The Nair Sisters ( @thenairsisters ) talk about how a casual reel on Instagram hit 9 MILLION views and shot them to insta-fame overnight. Dancers for over a decade, the sisters put in a lot of love, care, and dedication to their craft. In this episode we uncover their childhood aspirations, the role their parents play, and what the future looks like for them.
" Don't be too ambitious, don't help another woman - she's your competition, and look out for yourself." All of us have heard one if not all of those statements in professional and personal scenarios. My guest Tenzin Chodon (Translator | TEDx Speaker | Presenter | Writer | International Executive Trainer) shines the light on how statements like these take away from the potential growth of people as individuals and as a community. Tenzin, started working as a government liason at 15 and she never fit-in and today she choses to not fit in. Here is her story of inspiration wow-moments, the role her mother plays, and her goal to give back more than she gets.
How you choose your partner, the way you resolve conflict, and the way you receive love stems from your relationship with your parents. Parents play a key role in shaping who we become in relationships and especially how we resolve conflict. When you think about your own romantic relationships, ask yourself: Are you open to having a healthy fight or would you much rather avoid it ? Is your romantic relationship equal? Is your partner a lot like one of your parents? Do arguments make you uncomfortable and make you want to shut off? Now think of how your parents handled and displayed fights, how they made up, and how they expressed love. If your mind just went " omg wait what?" then this episode is for you.
Aparna Sagaram, a marriage and family therapist, talks about the impact of our parents behavior on us and how those learnings affect romantic relationships.
Ever noticed that lingerie and active wear are advertised within an age range. We have come to accepting body types, that too by very few brands. And it's high time we accept that men and women of all ages work out and need active wear, and wanna wear whatever they want.
Enter Geeta J, this powerhouse is breaking all stereotypes by walking the talk. She is a #maturemodel bringing sexy lingerie to your screen with daily doses of her work outs too. And she's 50+!! Her mantra - #agenotcage
Age is, in fact, just a number.
Her Instagram handle is an inspiration for us all - wear what you want and feel good in what you wear. Your age does not define you, your desires and your style.
To cap it all - she's petitioning for #zivame to be the tide or change, to lead the Indian market and includes mature models in lingerie and active wear. Isn't that something!
Thank you #HumansofBombay:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsJbtfpVKHM7TRblaE1ucOA
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Geeta J
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Team Production: Shashank Sharma
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Whether a long term relationship, a marriage, a relationship just budding or even one-night-stands, we all have our battles with intimacy and communication for sexual activities. Often, partners face misunderstandings and holes in their communication when it comes to physical intimacy and/or trying things in bed.
Dr. Niveditha is a dermatologist and venereologist, originally from India and now settled in Sydney, who works as a clinician in Sexual and Reproductive medicine and HIV medicine. She is driven by her mission to un-taboo all things sex. Extremely passionate about women's health, youth sexual and reproductive health and contraception, she believes sex-ed is essential and is keen to make that change, especially in the Indian community!
This episode takes us through communication in sex, sexual health and even learning how to say no to your partner - whether in bed or when discussing new things to try. Intimacy is interlinked with honesty and communication!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Dr. Niveditha Manokaran
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How do you battle yourself? How do you battle your body? Heal with it? And heal yourself? And find happiness and acceptance with yourself?
Deepti Chandy was only 19 when she was diagnosed with a debilitating skin illness, atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a chronic condition that makes your skin red and itchy, and tends to flare periodically. At present, it can only be managed, there is no cure for it. This led to Deepti withdrawing into a shell treatment and counselling completely changed her perspective - therapy strikes again and how! :)
Propelled by her own experience with counselling, she decided to become a counsellor herself and help other people discover their own way, solve their issues and learn to deal with whatever curve balls life throws at them. She maintains that the only thing that matters is who and what we are inside, and learning to celebrate that is integral to our happiness. The ray of sunshine that she is (do check out her Instagram!!!), she has spoken on several stages - TEDx and Rotary too! Now, Deepti is the COO at Anna Chandy Associates, Bangalore, offering niche counselling services.
If you've had a tough week? We promise, this episode will change your outlook and give you fresh perspective. Be kind and pass on the love!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Deepti Chandy
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Team Production: Shashank Sharma
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Is it good advice when a standup comedian tells you that crying is good for you, that crying does in fact help and has benefits for your mental health? Well, whether you agree or not, Anshita Koul definitely thinks so. One of the Top Eight finalists on the reality TV standup comedy show, Queens of Comedy, our latest guest is an Indian stand up comic, a German tour guide, and an exam invigilator too!
