Her Kajal Won't Smudge

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....

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 pe...

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. 

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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.

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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 tal...

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&r...

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 impo...

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.

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In this episode, Shana chats with model and Instagram creator, Sobia Ameen. Sobia shares how she ended up on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar India even though she’s an architect by training. Sobia talks about beauty standards and her activism around topics like menstrual shame and sexual assault, both of which are very personal to her. 

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This week, Shana is joined by the Indian Urdu poet and activist Sabika Abbas Naqvi. Sabika paints a picture of her home and neighbourhood in Lucknow, India, and her deep connection to both that is reflected in her work. She talks about reclaiming male-dominated poetry spaces as a woman, how her poetry is  a tool of resistance against oppression. 

Sabika recites her poem, Maadari Zabaane (Mother Tongues) in this epi...

In this episode of Her Kajal Won’t Smudge, Shana is in conversation with Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn. Zarrar talks to Shana about his award-winning horror film ‘In Flames’ which captures, you guessed it, the horrors of patriarchy as told through the lives of the protagonists,  a mother and daughter. In Flames  conveys the daily experiences  of life in a patriarchal society and even thou...

On this first episode of season 3 of Her Kajal Won’t Smudge, Shana is joined by the queen of Pakistani pop music – Meesha Shafi. In 2018, Meesha spoke out publicly about the sexual harassment she endured at the hands of a popular actor. Time Magazine described this moment as having sparked Pakistan’s #MeToo movement. In this candid conversation, Meesha shares what it means to live with her decision to speak out an...

In this episode, Shana is in conversation with Bangladeshi women’s rights activist and poet, Sadaf Saaz. Sadaf talks about her journey from the UK to Bangladesh and how she found her feminism along the way, the strides made by the Bangladeshi feminist movement, the role of female garment workers in changing attitudes about a woman’s place in society and Sadaf’s poetry, which has been a constant in her life. Sadaf and Shana also dis...

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 Zi...

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 und...

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. A...

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 ...

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...

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.

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Krantinaari raps acap...