specific challenges her team overcame in film production and distribution, and so much more!   https://www.sujataday.com/definition-please  
    18 May 2022, 12:12 pm
  • 57 minutes 6 seconds
    CD48 Sufi Scholarship with Arpan Bhandari

    Today we are joined by Arpan Bhandari, PhD candidate of Islamic Studies at UNC Chapel Hill, for a fantastic conversation around Sufism and scholarship. We discuss Arpan's background, surviving in academia, the value of the humanities, the basics of Sufism, its influence on Bollywood and modern pop culture, and some of the most prominent Sufis in history (Rumi, Al-Hallaj, Hafiz, etc). It's sure to be an exciting conversation you won't want to miss!

    IG / FB / Twitter: @arpandholi

    29 April 2022, 7:22 pm
  • 44 minutes 49 seconds
    PODSWAP: Brown People We Know (Ranjan Ravaliya)

    Brown People We Know, hosted by Suraj Kandukuri, is an interview podcast with South Asian Americans taking non-traditional career and lifestyle paths. By sharing these stories, the podcast aims to break down stereotypes about South Asians and to reduce social pressures from within the diaspora community to take a certain path.

    In this episode, Suraj interviews Ranjan Ravaliya who is a retired engineer who earned her PhD in Chemistry in India during the 1980’s. At 62, she decided to come out of retirement by visiting Haridwar in India and training to become a priestess. Today, at 67, she goes by the moniker The New England Priest as she officiates weddings. In this episode, Ranjan shared the story of her family leaving Tanzania during Idi Amin’s time and about earning the nickname “Rapid Ranjan” as she hiked Kilimanjaro years later. They talk about her decision to pursue higher education despite her father’s wishes, and the funny way that she convinced him to pay for it. And she reflected on parenting as a single mother of two and what she sees her role as a grandparent today.

    5 October 2021, 4:00 am
  • 48 minutes 30 seconds
    CD46 Southern Fried Asians with Keith Chow

    The Carolina Desis teamed up with Keith Chow (@the_real_chow) of the Southern Fried Asians (@southernfriedasians) podcast and the Nerds of Color (@thenerdsofcolor) to put out a special episode discussing this year’s rise in awareness towards AAPI issues as well as the general complexity involved in being labelled as “Asian-American”, especially for those of us living in the American South. What are the similarities in our stories? Who gets to be counted in the coalitions being built? And what does solidarity look like between all of us? Join us as we discuss all these questions and more!

     

    IG & Twitter: @the_real_chow

    IG: @southernfriedasians

    Twitter: @southernasians

    All channels: @thenerdsofcolor

    20 July 2021, 10:00 am
  • 53 minutes 8 seconds
    CD45 International Choreographer and Filmmaker Tricha Kumar

    Tricha Kumar is a professional dancer and filmmaker who also happens to be the Bollywood film industry's #1 dance choreographer of Bhangra. Join the Carolina Desis this week as Tricha sits down with us to discuss current projects, her philosophy on dance as a career and an artform, the state of Bhangra in Bollywood, the value of labor as a backup dancer, adjusting to Covid, and so much more!

    IG: @tricha.k

    Twitter: @trichakumar

    Website: trichakumar.com

    MOON: facebook.com/moonthefilm

    MOON: https://moonthefilm.com/

    Witness to a Devouring Monster: https://www.instagram.com/wtadm_film/

    WTADM Fundraising: https://seedandspark.com/fund/wtdamfilm#story

    29 June 2021, 2:38 am
  • 27 minutes 1 second
    CD44 Invisible India with Jessica Kumar

    We've spoken before about the immigrant experience coming from South Asia to the US, but never the other way around! This time, we get to know Jessica Kumar, an American Midwesterner and Co-host of the Invisible India Podcast. Over time, Jessica found herself building a life with her husband and children halfway across the world in India. We sat down to ask Jessica about her work, her transition to life in India, raising bilingual children there, the misconceptions she had before arriving, and much more.

    Invisible India episode mentioned:

    6 April 2021, 10:00 am
  • 45 minutes 42 seconds
    CD43 The Farmers Protest with Sahej Preet Singh

    What do Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, and the farmers of India all have in common? They, along with a groundswell of supporters worldwide, are shedding light on the unjustness of three farm laws passed by India's Parliament. The passing of these laws, which has sparked the largest protest in world history, strip away previous protections for workers and open the doors for billionaire corporate interests to destroy an entire way of life for upwards of 60% of India's population still working in agriculture. We sit down with Sahej Preet Singh of the Sikh Coalition to discuss the rapidly developing situation, the plight of the farmers, the ongoing human rights' abuses committed by the government against peaceful protesters, and how it all ties back to us as Americans watching from afar. Please join us for this very special and important episode of the Carolina Desi!

     

    Resources discussed in the episode:

    17 February 2021, 11:00 am
  • 47 minutes 26 seconds
    CD42 An Actor's Journey with Sachit Grover

    Sachit Grover is a young Desi-American Actor and Content Creator making his way in the rapidly evolving landscape of the entertainment industry. We sit down with Sachit to discuss his film projects, experiences, and lessons learned both at home and abroad. Tune in to hear more about Sachit's creative process, the challenges of acting in a second language, adapting to auditioning during Covid-19, learning from and working with experienced Bollywood actors such as Ranvir Shorey, and much more!

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/sachitgrover

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grobrosach/ 

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/grobrosach 

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GroBroProduction

    26 January 2021, 11:00 am
  • 54 minutes 42 seconds
    CD41 Mamaji by Elisheba Haqq

    Elisheba Haqq is an author, educator, and nurse who has just released her debut memoir Mamaji, chronicling the adversity, challenges, and lessons learned through her own upbringing as a Desi-American in 1970s Minnesota. We sit down with Elisheba to discuss the social and cultural isolation felt in her life, the effects on her family and identity, as well as other core themes that have shaped her and her story. Find Mamaji on Amazon or B&N

    28 October 2020, 8:24 pm
  • 52 minutes 59 seconds
    CD40 Ronnie Chatterji for NC State Treasurer

    On today's episode, we had the great pleasure of speaking with Duke professor, economist, author, and self-described nerd Ronnie Chatterji on his 2020 political campaign as the Democratic candidate for North Carolina State Treasurer. Join us as we learn more about his vision for North Carolina, his background working for the Obama administration, the significance of the office of NC State Treasurer, his own experiences as a Carolina Desi, and much more. Remember to VOTE on or before November 3rd. To learn more about Ronnie and his platform, visit www.ronniechatterji.com.

    9 September 2020, 10:00 am
  • 39 minutes 54 seconds
    CD39 COVID-19: A Physician’s POV
    Everyone’s lives have been affected, but what does the rapid spread of COVID-19 look like from the eyes of a healthcare professional on the front lines of the fight? Kunal Joshi is a hospital based board certified physician from the Seattle, Washington area, one of the first places hit hard in the US by the current pandemic. Join us today as he sits down to share his first-hand experiences and insights on the stress COVID-19 puts on the US healthcare system - its workers, its patients, and the community at large. For more information on this evolving situation, visit https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/.
    10 April 2020, 1:13 am
  • More Episodes? Get the App
© MoonFM 2024. All rights reserved.