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SAHM EVENTS - 2021
Nikesh Shukla's Writing Masterclass
Join our literature patron, Nikesh Shukla, poet, Nikita Gill, writer and director, Nida Manzoor, and journalist and feature writer, Coco Khan for a craft conversation.
Our panel will be talking about their writing process, constructing characters, and deconstructing writing across multiple mediums. This is a workshop for writers who are developing their craft and would relish time with some of our industry’s heavy hitters.
Celebrating South Asian Beauty practices with Bina Khan
An hour-long workshop with Pakistani make-up artist Bina Khan, using classic makeup techniques that celebrate South Asian beauty. It’s important to add to the spectrum of what we see as beautiful, and to honour the aesthetic that sub continental women have subscribed to for hundreds of years. Our cultures are ancient and our beauty practices are too!
Bina Khan has been a respected make-up artist and teacher for over 25 years. Her unique take on Pakistani bridal make-up, a combination between Hollywood red carpet glamour and the deep, rich colours that suit desi skin so well, coupled with a joy in celebrating rather than disguising skin tones, have earned her work a loyal following.
Domestic Abuse Awareness Discussion
Domestic abuse can be defined as an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer. It is very common. In the vast majority of cases it is experienced by women and is perpetrated by men.
During this panel discussion the panellist will focus on how domestic abuse affects the South Asian community and what can be done to prevent it.
In Conversation With Sarfraz Manzoor
Join us with British journalist and broadcaster about his new book, They: What Muslims & Non Muslims Get Wrong About Each Other. Sarfraz Manzoor is a British journalist, documentary maker, broadcaster, and screenwriter of Pakistani origin. His latest work, They is a powerful and deeply personal exploration of a divided country – and a hopeful vision for change. Weaving together history, reportage and memoir, Sarfraz Manzoor journeys around Britain in search of the roots of this division – from the fear that Islam promotes violence, to the suspicion that Muslims wish to live segregated lives, to the belief that Islam is fundamentally misogynistic.
Explore and Celebrate Diverse Identities of South Asians
Reclaiming The Mother Tongue: An Exploration of The Loss and Journey Back to Our Native Languages
Join us in conversation with author, poet, and linguist, Sascha Ahktar, director of The Stephen Spender Trust, Charlotte Ryland, and Author and language campaigner, Faiza Nguyễn Sascha Aurora Akhtar considers herself a ‘Pakistani-British-American: something reflected in the linguistic registers in her work. Her six poetry collections have been published by Salt, Shearsman, Contraband, The Emma Press, Knives, Forks & Spoons Press and ZimZalla.
Truth and Reconciliation: Let's talk about our Colonial Past
A live recording of The Decolonial Podcast with co-hosts, Natasha Junejo and Maya Kalaria. Natasha and Maya are both British born and from Pakistani and Indian heritage respectively. They will be discussing the British Empire, Partition, and post colonial legacy through the lens of their lives and cultures and exploring how younger South Asian diasporic views around these parts of our history are evolving today.
South Asian Textile Workshop
A workshop on South Asian textile heritage, focusing mainly on Kantha embroidery technique, a predominantly South Asian tradition that has been going on for centuries. We want to look at the history of kantha making, the stories around kantha and how the kanthas tells the story of South Asia.
Featuring a panel of experts to discuss around the shared textile heritage of Britain and South Asia and how these heritage has evolved and impacted on our lives as British South Asians.
Scottish South Asian Stories, Panel discussion with Gaurie Raje
Listen to Gaurie and the young people discuss issues around identity and well-being in the context of creative storytelling and heritage.
South Asian Languages in the UK
A panel discussion about South Asian language diversity in the UK, focusing on the diverse languages spoken within the UK South Asian diaspora. The key topic of discussion will be around preserving these languages amongst the next generation of British South Asians born and raised in the UK, who are at risk of losing touch with their heritage language.
The event will give particular focus on the major South Asian languages spoken in the UK, which are : Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Bangla and Gujarati, while also looking at other languages such as Buhari, Tamil, Malayalam, Kanara, Marathi, Singhalese, Pashtu etc.
