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Insider •

I visited an Indian mithai store and quickly learned you shouldn't eat all the dessert sweets at once — here are 7 you need to try

Whether it's a wedding, a religious holiday, or an extravagant birthday, you can count on South Asians to buy a mountain of mithai, or desi sweets, to mark the occasion. Mithai, or 'mithāī', meaning sweets in Hindi, are confectionery from the Indian subcontinent that are usually made from boiled milk, syrup, gram flour, and nuts which are cooled and solidified, then cut into small shapes. In the best possible way, even looking at them feels like you're consuming calories.
Insider •

I visited Manchester's Northern Quarter neighborhood that doubles as NYC in movies. It's full of thrift stores and vibrant street art that made me want to live here.

The Northern Quarter is an area in Manchester City Centre, England. Growing up in Manchester, a city in the North West of England, my Saturdays pretty much looked the same. They involved taking a train into the city center and spending whatever pocket money I'd saved on vintage clothes or glossy magazines from independent stores in the Northern Quarter.
Insider •

I made my mom's vegan eggplant curry, or baingan bharta, that only uses 3 ingredients and spices you probably have in your kitchen

When friends ask me my favorite vegetarian curry, my answer is always the same — it's eggplant curry, known by South Asians as baingan or brinjal bharta. I grew up in a Pakistani household which could only be described as aggressively carnivorous. As a family, we ate a lot of meat, in fact, one of my most traumatic memories is the first (and last) time I unknowingly tried Paya curry, or sheep's trotters – which I
Insider •

I made mom's easiest chickpea curry recipe as part of my New Year's resolution to get closer to my South Asian culture. Here's how to make it.

The hard reality of moving out of my family home after the pandemic meant I once again had to cook for myself, and it left me craving my mom's freshly-made curries. My parents were both born in Punjab, Pakistan, and migrated to the UK when they were young, bringing with them endless culinary traditions and an unrelenting sense of hospitality. In an attempt to connect with my South Asian heritage, and to flex to my
Insider •

Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco and Oscar-winning Hollywood actress, had to sacrifice her millions to marry a prince

While Kelly's American and Irish wills do not account for the wealth she amassed from brand deals, jewelry, and fashion collections of items that were gifted to the actress for exposure, and any income she had as a working royal, the documentary claims there is a secret third will that has been locked away in the Grimaldi archives. When asked why she and the director of the documentary, Adam Warner, suspect there is a third will, Godfrey told Insider: "The realisation that Grace Kelly had only $10,000 in her own name in the US stoked our curiosity.
Insider •

Meghan Markle isn't the only woman of color to be accused of workplace bullying. The 'angry Black woman' is a stereotype rooted in racism.

Sheryl Miller is a business advisor and author of Smashing Stereotypes: How To Get Ahead When You're The Only ____ In The Room. Miller spoke to Insider about the insidious nature of unconscious bias in workplaces, and how this relates to Markle. "Research shows that there is a negative correlation between success and likeability with women," Miller said. "As men become more successful, they're more liked, but as women become more successful, they tend to be disliked, it kind of goes the opposite way."
Insider •

Inside the $95,000 progressive Welsh school teaching royals and future leaders that's been called 'Hogwarts for hippies'

Despite the price tag and unconventional 12th-century St Donat's Castle campus, Atlantic College is far from an elitist institution for the rich and famous. Instead, it touts itself as a force for educational change with seafront views of Glamorgan. According to the principal, Peter T. Howe, over 60% of Atlantic College students receive full or partial scholarships to ensure that finances are not a barrier to quality education. "It's not just for rich kids. It's not just for poor kids," Howe told Insider.
Insider •

Spotify defended paying Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for a podcast while musicians struggle to make money, but the couple isn't to blame

A Spotify executive appeared before British members of Parliament (MPs) last week amid criticism from musicians who say the streaming giant doesn't pay them fairly while it offers lucrative deals to big names, like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have also been criticized by some tabloids for accepting such a high-value deal for their Archewell Audio podcast — the amount has not been disclosed, though ITV News reports it is an estimated $25 million — while artists campaign for fair compensation.
gal-dem •

Meet Skater Uktis: the international Muslim crew redefining skate culture

If you walk along the riverside at South Bank, London, you’ll soon become aware of the graffitied skate space tucked beneath Royal Festival Hall. You’ll hear the skaters before you see them as their decks hit the ramps and grip tape scratches on the heels of their shoes. As the space comes into view, the people will mostly take the same form – young white guys wearing beaten up trainers and graphic oversized tees.
Stylist •

“Unibrows aren’t a 2021 beauty trend. Body hair is a complex issue for South Asian women”

Since then, I’ve tried epilators, wax strips, hair buffers that may as well have been sheets of sandpaper – you name it. I was far too young to be growing accustomed to ripping layers of my skin off or accidentally cutting chunks out of my legs with razors. By age 18, my party trick was being able to thread my upper lip without even using a mirror. In my mind, being hairy was a mistake in my design that society does not afford Desi women on top of our other ethnic features, so I spent time and money correcting this.
MESA Magazine •