After her roaring success with her first solo tour, Thoda Boht, across India in early 2020, she is all set to travel across Europe as soon as the pandemic or lockdown allows. Meanwhile, you can catch her on Youtube for her funny Kashmiri sketches, parodies, and intensely hilarious rants against patriarchy! Available on Instagram as well, Anshita Koul maintains that IG is more of a scratchpad and she actively works at not seek validation based on 'likes' on a social media platform! A fair amount about validation too in this episode - what is the social media circus and is it healthy? necessary? a necessary evil? or just something to be consumed in moderation? And where do we, as Indians, draw the line for an 'acceptable' career choice?
Tune in and find out for yourself! An episode full of giggles and happy crying with a whole lotta tea. Are you ready?
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Anshita Koul
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Team Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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Do 10,000 steps a day really make a difference? Are health and fitness the same?
While we are at it, let's dive into the underbelly of cricket? And if you have spent your whole childhood and then some of your adult life looking at a particular career choice, then how do you make a career shift? That's the burning question that Coach Chethan, a state cricketer, banker, and now a fitness coach, answers in this episode! With some crazy insights into the cricketing world, especially in a country like India where cricket is pretty much a religion.
What's playing cricket for India like? What's coaching cricket in India like? This is the episode for you! Tune in and find out. While you're listening, you'll also learn a lot about fitness - especially the deal with walking 10k steps a day! Do you need 10000 steps a day? So, here's to training and fitness. For more, do check out 5E Holistic Fitness Studio, Bangalore! If you'll believe it, its a fitness studio without a single weighing scale!!! Now that is something we are definitely down for.
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Coach CJ
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Anger? Random tears? Unexplained sadness? And a rare bout of happiness?
All of that and more mixed in with buttloads of confusion. And then a few hours or days later, when your period strikes, there's a dawn of realisation!
You would think that with something that happens every month, we'd be more prepared. But turns out, the hormonal party around the #PMS time actually does hamper the ability to think straight and tackle situations that would otherwise be a non-issue. Your moods are pretty much out of your control around your periods and that.. well..
So, here we have Dr. Rashi to put our minds to rest about mood swings and also about why some people feel no period pain while others have painful cramps. (Apparently, it's not because the almighty just loves them more...!)
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Dr. Rashi
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Shhhhhh! We are talking about masturbation!
Aren't you tired of that? Tired of pretending that one of THE MOST populous countries in the world doesn't have sex. Apparently, we still believe that children happen by magic or "blessings".
Well, it's time we go all out and embrace and accept sex as just another physical function! Albeit a rather exciting physical function.
This week we are talking about masturbation. How different genders approach masturbation - how people still talk about it in hushes tones - how you are lead to believe that its a filthy act to PLEASURE YOURSELF!
Well, we have Dr. Cuterus here, Dr. Tanaya Narendra breaking down these myths and spilling some delicious tea on how women NEED TO TOUCH THE DAMN CLITORIS and men.. well, continue pleasuring yourself. :D
Yes, some generalisations aside, this is an important episode. Share with us your experiences of exploring your body, learning how to pleasure yourself, or "jerk off" and your general experience with sex.
Can't wait to hear from you and if you have questions for Dr. Tanaya, do write in and she will get back to you!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Dr. Tanaya
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Production: Shashank Sharma
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A Punjabi boy and a Kodava boy found love. As Indian, gay men, the journey was not easy. But these beautiful individuals used the negativity thrown at them to make something beautiful - a relationship of love, respect, adoration, and joy.
Having battled through those struggles and seen the sheer lack of representation for relationships that were not 'normal', that were not 'straight', Sundeep and Sharath decided to take their relationship out to the open, out to the media. Knowing there would be hate and backlash, they released their story to the internet. And while there was a fair share of hate, mostly in terms of 'a gay couple can not marry by our customs', 'our customs and traditions do not allow for such bonds' and then some to do with how Sundeep and Sharath dressed for their ceremonies...
Love does always win.
The outpouring of support and cheer that they got (and continue to get) far outweighed the hate and negativity. Their selfless act of putting their love and relationship in the spotlight has in fact become a beacon for those in the LGBTQI+ community and anyone looking to take that leap of faith in love!