Stronger: In conversation With Poorna Bell
Join us with journalist, author, and powerlifter, Poorna Bell as we discuss her new book, Stronger and her work to empower young women and girls. Poorna Bell is an award-winning journalist of 18 years, author and a digital editorial expert, and a competitive powerlifter.
Exhumation: The Life of Madan Lal Dhingra – a conversation with Leena Dhingra
An event with the author and well-known actress Leena Dhingra, about her new book Exhumation: The Life and Death of Madan Lal Dhingra Part history, part memoir Exhumation is a powerful story of family secrets that throws light on the dark legacy of colonialism, and will be published by HopeRoad on 17th August. Leena will be in discussion with Kishwar Desai In the book, Leena traces the remarkable story of her great uncle, Madan Lal Dhingra, who, on 17th August 1909, was executed in Pentonville Prison for the assassination of Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, a high-ranking civil servant in the British India Office.
Women Celebrating Water Heritage through Stories
A session celebrating water heritage across borders through the power of storytelling with women and young girls from the Northeast of India and the UK. Join the conversation with storytellers Minket Lepcha, Gauri Raje and young girls from the Northeast of India moderated by Sara Ahmed (Living Waters Museum) as they explore, reflect and reimagine their roots, identity and the influence of inter-generational transfer of stories to create awareness on our shared waters and future.
Bangladesh @50 - Commemoratibg 50th Anniversary of Bangladesh's Independence
Bangladesh is a key South Asian country with a large diaspora community in the UK. During March to December 1971, the then East Pakistan, a province of Pakistan, fought a liberation war to become an independent country. On 16th December 1971, Bangladesh became an independent country, after 9 months of independence war.
Partition Education Group & South Asian Writers: Twice Migrant Histories
An exploration of both the historical and the personal impact on twice migrant communities of South Asia and Africa in the wake of Partition
Speakers include:
Professor (or Dr).
Dr Patel
Dr Sana Aiyar
Sneha Pruhoit
Chronically Brown x South Asian Heritage Month Disability Panel
Panellist speakers Gina Patel, Rashmi Becker and Donna Nahal will be discussing the impact of South Asian culture on their disabilities/carer role. They will also discuss how they adapted to the disability as well as how it impacted their current work.
Healthy Friday's Chai & Chat - Managing Type 2 Diabetes
ADAPT – how can the South Asian diet and lifestyle be adapted to support and reverse type 2 diabetes – with Dr Natasha Patel and Toral Shah.
Description: The likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes is reported to be as much as 6 times higher in South Asians than in White Europeans and much of this is due to lifestyle.
Ms (Dr) Patel and Toral first joined forces in 2004 to create a program specifically tailored to the South Asian community to support with diabetes management and have continued to update and renew this program as the research grows.
Health Info for South Asian Communities - lost in translation?
How can the information provided by the health service cater better for South Asian communities? What are the challenges and barriers? What can we do about them? These are some of the questions that our expert panel of patients, researchers and healthcare professionals will be discussing.
Chair: Dr Binita Kane, SAHM co-founder, Consultant Respiratory Physician
Resolving conflicts in identity & belonging in 2nd gen British South Asians
This session will involve Neeraj Bhasin (@8NBX), a Consultant Vascular Surgeon, presenting his journey, perceptions, and feelings around identity and belonging having been born in England to parents who arrived in the UK in 1966. The panel discussion and Q&A session will include experiences from the SAHM co-founder and Respiratory Consultant, Binita Kane (@BinitaKane), and Fatima Khan-Shah (@shutcake), Programme Director for the Unpaid Carers and Personalised Care Programmes, Convenor of the Race Equality Network, for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, Member of the Kings Fund Council and NHS Assembly.
Sustainability, South Asian Culture & Identity – are we doing enough for our planet and people?
What does sustainability mean for South Asian communities? Is sustainability still at the core of our cultural identity? Are we disconnected from our ancestral lands facing the brunt of climate change? New research from Oxfam and Swiss Re Institute shows enormous impact of 2.6 degrees of heating by 2050 (most likely scenario given current commitments) to reduce % GDP in Asia by -26.5% relative to a world without climate change. Asia will be the worst affected economically and environmentally by the effects of global warming; but do our communities know this or what it means and if they do, do they care enough to make daily changes in a world which is ever more interdependent?
