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This MBM conversation is with Sabina Fathima, founder of Sunnyside, a K-12 Experiential Learning School in Chennai. Sabina and I talk about her years of growing up within the Indian educational system, where engineering or medical were considered the only two paths to career and professional success, and the absence of an environment where a young mind could stay confused or reject the existing options. It was only when she began raising her first child, that Sabina realised how unhappy her kid was in mainstream educational set-up, which eventually led her to shift him to a Montessori schooling system and in the later years, establish her own school. As a visible Muslim woman leading an institution, Sabina gives a glimpse of some of her experiences interacting with different stakeholders and how she has learnt to adapt over the years. We also discuss the many ways that the Indian educational system needs to evolve in order to truly prepare a child for the world they are part of, the role of educators and parents in expanding a child’s belonging outside a classroom and a home, and how young kids can become active agents in addressing the real world challenges of today. Episode notes: * Eco India: How Chennai's children are redesigning their sweltering city (Scroll x Eco India, July 2026) * Meet an Educator: Sabina Fathima (early bird, April 2024) * Wild Learning: Yuvan Aves on nature as a classroom (Dark 'n' Light Zine, September 2024) * A Long Struggle For Indigeneity: The Story Of Van Gujjars And Their Search For A Tribal Identity (Pranav Menon, Adivasi Lives Matter, June 2021) * Van Gujjars Help Conserve Forests, but Are Deprived of Rights (Sushmita and Ajit Mahale, The Third Pole, February 2024) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with 20-year old Zahra Batool Sayeba, a resident of Minjee village near Kargil. Sayeba is an avid hiker but despite growing up in and around Ladakh, hiking or camping in the mountains was not a pursuit that she or her friends undertook, until an off chance with an older friend helped her discover this life. In this conversation, Sayeba shares the wonders and joys that she finds through hiking, and despite community expectations, she continues to hike regularly offering a chance to many girls and young women like her to explore their home in more ways than one. We also discuss the role of families and institutions in supporting girls’ outdoor pursuits, the changes she has witnessed around her owing to climate crisis, and imagine the possibilities where women of all ages can explore hiking and wandering in the mountains just for themselves. Episode notes: * Some question why young women should climb mountains but hiking gives me freedom (Mohsina Gufran, The Guardian, July 2026) * Mountain Girls of Kargil | New Generation of Women Adventurers | Ladakh, India (Eleanor Moseman, YouTube, February 2026) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Safiya Bano, a resident of Golconda Hyderabad, who is a businesswoman and beneficiary of the non-profit, SAFA’s training and micro-finance initiative. Before being supported by SAFA, Safiya worked relentlessly for 20 years, starting from stitching shirt buttons to learning to make and sell washing powder. She has single-handedly supported the education and well-being of her five children, refusing to budge to a bad marriage and taking steps to look after herself and her children despite societal constraints and economic hardships. This conversation is a window to her life and story that showcases how sheer determination and grit to survive helped Safiya navigate life, but also in her own words, having faith in Allah and not dwelling on the past, has helped her take one step after another. Through SAFA, Safiya was able to get a small loan to start her own clothing business, which she hopes to scale with a bigger loan and better investment strategies over the coming years. About SAFA: * Website: https://www.safaindia.org/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safaindia * Linktree: https://linktr.ee/safango Related MBM episode: MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with social entrepreneur Rubina Nafees Fatima who is the Founder & Director of Hyderabad-based non-profit SAFA. For nearly 20 years, SAFA has been instrumental in supporting economically and socially marginalised communities in Hyderabad, through education, skill training, livelihoods, placements, and community wellbeing initiatives. How Rubina decided to start SAFA and her journey up until then is what we discuss in this episode. From her early beginnings growing across different parts of the country, being raised by a progressive father, recognising the dissonance between her family’s values and societal norms, and sticking to her north star at every stage of her life. Now in her sixties, Rubina continues to dream towards expanding SAFA’s work and impact, and in her own words is ‘raring to go.’ This Women’s Day, do give this episode a listen. About SAFA: * Website: https://www.safaindia.org/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safaindia * Linktree: https://linktr.ee/safango Episode notes: * To learn more about the Islamic story of Safa and Marwa - Following Haajar’s Footsteps to a Feminist Reading of Islam (Aneesa Bodiat, JSTOR Daily, October 2019) * Crossing the River Musi: The Identity and Agency of Women | Rubina Nafees Fatima (TEDxHyderabad, April 2025) * Hyderabad: ‘Only 5% Muslims in Old City slums pursue higher edu’, says survey (The Siasat Daily, March 2023) * 37 percent of women are single bread earners for families of which 43 percent are widows, 22 percent are divorced and 37 percent are single women abandoned by spouses. * Hijab ban: Karnataka high court upholds government order on headscarves (BBC, March 2022) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Aiman Haque, a Delhi based researcher and writer. Through her years of growing up, working and having family across different parts of the country, Aiman shares how language, caste, history and local cultures have shaped her sense of identity and belonging. We discuss how caste manifests within Muslim communities, especially during arranged marriage discussions or in the choice of words used to address certain sections of the community. We also discuss the value of understanding the inner lives of Muslim women, in order to truly address the needs of the community as a whole. Aiman also shares what it takes to have spaces that are caste-conscious and compassionate towards every person, and find ways to expand opportunities and sense of belonging in more ways than one. Episode notes: * Panel 5: Counter-Narratives to Majoritarianism | Counter-Narratives: The MHI Conference 2025 (YouTube, Mariwala Health Initiative, April 2025) * The forgotten riots of Bhagalpur, In Pictures (Javed Iqbal, Al Jazeera, December 2014) * Caste and social stratification among Muslims in India (edited by Imtiaz Ahmad, Aakar Books, April 2018) * The political life of Muslim caste: articulations and frictions within a Pasmanda identity (Shireen Azam, Contemporary South Asia, July 2023) * Kerala hijab row: How a dispute between a teen and her school became a state-wide debate (Haritha Manav, The News Minute, October 2025) * The Indian development sector has got diversity hiring all wrong (Aiman Haque, The Caravan, January 2024) * Mental Health Is Political: Institutional Violence, Marginalisation And Mental Health Policies At Work (Aiman Haque, Feminism In India, May 2022) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Nadira Khatun, author of the book ‘Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity: Production, Representation, and Reception’. Through this book, Nadira traces the representation of Muslim characters within Hindi cinema in post-partition India, and how the socio-political and economic factors have contributed to varied representations across decades. We discuss the influence of Bollywood on our own personal upbringings, how cinematic representations contributed to the majoritarian perceptions of the Muslim identity and its interactions with us. From films like Mughal-e-Azam and Mammo to Gully Boy and Superboys of Malegaon, we talk about the evolution of Muslim characters and what would it take to make a movie with a truly effortless Muslim representation that does not fulfil any expectation or stereotype. We also discuss the many failings of Hindi film-makers in representing Muslim women - who were either exoticised or oppressed, leaving us with the hope that there is a whole world to cover when it comes to exciting possibilities in the space of truly bebaak representations. About Nadira Khatun Nadira Khatun is associate professor at School of Communications, XIM University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. She was visiting assistant professor at McMaster University, Hamilton from January 2021 to January 2022. She has contributed to academic journals and edited volumes on social media, Bollywood and Muslim identity. Her book tilted, Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity: Production, Representation, and Reception was released in August 2024 with Oxford University Press, UK. Email address of corresponding author: [email protected] Episode notes: * ‘Exoticised, alienised, villainised’: A book looks at how Muslims have been portrayed in Hindi films (Nandini Ramnath, Scroll, June 2025) * Ghettoisation, Crime and Punishment in Mumbai (Abdul Shaban, Economic and Political Weekly, 2008) * Jain, Ranu, and Shaban, Abdul (1999). Socio Economic and Educational Status of Muslims in Mumbai. A Research Report, Submitted to the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission. Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. * Bombay Cinema’s Islamicate Histories (Edited by Ira Bhaskar and Richard Allen, The University of Chicago Press, 2021) * To Be Seen Whole: Blackness, Muslimness, and the Politics of Art (Topibechwa’s Substack, May 2025) * Links to certain films discussed in the conversation: * Mammo (1994) * Garm Hava (1974) * Mughal-e-Azam (1960) * Umrao Jaan (1981) * Pakeezah (1972) * Bebaak (2018) * Dhadak 2 (2025) * Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) * Gully Boy (2019) * Darlings (2022) * Superboys of Malegaon (2024) * Supermen of Malegaon (2008) * Jawan (2023) * Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) * Coolie (1983) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation with Zara Chowdhary, author of the memoir The Lucky Ones - a survivor’s account of the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom. The book is a deeply personal story of Zara and her family whose roots and history are entwined within the soil and soul of the Indian subcontinent, but also the trauma that speaks through the family, especially the women across generations. Zara’s writing is intimate, visceral and soul-stirring, with each page offering truth and dignity to every relationship she writes about, evoking a deep sense of humanity that we most often refuse to acknowledge even within ourselves. We talk about that and many other things including the ways faith informs her interactions with the people and communities she chooses to be part of. About Zara Chowdhary Zara Chowdhary is a writer and educator in the US. She has an MA in writing for performance from the University of Leeds, and an MFA in creative writing and Environment from Iowa State University. She has previously worked behind the camera for studios like Red Chillies Entertainment, Vinod Chopra Films, Eros Entertainment and others. Her debut, The Lucky Ones, a first by any survivor of the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom, released in the US last year to critical acclaim. It was a PEN America finalist, and a Time Magazine Top Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Year, as well as a Best Book by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, People Magazine, Esquire, Electric Literature and others. In India, The Lucky Ones released in September 2024, and has become a nonfiction bestseller, winning the prestigious Shakti Bhatt Prize 2024, and currently long-listed for the Ramnath Goenka Sahitya Samman. Zara teaches creative writing and South Asian studies at the University of Iowa. MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Shabnam Nafisa Kalim, a resident of Mustafabad - a predominantly Muslim suburban area in North-east Delhi, where she and her team of volunteers run two libraries to create a learning and educational space for their community. Mashaal Library and Amma’s Library have over the years become spaces of educational resources to prepare Mustafabad’s youngsters for competitive examinations, and support the local community through adult literacy, career counselling and mental well-being sessions. In this interaction, Shabnam also sheds light on managing internal community challenges, ensuring that libraries are acknowledged as fundamental needs for younger generation, where girls and women can spend time without being questioned by their families, and women recognise the value of their time away from family responsibilities. This kind of effort has resulted in more women coming to these libraries and encouraging others to join too. Links of the libraries: * Mashaal Library * Amma’s Library Episode notes: * Why libraries are a must in India’s public schools (Sneha Priya Yanappa and Avinash Reddy, Scroll, March 2023) * With Poor Infrastructure, Lack of Facilities Govt Schools Perform Worst Across India: Report (Ditsa Bhattacharya, NewsClick, July 2021) * Ghettoes, Religious Communities and the State - A Muslim Enclave in New Delhi (Debanjana Das, ARF India, 2022) * Delhi Riots Fact-Finding 2020 by Delhi Minorities Commission (July 2020) * The Pursuit of Dignity & Beauty in a Broken World ft. Bhumika Saraswati (Anurag Minus Verma Podcast, January 2025) * Kranti Collective MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Nausheen