Her Kajal Won't Smudge

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Latest episode

Apr 2025

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About the show

Her Kajal Won't Smudge is a podcast about South Asian women who are pushing back on desi social norms through art, content, dance, music, film, and more. We ask every guest: What does feminism mean to you? In South Asian spaces, the word “feminist” is still linked to promiscuity, selfishness or a rejection of family values. We want to unpack that. Our guests remind us that feminism isn’t one thing. It’s a way to be your fuller self, have voice, choice, and power in a culture obsessed with “what will people say?” Social norms aren’t fixed. We create them, which means we can rewrite them too.

Listen to episodes

30 recent

April 16, 202539 min

Mythili Prakash - Through my dance practice, I want to blur the lines between a Goddess on a pedestal and a human woman

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

April 9, 202546 min

Zara Suhail Mannan - We deserve to be free here as much as our male counterparts, this is my Pakistan too

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  

April 2, 202542 min

Kirat Assi (Sweet Bobby) - What happened to me was not just catfishing, it was online entrapment

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

March 26, 202533 min

Tracy Vadakumchery - I want to give my clients permission to live outside of the confines of what it means to be a “good” Indian

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

March 19, 202532 min

Ashfika Rahman - I want victims of abuse to confront the viewer so we can no longer look away

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

March 12, 202530 min

Princess Pea - My headgear is a tool, a headspace where women can share our experiences

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

March 5, 202539 min

Angela Saini - To say that there is fundamental difference between the minds of men and women just isn’t true

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

February 26, 202543 min

Jameela Jamil - The beauty and diet industries are teaching women to hate themselves for profit

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

December 1, 202438 min

Suddaf Chaudry - You should always investigate what most people deem inconvenient

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

November 24, 202426 min

Habiba Nowrose - When you have to fulfil someone else’s dream of the ideal woman, you tend to disregard what your inner voice is telling you to be

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

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