In Conversation With: Nikesh Shukla
Join us in conversation with Nikesh as we talk about his decade long career in publishing, his powerful new memoir Brown Baby, and what comes next. We welcome your questions for Nikesh which you can post live during the session or email in advance to: natasha@southasianheritage.org.uk Nikesh Shukla is a novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of Coconut Unlimited (shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award), Meatspace and the critically acclaimed The One Who Wrote Destiny.
Understanding Baby Loss
A panel discussion, with audience Q & A – about South Asian baby loss. Amneet Graham is writing an E book that hopes it will be released in August, the book will be focused on understanding baby loss in South Asian communities.
Kinara: Poetry From the Edge
‘Kinara’ means border, shoreline or edge in Hindi/Urdu. Our position as poets at the edge of British literary culture encourages us to gaze both inwards at a post-Brexit UK and out at the wider world. This edge is fertile ground for innovation, experimental form and language, as well as the interrogation of complex identities.
The Legacy of Noor Inayat Khan
Noor Inayat Khan was a secret agent in the Second World War. She volunteered for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and was trained as a radio operator, later joining the SOE. In the summer of 1943 she became the first woman radio operator to be infiltrated into occupied France and worked undercover in Paris. She was betrayed, tortured and executed in Dachau Concentration Camp.
Panel: Shrabani Basu, Joseph Miller and Paul McCue
Chai breaker with Jaya Modi and Rajyashri Goody
An hour chai-making session and talk unpacking recipes, poems and memories about chai to reveal its history and deeper meaning for UK-based graphic designer and writer Jaya Modi, India-based artist Rajyashri Goody and host, cultural producer Parvinder Marwaha. Inspired by the icebreaker method, used to introduce people to each other so they feel more comfortable connecting, ‘Chai Breaker’ aims to encourage open conversations from decolonisation to gender equality through making, talking and drinking together. This interactive session invites the audience to join in making chai, and share their stories too.
Speaker(s): Jaya Modi (London), Rajyashri Goody (Pune) & Parvinder Marwaha (London).
SAHF: Experience of South Asians during the Pandemic
South Asians have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, whether in terms of increased risk of mortality, hospital admission or vaccine hesitancy. In the second wave, the Indian subcontinent has itself been more severely affected, causing unprecedented healthcare strain. In this session, chaired by Dr Sarah Ali (consultant diabetologist at Royal Free Hospital, London) and supported by the South Asian Health Foundation, we hear from four individuals who have worked through the pandemic in research, clinical practice and care to explore the impact of the pandemic on South Asians.
Penguin Presents: In Conversation With Mohsin Zaidi
Join us for a Q&A with author barrister, and speaker, Mohsin Zaidi. Mohsin’s coming of age memoir, A Dutiful Boy is a beautifully written exploration of his life growing up in a devout Pakistani Muslim household and coming to terms with his identity as a gay man. This extraordinary memoir is about belonging, the complex interplay between expectation and self determination; and, ultimately, loving yourself enough to be exactly who you are.
Alternative Writing Course for Women of Colour Opera on Sarovar Press
This workshop is about exploring the role culture plays in our sense of freedom and empowerment as women and individuals. South Asian culture (like most cultures) has beautiful and suppressive sides. By understanding how our culture makes us feel and who we could be beyond our identity as Asian women / brown women / women of colour, allows us to take our power back and express ourselves and our culture with pride.
Through a mixture of conversation and mindful journaling exercises based on techniques from the Alternative Writing Course, this session will help you discover more about who you truly are as an individual, and allow you to connect to your culture in a way that is empowering and authentic.
Asians Still Can't Play Football
Asians still can’t play football…except for the one who won the FA Cup. Or the one who won the FA Youth Cup. Or the one who got to the Championship Play-Off final. How about the one who won the golden boot, league title and got to the Champions League Final? 25 years on from Jas Bains’ ironically titled report, Asians Can’t Play Football, we don’t appear to be as represented as perhaps we should be on the football scene. Sometimes, as England manager Gareth Southgate recently mentioned, we’re not even involved in the conversation. But we are there, hiding in plain sight, and it’s time to remove the covers. For those in the game, it feels like we are in a pivotal moment in history.