Khan, an independent film-maker based in India, whose documentary Land of My Dreams is a retracing of her journey as an Indian Muslim woman as she covered the Shaheen Bagh protests in 2019-2020. In this conversation, Nausheen shares her introspection around her identity growing up, the effect of stereotypes on her, and reclaiming her Muslimness in more ways than one. We discuss the myriad forms in which being a woman in the present times challenges us to show up with more clarity and confidence in every space we choose to be in. We also discuss the impact of friendships and the need for bonds that allow one to express the vulnerabilities one lives with, as a woman, an artist, a Muslim, among others. For Nausheen, living with joy is the biggest act of resilience and this conversation is a snippet of that. About Nausheen Khan Nausheen Khan is an independent filmmaker based in India, working on gender perspectives amid conflict and political unrest in contemporary times. Land of My Dreams is her first self-financed feature-length documentary film. It won Best Long Documentary at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, in 2023, and the Citizens' Prize at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, in 2023. Episode notes: * [Trailer] Land of My Dreams | Nausheen Khan | Documentary | Monthly Film Screening | April 2024 (Peoples Film Collective, YouTube, April 2024) * Nausheen Khan’s Land of My Dreams wins Best Long Documentary Award at IDSFFK (The Hindu, August 2023) * India: Tennis player Yadav killed by her father — reports | Tanika Godbole with DW sources (DW, July 2025) * Systems are crumbling – but daily life continues. The dissonance is real (Adrienne Matei, The Guardian, May 2025) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Shabana Bano, a Lucknow-based kaamdani artisan. Kaamdani or Mukaish as its popularly known, is intricate metal-work embroidery which requires skill, talent, time and patience to stitch patterns and designs onto fabric. For more than 15 years, Shabana ji has been making her living through this craft, has trained and supported countless women and currently has a team of 50 women artisans who work with her. In this episode, Shabana ji shares her experience learning and expanding her craft to make a living and help other working-class women pick it up too. She highlights the challenges that women participating in this kind of informal sector face, not just domestically but also socially, and how this craft has enabled an intimate self-help group, in the absence of any institutional support, dignified working rates and employee benefits. She speaks of the glaring income inequalities that exist between such artisans who earn as little as INR 150 per day (less than USD2) and certain apparel store owners and designers who price such products in thousands if not more. Shabana ji has also managed to encourage and support more women to not only take up this work but also recruit other women to learn and earn just like her. She hopes that this craft and its people receive their rightful wages and dignity to lead their lives with more resources and support. This conversation was mostly recorded in Urdu and the English transcript of it is available on MBM’s website. Link to Shabana Bano’s Instagram account which showcases her and her team’s work: https://www.instagram.com/mirza_chiken/ Shabana Bano’s phone number for any work-related queries: +91 887390 95976 Episode notes: * Short video essay on Mrs. Shabana’s work (Maroof Umar, Instagram, February 2025) * Mukaish/Badla/Metallic Embroidery of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (Asia InCH, Encyclopedia of Living Heritage) * Indian Sequins: A Jeweled Textile of India (Tooba Fatma, International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, October 2024) * Amazon launched a program for Indian handicrafts. Local artisans say it’s not working (Nipun Prabhakar, Rest of World, October 2024) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