This is What an Iraqi Looks Like: the new web series by HAJER

When Baghdad Central aired at the start of this year, Iraqi viewers across the globe tuned in with hopes of seeing their culture and motherland represented on screen. Instead, the six-part television series, based around the 2003 Iraq war and directed by Alice Troughton, was met with a wave of critical backlash and labelled as “inauthentic”. In an open letter entitled THIS WAS NEVER YOUR STORY TO TELL, Iraqi-Australian actress and founder of Iraqi Diaspora Creatives, HAJER, 22, told the creators of the show that the global Iraqi community felt their country had simply been used as an exotic “backdrop”.
Gal-dem •

These vintage cassette tapes hold intimate Pakistani oral histories

Digital age communication consists of rapid-fire, often thoughtless exchanges that place quantity over quality. We no longer have to stop to dip our quill in the ink. That pause as we push our typewriter back into its starting position, allowing our cramping fingers to regain strength before we ramble on, has ceased.

Before those taunting “blue ticks” let us know if our messages have been read, older generations before us had to source innovative methods to keep in contact with their families and friends when visits were no longer an option.
Mancunian Matters •

Brits face increased mental health challenges as depression symptoms double during the pandemic

The number of British adults experiencing symptoms of depression has doubled since before the Coronavirus pandemic, according to new data collected by an ONS survey.

In June 2020, approximately 1 in 5 adults (19.2%) were experiencing moderate or severe symptoms of depression - a figure that has doubled since the 9 months between June 2019 - March 2020 (9.7%), with women aged 16 - 39 who could not afford unexpected expenses affected the most.
AZEEMA •

Why photographs are so important to the children of migrants

I am sat cross-legged on my parents’ living room floor, sifting through old photographs like a small child messily working on a collage. With each image, a new story reveals itself. There are women with shawls adorning their shoulders, cuddling their children in front of a homemade banquet. I start to think about what they might be celebrating. Elsewhere, two girls with antiquated haircuts sit in a powdery blue bedroom, wearing bright yellow matching outfits and holding a rosy, round-faced infant between them.
Mancunian Matters •

BFI's Future Festival on the hunt for the next generation of young filmmakers

Unless you’re lucky enough to be a new branch on the infamous Coppola family tree, establishing yourself as a young filmmaker is no small task. But despite the limitations of pocket money budgets or modest student loans, there is always a new generation of filmmakers ready to bring innovative stories to the big screen. Working to identify this raw talent is the BFI Future Film Festival, which provides a space for promising 16-25-year-old filmmakers to showcase short films at BFI Southbank in London.
Refinery29 •

A Suitable Boy Shows Love And Turmoil In Post-Partition India

Not only was the selection of screenwriter a missed opportunity to amplify South Asian voices but from watching the first episode, it feels as though it may have led to a missed opportunity to call out the part Britain played in years of violent conflict. The show's opening sequence reads: "When India became independent in 1947, it was partitioned into two countries." Partition, the tumultuous division of the newly independent British India into the Republic of India and Pakistan, displaced 15 million people and sent over a million to their deaths in a wave of brutal killings and rapes. But this did not take place in a vacuum.
MESA Magazine •

Forgotten History: Seeking a blue plaque for Ayahs’ Home

A woman cruelly abandoned in King’s Cross station with just £1 in her pocket. Another kicked out onto the streets of Hornsey carrying boxes of her own possessions. A third abused by her employers. These are just some of the experiences that the South Asian nannies known as Ayahs, had upon leaving the motherland and arriving in London.

Ayahs were hired by wealthy British families to mind their children during visits to colonial India and often during their voyage back home. Some of these women w
MESA Magazine •

How the Jhalak Prize is levelling the literary playing field

On the evening of October 14, 2019, the hearts of people of colour across the UK sank upon receiving a push notification from their news provider of choice. The headlines varied from publication to publication, but the sentiment was clear: Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo were announced shared winners of the Booker Prize 2019.

Since the award’s inception in 1969, Evaristo is the only black woman to win the iconic prize worth £50,000 for her exquisite novel Girl, Woman, Other. This could
MESA Magazine •

Stay Home, Stay Reading: With Fatima Bhutto and Sanam Maher

There are countless instances where Pakistani writer Fatima Bhutto has occupied my consciousness with her signature elegance and grace. Most frequently, when I’m teasing my mother by asking her if she thinks I, with hair tied like Vicky Pollard and blemish cream dotted around my face, exude more class than Bhutto.

But more recently, I enjoyed her appearance on Riz Ahmed’s live virtual panel ‘Making a Home in No Man’s Land’, where Bhutto was a guest alongside poet Rupi Kaur and writer Nikesh Shu
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