Desi Diasporas and LGBTQ+ Activism
Join the discussion about the Desi Diaspora, from the 1980s to present day! We’ll be talking about how festivals and collectives captured the essence of LGBTQ stories and lives, by connecting activists and artists from across the globe. Where we’ve been and where we’re going in the digital age, to open up new avenues for queer diasporic resistance that defies traditional borders of nation and sexuality. This panel is organised by Cross Border Queers: The Story of South Asian Migrants in the UK, a project funded by the British Academy.
COVID Vaccination - Q&A with the experts
COVID-19 disproportionately affects people from minority ethnic groups, including people of South Asian origin. Join our experts Dr Binita Kane, Consultant Respiratory Physician in Manchester and co-founder of South Asian Heritage Month, and Dr Harpreet Sood, a GP in London and Clinical Advisor for the COVID-19 Vaccine Programme for NHS England, as they answer your questions on why it’s important for our communities to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Grief and Mysticism: In Conversation With Maya Kalaria
Maya is an Indian Gujarati woman born in the UK who lost her mother at the age of nine. She’s an author and experienced broadcaster who speaks powerfully about grief, racism and colonial trauma. Maya’s powerfully vulnerable book of poetry, Half Woman Half Grief, was released last year and she speaks widely on the process of grief and healing. Join us a as we explore themes Maya explores in her book, The Unravelling, The Excavation, The Resurrection, and The Surrender. Maya’s work invites us to grieve and explores how, when it’s only when we look at the dark, that we can begin to find our way back to the light. Maya is a qualified astrologer, hypnotherapist, mental health engagement worker, and co-host of The Decolonial Podcast. To find out more, visit www.mayakalaria.com.
Healthy Friday's Chai & Chat - Diet and Portion Control
40 yrs of AIDS - HIV then and now
40 years of AIDS – HIV then and now: South Asian HIV Advisory Board and AIDS Memory UK Aims: To celebrate South Asian people living with HIV, tell their stories and lived experiences, commemorate those who have died from HIV/AIDS and challenge myths and stigma about this now very treatable long-term condition.
So Many Beauties Collective Music Showcase
Exquisite music created with NHS staff and older people during the pandemic performed by an exciting new intercultural collective. About this event The So Many Beauties Collective weaves a rich tapestry of sounds, drawing on diverse cultural influences. It features some of the North West’s finest musicians who have come together during the pandemic to share music, celebrate each other’s heritage and develop new inter-cultural ideas. The ethos of the Collective is to work co-creatively with people in health and social care settings, providing opportunities for patients and staff to be actively involved in the creative process of making music. In 2021, the Collective led a series of workshops hosted by LIME Arts and SoundUp Arts with additional funding from Arts Council England.
Asians in Football: Live with Hamza Choudhury
The FA and EA Sports FIFA are proud to support ‘Asians in Football: Live with Hamza Choudhury’ on Thursday 5th August at 5pm. Choudhury is an English professional footballer and one of the most senior players of South Asian heritage in the men’s professional game.
In conversation with Anita Rani about her new book ‘The Right Sort of Girl
Urdu Language Workshop 2
Join us for the second of today’s Urdu language taster class live from Germany. Class 2 is led by author and literacy campaigner, Faiza Nguyễn.
Faiza Nguyễn is the first Pakistani-American author of bilingual (English-Urdu) children’s board book: One Black Cat Aik Kala Billa ایک کالا بلا. She is on a mission to get the parents reading to their babies as early as possible and diversifying children’s literature everywhere. Her ultimate goal is to build children’s libraries across Pakistan.
Urdu Language Workshop 1
Join us the first of today’s online Urdu language taster class. Class 1 is led by poet, author, linguist, and curator of The Stephen Spender Trust’s Urdu Spotlight Poetry Competition, Sascha Akhtar.
