Her Kajal Won't Smudge

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?