We promise even the most stone-hearted of you, will shed a tear or two! :)
#lgbtq #acceptance #love #gay #gayindiancouple #gaycouple #indian
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Sundeep Dosanjh & Sharath Puttichanda
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Never before has there been as much focus on mental health as there is now. And it's still not enough. Most Indians continue to struggle with accepting mental health issues and continue to treat it as taboo. We need to have more conversation to normalise mental health in the Indian context. This week, we sit down with Manali Mehta, a life coach and personality development & healer, to better understand mental health awareness and acceptance in India.
We dive into matters such as finding the right therapist, opening up to family and friends about seeking therapy, how different genders approach therapy, and even the glaring fact that you don't need trauma in your life to seek out therapy. So, how can therapy help you in your daily life? What does a life coach do to help you achieve your goals? How can therapy benefit you and what all can you seek therapy for?
It's about time we treat mental health with the same attitude as we do physical health. What's your take on it?
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Manali
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Production: Shashank Sharma
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This is it! The final episode of the season. We decided to switch up the spotlight, sit down and stroll through memory lane in this one.
Expectations, Hurdles, Acceptance.. we talked about it all.
Thank YOU for listening and being a part of our community! We'll be back next season with so much more to continue to raise the bar.
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😍 Favorite Episodes:
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At the end of the day, by virtue of being heteronormative, or straight, there is a lot that gets taken for granted.
Aspects of life, as simple and basic as being able to openly speak about your relationship, introducing your partner to your parents without hesitation, taking your partner home for vacations, putting up photos on social media without worrying about your safety... this and so much more are constant considerations!
Tune in to hear Kris's insights on the queer community in India, the role of technology in the movement and more!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Kris
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Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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Let's go beyond "what is queer?", we can all do our own research. This week, we dive deeper.
This episode is about the daily experiences of being queer in India.
What's coming out like? What's your social circle like? What's the role of language in creating acceptance?
Our guest, Kris, takes us through her experiences from coming out to making friends, Wednesday Ladies' Nights to why Pride Parade and Pride Festivals are important... and even the struggles of celebrating festivals!
Oh and social currency that the heteronormative world enjoys without even realising it. What does that mean? Tune in and find out! :)
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Kris
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Production: Shashank Sharma
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A girl from New York and a boy from India find love while studying abroad in Rome! How does the story unfold?
Relationships and marriage are built on communication and compromise between two people.
And if those two people are different in almost every way in their cultures, traditions, upbringing, social relationships...?
Well, that's the reality of interracial couples - two people from two different countries!
This week's story explores online dating from a decade back to setting boundaries with parents to agreeing on a culture for kids to come!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Kat and Jatin
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Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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"Where are you from? What's your cultural identity? How do you not have one?!"
Every Third Culture Kid struggles with answering these (otherwise) straightforward questions.
Kids of diplomats, missionaries, military families, and such will relate hard as Richa Naidu, a Reuters journalist and TCK herself, takes us through the identity battles and struggles of fitting in as a third culture kid, no matter how old you are!
Curious for more? Can totally relate? Join us in this week's episode with Third Culture Conversations in our crosshairs!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Richa Naidu
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Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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So is drag culture just a form of self-expression? Or is there more to it?
Queen Bahaar takes us through the maze of being a drag queen in India! He covers the basics of what truly makes a drag queen, from drag culture in India to drag makeup magic! Throw in some pearls on being a homosexual in India, and most importantly that Femininity is NOT Weakness! Full power!!
Want to know more? This episode covers it all with positivity and giggles and commentary on straight men!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week: Prashant/Bahaar - Drag Queen
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Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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Can you imagine being trapped in the wrong body? Well, that's the reality for transgender persons.
Today's episode is about our guest's emotional, mental and physical transformation from Akash to Sara. From her experiences as a trans kid to coming out on social media - it's a transformation story of hurt, bullying, some giggles and now acceptance!
Do reach out to us if you have questions or queries or if you'd like to share your story too!
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📲Lets chat: Raise The Brow
🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week : Sara Shankar
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Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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Dating is quite complicated as it is. Then came along the pandemic and we have a whole new playing field to navigate with new rules!
This week, we swipe through the new world of dating - what are the red flags, how are bios different, more people on dating apps, must conversations become more meaningful since we can't meet?! Oh the craziness!
Ready to dive in?
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🎤Hosts: Nishka & Malaika
😍Guest of the week : Nandini
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Production: Shashank Sharma
Marketing: Ruqiya Irum
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