The sari has become a constant among South Asian cultures. Now, many women learn the Nivi drape, when they reach adulthood. Learning the Nivi drape, for many, checks off the cultural sari box. But to Malika Verma Kashyap, Producer and Creative Director of “The Sari Series,” this wasn’t enough. “The Sari Series: An Anthology of … Read More
British artist, Seema Mattu’s Electric Toothbrush (2016) begins with a question: “Have you seen a C-grade Indian adult film before?” It flashes on the screen for only a moment before the video begins in full force, but it sets a tone for what is to come. The text is written in a calligraphic font, an … Read More
“From Japan to Jamaica to the Philippines, every culture has its own take on a dish I grew up eating with my Punjabi family,” rapper Jasleen Powar, a.k.a. Horsepowar, says over a montage of New York City scenes. “We’re here, we’re hungry, and we’re eating our way through the five boroughs.” The web series, which … Read More
Misha Japanwala stands on a sheet of plastic in the middle of her small room, naked and motionless. She has pushed her bed to one corner and the desk to another. Just a few minutes earlier, her assistant painted liquid silicone onto the front of her body. The fast-drying blue liquid is layered. It dribbles … Read More
Hello and welcome to Libra season, lovelies! So far, 2018 has been an extraordinary year of retrogrades, trines, and eclipses. This month is no different, as Venus begins to retrograde across the skies around the 4th of October. While talk of the dismay and delay caused when Mercury is retrograde has become popularized even outside … Read More
Alice Sparkly Kat is a Brooklyn based astrologer with a contemporary, cross-disciplinary practice that ranges from meticulous natal chart readings, to team building workshops, creative writing and art projects, and meme making, all with a view to decolonizing and queering astrology. Kajal staff writer Tara Kenny sat down with her to discuss the pitfalls of … Read More
The One Who Loves You So, writer and director Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke’s widely-anticipated original play, ran at Colombo’s Namel Malini Punchi theater in August. The play is a complex depiction of a short-lived relationship between two men, one “a wealthy Colombo trust-fund baby” and the other a British expatriate. Their relationship starts with an ordinary match … Read More
With my project OBJECTIFICATION MEETS BODY, I wanted to discuss the objectification of breasts. Strictly speaking, it is not the breasts that are objectified, but the woman’s body through the breasts, or the fact that she has breasts. The size and shape of breasts become a synonym for womanhood, attractiveness and, ultimately, worth. This perception is harmful … Read More
Hello, and welcome to September! I’d like to start by wishing Virgos and Libras a very happy Solar return! I am so excited about the all of the positivity and power in this universe this month, so let’s dig in: We have a New Moon occurring around the 9th of September in Virgo. It’s in … Read More
Manisha Anjali is a Melbourne-based poet and performer whose work draws heavily on Fijian-Indian mysticism and folklore from her heritage. Tara Kenny is a Kajal staff writer and woo woo enthusiast with a specific interest in Sri Lankan black magic and folklore. After connecting digitally across continents over their shared interest in South Asian magic, … Read More
