Log Kya Kahenge? Therapist Zohra Lasi on what Desi kids actually need
Zohra Lasi (aka "therapysherapy") on people pleasing; Log Kya Kahenge; cycle breaking; what parents & teachers of Brown kids should know.
Archives
Neema Sharma on Building a Film Career (that nobody saw coming)
Filmmaker and assistant director Neema Sharma (Extraction, The Gray Man, DGA Training Program) on what she'd tell aspiring Desi kids.
Why fan fiction can’t make money and musings on weird copyright rules
Why fanfiction can't legally profit under current copyright law and why we should consider revising the law (because it's stupid).
Not Every Book by a BIPOC Author is a Diverse Book
I realize this may ruffle a feather or two but a book is not automatically a “diverse book” just because it’s written by an author of color. Before I continue…
Saloni Nahar on Community, Representation & What it Looks Like When School Gets it Right
Actor & filmmaker Saloni Nahar on growing up Brown, what her schools did right, Anxious Brown Girl, & what she'd tell young South Asian kids.
Busboys and Poets: Author Next Door Panel Recap
This past weekend, I was on a panel at Busboys and Poets for their Author Next Door series. The theme of the panel, which happened to be on National Book…
The Yesteryear Discourse has a Misogyny Problem
Let me get the “review” part out of the way first. I liked Yesteryear. I remember seeing Caro Claire Burke’s TikToks discussing tradwife culture and Ballerina Farms way back when,…
Traditional Publishing was a Mistake
A decade ago I wouldn’t have believe that I’d one day be a traditionally published author, and I’d have been shocked to learn that not only would I be a…
All the Fantasy Books are just Europe (and it’s not Tolkien’s Fault)
Tolkien built Middle-earth from myths... The entire fantasy genre copied him (and made maps of Europe), instead of creating their own worlds.
Heems (Himanshu Suri) on the Underbelly, Rejecting the Model Minority Myth & What Forward Actually Looks Like
A note before we begin: this conversation touches on mental health, substance use disorder, and suicide. Heems speaks about these experiences openly and publicly as part of his advocacy work…
The Assumption of Whiteness, and Why you Should Assume my Characters are Brown
Most books published in the West assume whiteness (unless told otherwise). In my work, the default is flipped.
What the Therapy Room Reveals: A Conversation with Pinkal Panchal on South Asian Kids & Family Pressure
LA therapist Pinkal Panchal on the pressures South Asian kids carry, dual identity, harmful language at home, and five things Brown families actually need to hear.