Sascha Aurora Akhtar considers herself a ‘Pakistani-British-American: something reflected in the linguistic registers in her work. Her six poetry collections have been published by Salt, Shearsman, Contraband, The Emma Press, Knives, Forks & Spoons Press and ZimZalla. Her first short story collection, Of Necessity And Wanting, was published by The 87 Press in October 2020, while Oxford University Press (India) will publish her first book of translations in 2021. Sascha’s Poems For Eliot, from the book #LoveLikeBlood, was named number one poem of the past five years by Poetry Wales in the summer of 2019.
Rise Of The Bookstagrammer Turn on screen reader support
Join us for a roundtable with; the founder of South Asian Bookclub Ali Araf, graphic novelist Sabba Khan, and the founders of Brown Girl Bookshelf as we explore the power of online curated communities and the impact these tens of thousands of readers searching for South Asian stories can have on the publishing industry.
Song Writing Workshop
How to write and produce a song – Workshop – songwriting/production session + Q&A – beginner to advanced how to write a song start to finish.
Diaspo Live Cooking lessons
Diaspo runs live cooking classes from home cooks with decades of experience. Get the tips, tricks and techniques you can’t get in a cookbook, learning heritage recipes that have stood the test of time. Cook along live, learning their steps, stories and secrets.
Healthy Friday - Chai & Chat: Living with Cancer
How can our diet and lifestyle impact cancer risk and recurrence in conjunction with Penny Brohn UK – panel event lead by Toral Shah (Gujarati, Hindi and English)
Exploring language pre- and post Partition
We have collaborated with Tape Letters to bring you ‘Divided Lands, Divided Tongues?’. Join our conversation in which we examine Partition’s impact on language development. Our speakers will be exploring the similarities and differences between Hindi and Urdu, South Asian languages spoken within multilingual communities, influences of English within South Asian languages, whilst also looking at the usage of additional languages post-Partition, including Pothwari, an oral-only language.
South Asian Youth & COVID-19: Cultural Challenges & Opportunities
Sunita Thind
Roots & Changes: Gujarati Influences Panel Discussion
The exhibition tells the ‘Gujarati story’ of a successful migration, which has enriched the UK. This story is told through work and leisure patterns. Work includes cultural traits such as traditional crafts, trade, architecture, commerce, employment and entrepreneurship; pleasure comprises cultural expressions such as music, dance, food, family and spiritual life. The project will show the diverse cultural roots of the Gujarati community in the Indian state of Gujarat and the countries along the east and south coasts of Africa.
South Asian Women in Sport: Where are they?
A 2020 report from the UK government showed that Asian women were the least physically active in the country. Does that shock you? What can we do to change this? Join us on a virtual roundtable to discuss the reasons why they are lagging behind and how we can increase those numbers. Hear from organisations and individuals on what they are currently doing, what else can be done, ending with an opportunity to share your ideas.
Health - Chai and Chat
Mindful chai making with Mira Manek to launch Chai and chat. How can adapt our South Asian Diet to support our immune health? With Nutritional Scientist Toral Shah (Gujarati, Hindi and English).
Tape Letters
Join us to learn about how casette tapes were used as a form of communication between the British-Pakistani community during the 1960s-80s. The Tape Letters project shines light on the practice of recording and sending messages on cassette tape as an unorthodox method of communication by Pakistanis who migrated and settled in the UK between 1960-1980.
South Asian in Games
South Asian game developers across different areas talk about their roles in the games industry, career opportunities, and resources for budding games developers:
Dr. Satish Shewhorak – Panel Chair and Animation (Teesside University, POC in Play) Khaya Ahmed – Writing (Destruction Allstars, Ms Marvel) Robin – Games Design Zakia Abdullah – Character Art (Fall Guys, Sea of Thieves) Anantha Krishnan – Programming (Sea of Thieves) Charlotte Rouget-Murphy – Marketing & Streaming (SEGA Europe) John Nejady – Game Production (Lockwood Publishing)
Brick Lane Past & Future with Saif Osmani and Raju Vaidyanathan
Brick Lane – past and future. A look back at how Brick Lane became the heart of the British Bangladeshi community, and the current fight for its future. Speakers are Raju Vaidyanathan, who captured the early days of Banglatown with his photography, and Saif Osmani, an architect and local resident who is trying to prevent the gentrification of Brick Lane in order to preserve the Bangladeshi identity of the area.