Can a Muslim university be an Indian university? These are the first words in Dr Laurence Gautier’s book Between Nation and ‘Community’ - Muslim Universities & Indian Politics after Partition, in which she explores the history, nature and contribution of India’s leading Muslim universities - Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Milia Islamia (JMI), two institutions which in her words acted, “as crucibles for competing conceptions of ‘Indian Muslimness’ in post-independence India.”  This MBM conversation is with researcher and author, Laurence Gautier where we discuss how these universities, their members and students played key roles in recognising the needs of a new India in terms of education, nation-building and social reform.  We dive deeper into debates and contestation of ideas around the Indian Muslim identity that continues to evolve and the ways in which many figures, men and women, both worked towards making it more encompassing and holistic, despite the internal and external challenges. The conversation also sheds some light on caste-based politics, women’s participation in universities, and the possible future roles of both these universities in the making of modern India.  In this episode we use abbreviations - ‘AMU’ for Aligarh Muslim University and ‘JMI’ for Jamia Millia Islamia. About Dr Laurence Gautier: Laurence Gautier is a researcher at the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), New Delhi. She completed her PhD in History at the University of Cambridge and taught at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat before joining CSH. She writes on Muslim politics, secularism, nation-building and university politics in post-independence India. Between Nation and Community is her first monograph. She also co-edited Historicizing Sayyid-ness: Social Status and Muslim Identity in South Asia with Julien Levesque (JRAS, 2020). Episode notes: * Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860-1900 (Barbara D. Metcalfe, Princeton University Press, 1982) * Emotions and Modernity in Colonial India: From Balance to Fervor (Margrit Pernau, Oxford University Press, 2019) * Books by Mushirul Hasan * Imagined Communities - Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Benedict Anderson, Verso Books) * Rekhta * Sajida Zaidi,celebrated Urdu writer,passes away at 84 (The Indian Express, March 2011) * Zahida Zaidi writings (Rekhta) * Social Exclusion of Muslims in India and Britain (Sabah Khan, Journal of Social Inclusion Studies Volume 6, Issue 1, June 2020) * Mandal Commission Report (National Commission for Backward Classes A Constitutional Body under Article 338B of the Constitution of India) * Why caste among Muslims must be studied (Shireen Azam and Srinivas Goli, The Indian Express, May 2022) * Gerda Philipsborn, the Lesser Known Maker of Jamia Millia Islamia (Mahtab Alam, The Wire, October 2021) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This MBM conversation is with Nusrat Jafri, author of the memoir ‘This Land We Call Home’. In this book, Nusrat traces her maternal history going back to her great grand-father, who was originally part of the Bhantu tribe, and later adopted Christianity as a way to overcome the ostracisation imposed upon him and his family for belonging to what the British deemed as ‘criminal tribes’.  Nusrat’s book offers a window into the lives and choices of her grand aunts, who with the help of Christian missionaries’ efforts got access to education and opportunities to become the first women to study in boarding schools, have varied career choices, travel abroad, marry or not by their own choices, and in effect become role models for her. She writes about her mother Meera, born in the year of India’s independence, who also carved a path of her own, fell in love with a Muslim man, decided to convert to Islam, and effectively raised Nusrat and her siblings in a Muslim household.  This conversation takes a deeper dive into Nusrat’s years growing up in a cultural milieu where the term conversion was not a loaded one and where being a Muslim came with a space to ask questions to arrive at one's own answers. We talk about many layers of this Muslim identity, including gender, caste, class and how one carries their Muslimness in the world and country we find ourselves today. Do give this episode a listen and share it with your friends, family and loved ones. About Nusrat Jafri Nusrat Jafri, is a Mumbai based award-winning cinematographer. She has over fifteen years of experience in filmmaking. Born and brought up in Lucknow, she moved to New Delhi for graduation and post-graduation in Mass Communication. Her professional journey includes stints as a journalist with The Pioneer and CNBC Awaaz. Nusrat is a mentee of the first cohort (2021) of South Asia Speaks. She was featured in the second edition of Rising Beyond The Ceiling: 100 stereotype-shattering stories of Muslim women of Uttar Pradesh, India. She lives in Mumbai with her husband, son and a cat named Jamia. You can learn about her book and find links to purchase here. Episode Notes: * From the memoir: How Bhantus, a ‘criminal tribe’, found acceptance from Christian missionaries (Excerpt from the book, This Land We Call Home by Nusrat Jafri, Scroll, June 2024) * Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gidla (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018) * Understanding Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb: How diverse is the "Indian multiculturalism"(Rana Safvi, DNA, June 2014) * “Many see Indian Muslims as suspect foreigners, despite the fact that most are descendants of Hindus who converted to Islam.” India’s Muslims: An Increasingly Marginalized Population (Lindsay Maizland, Council on Foreign Relations, March 2024) * Chhattisgarh: Hindutva group attacks Christian families, forces to sign pact to ‘convert within ten days’ (Sidra Fatima, Maktoob Media, June 2024) * Issue Update: India’s State Level Anti-Conversion Laws (United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, March 2023) * Religious Composition of India - All religious groups in India show major declines in fertility rates, limiting change in the country’s religious composition over time (Pew Research Center, September 2021) * 25 years later, long shadow of the Staines murders (Debabrata Mohanty, Hindustan Times, January 2024) * Why caste among Muslims must be studied (by Shireen Azam and Srinivas Goli, The Indian Express, May 2022) * Caste Among Indian Muslims Is a Real Issue. So Why Deny Them Reservation? (Pratik Patnaik, The Wire, December 2020) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

This conversation is with Nazia Akhtar, Assistant Professor at the Human Sciences Research Centre, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad and the author of Bibi’s Room: Hyderabadi Women and Twentieth-Century Urdu Prose, in which she has profiled three prolific Hyderabadi Urdu writers, namely Zeenath Sajida, Najma Nikhat and Jeelani Bano.  We discuss some of the most influential and invigorating writings by these women, notably stories like Sajida’s ‘If Allah Miyan Were A Woman’, which offers a critical and compassionate outlook of womanhood in negotiation with one’s Muslim beliefs, Nikhat’s writings that starkly brought out the behaviours and attitudes of feudal class, and Bano’s body of work spanning almost fifty years. We also discuss Dakhani as a language of the Deccan soil and ‘Begumati Zubaan’ that opens a world of its own through communications between women interacting with one another. Through this conversation, Nazia offers a nuanced understanding of the lives of these women in post-Independence decades in Hyderabad, who as Nazia puts were “thrice marginalised”.  Bibi’s Room is an invaluable source of Indian Muslim women’s writings challenging patriarchal structures and norms within and outside their circles, and expands the canon of feminist Urdu writings in the country. Do give this episode a listen, and pick up the book, wherever you can. About Nazia Akhtar (bio republished with permission by the author) Nazia Akhtar is an Assistant Professor at the Human Sciences Research Centre, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad (India), where she teaches courses in Indian and Russian literatures. In 2017, she was awarded a New India Foundation fellowship to write a book on Urdu prose by Hyderabadi women. Bibi’s Room: Hyderabadi Women and Twentieth-Century Urdu Prose went into print in July 2022. She received a commendation from the jury of the Jawad Memorial Prize (2021) for her translation of Zeenath Sajida’s Urdu short story “Chhotam Jaan.” Her second book, The Deccan Sun: Essays and Stories by Zeenath Sajida (1924-2009), will be published by Penguin Random House in 2025. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

What does it mean to be a Muslim woman from Bundelkhand living through its socio-economic and political realities? What are their aspirations and expectations from the upcoming elections? How do they imagine their futures as citizens of this country? These are some questions that Main Bhi Muslim and Khabar Lahariya follow in this episode, speaking to Muslim women voters across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh - mainly in Jhansi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Panna, and Ayodhya to listen to their aspirations, their hopes, and bear witness to their fears and anxieties. These women across all age groups are homemakers, recent graduates, working women, community builders and social activists, who offer a deeper understanding of the on-ground realities of their society. These interviews and recordings are mostly conducted by Khabar Lahariya’s Senior Reporter, Nazni Rizvi, with additional recordings by KL reporters Kumkum Yadav and Alima. In the episode, Nazni later shares her own views on interacting with these women some of whom chose to remain anonymous, whose voices are often less heard in the gamut of electoral politics but are ever important, especially