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 storie…

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 scho…

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. Kira…

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. …

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…

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…

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 cre…

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 bod…

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, gro…

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.   Habi…