now. She also shares instances of her own experiences as a journalist and a Muslim woman observing the change in norms and sentiments within the society she lives and works in. Recent reports on issues and topics raised by women in the podcast: * Unemployment: बेरोज़गारी की मार झेलता छतैनी गाँव पलायन करने को हुआ मजबूर | UP Elections 2022 (Khabar Lahariya, February 2022) * Anti-Muslim violence and fear within community: “हिन्दू राष्ट्र” बनता भारत, लक्ष्य एक “मुस्लिमों को….”, सुरक्षा-आज़ादी सिर्फ एक धर्म के नाम (Sandhya, Khabar Lahariya, August 2023) * Price hike of gas cylinders: वाराणसी: महंगे सिलिंडर ने लौटाए चूल्हे के दिन (Khabar Lahariya, November 2021) * Vegetables price hike: हाय रे… महंगाई ने कमर तोड़ डाली (Khabar Lahariya, July 2023) * House tax prices: चुनाव जीतने पर ख़त्म करूँगा हाउस टैक्स -प्रमोद सोनी उम्मीदवार | नगर निकाय चुनाव 2022 (Khabar Lahariya, November 2022) * Absence of state support for people with disabilities: चित्रकूट : दिव्यांग परिवार को नहीं मिली आवास, शौचालय व पेंशन जैसी सुविधाएं (Khabar Lahariya, October 2022) * Intertwined Hindu-Muslim religious sites at Jhansi: झांसी के दरगाह शरीफ में बना मंदिर-मज़ार है हिन्दू-मुस्लिम के प्रेम व एकता का प्रतीक (Sandhya, Khabar Lahariya, February 2024) * Uttar Pradesh removes loudspeakers from religious sites (The Hindu, April 2022) * Delhi Police suspend official caught on camera kicking Muslim men offering prayers (Independent, March 2024) Do subscribe to MBM to receive more episodes and rate/review it wherever you listen to podcasts. This episode is in collaboration with Khabar Lahariya - India’s only digital news network run by women from marginalised backgrounds reporting from the country’s hinterlands. Subscribe to KL Hatke to receive on-ground reportage by women journalists in rural India. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com

In this episode, MBM’s host Mariyam Haider is in conversation with Risana Rasheed from Kasargod, Kerala, who along with her twin sister, Ramseena, became the first women in their community to clear the JEE advanced, considered one of the toughest entrance exams, to enter the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Do check out EP27 with Ramseena Rasheed, to learn more about their early educational years and journeys. This episode contains personal views of the guest regarding the said academic institution. In this episode, Risana shares her coming of age story as a young woman, navigating priorities, lifestyle and identity choices, simply keeping one goal in mind - to build a life through academic achievement. After clearing IIT, Risana found herself in a new place, unlearning and learning aspects of herself, experiencing realities being perceived as a visible Muslim woman, especially coming from a non-Hindi speaking background into a predominantly North Indian setting. Risana also offers a window into her experience at the campus, how her OBC background was brought into spotlight through caste-oriented questions by other students and the impact it had on her and those coming from other reserved categories. While Risana shares her personal experience and coping mechanisms to wade through her higher education and early career years, if you are a listener going through something similar, please do consider seeking professional counselling and community support. About Risana Rasheed* Risana Rasheed is a software engineer based in Bangalore, currently working at Harness.io. She pursued her Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee (2017-21 batch) and has previously held roles as an SDE at Amazon and Enphase Energy. Her professional passion lies in crafting scalable, robust, and user-friendly software solutions. Outside of work, she immerses herself in various creative pursuits and enjoys exploring different parts of India, capturing experiences through travel content on Instagram. She also finds solace in creating paintings and finding fulfilment in assisting students with career guidance and counselling. *Bio and image published with guest’s permission. Episode notes: * Child marriage awareness lacking in Kerala’s remote places: Justice Mustaque (The New Indian Express, February 2024) * Risana Rasheed’s Instagram * Mappila Muslim Culture - How a Historic Muslim Community in India Has Blended Tradition and Modernity by Roland E. Miller * 1 Out Of 3 SC/ST Students Asked About Their Caste: IIT-Bombay 2022 Survey (Aakriti Handa, The Quint, April 2023) * 33 IIT students died by suicide in last 5 years: Govt (The Indian Express, April 2023) MBM visual identity design by Shazia Salam || Music by Jupneet Singh This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mainbhimuslim.com