One Piece By… is an interview-column by Kajal arts contributor Sarah Burney. In each piece Burney will have an in-depth discussion with a South Asian artist about one work of art they have created. The world, as we knew it, is on pause. As governments scramble to get ahead of the coronavirus pandemic and the … Read More
Mena Sachdev has always had a hunger to create their own music. A multi-instrumentalist producer, DJ, and vocalist, they released their solo project, Ushamami, through their first EP, Proximity, in 2018. The limitations of their reality, of who and what was not represented in the electronic music universe, became their inspiration to be assertive in … Read More
A sword and a gun: these are the weapons that Eboshi and Contra, together the duo Cartel Madras, brandish at the end of their striking video “Goonda Gold.” “Striking” feels like the perfect word for what Cartel Madras puts out. Their music, part of a new style of trap that they’ve dubbed “goonda rap,” strikes … Read More
My first overseas journey was to Hyderabad, India at age one. I slept under the kind of net that you cover cakes with, a holdover of a home that once filled with the smells of baking. In my senior year of high school, I wrote an essay about the relationship between my nana – my … Read More
This piece was originally published in Kajal Volume 3: Plant Life. Find it here. Tanaïs, née Tanwi Nandini Islam, is a polymath. She published her first novel Bright Lines, about a Bangladeshi-American family living in Brooklyn, New York in 2015. Since then she has launched her own cosmetics and perfume company, Hi Wildflower, which is … Read More
Rajiv Surendra is a Canadian actor, writer, painter, and chalk artist with Sri Lankan Tamil roots. After rising to fame for his role as Kevin G in the 2004 movie Mean Girls, he published The Elephants In My Backyard in 2016. The memoir explores successes and failures through a six year attempt at securing the … Read More
Harshvardhan Shah simply goes by Harshy. An artist and photographer from India, he presents himself with style and grace. Kajal sat down with Harshy at a coffee shop in SoHo, New York City, where he is now based. He walked in dressed in all black but his aura immediately softened the space. Most of Harshy’s … Read More
Following her debut book of poetry If They Come For Us, Chicago-based poet and screenwriter Fatimah Asghar is back with a new collection. Co-edited with Safia Elhillo, Halal If You Hear Me is an anthology of poetry from Muslim writers who identify as women, queer, genderqueer, nonbinary, or trans. Kajal caught up with Asghar shortly … Read More
Swedish artist, Nadia Nair resists classification. Her work strives for something indescribable, bending genres and melding influences from soul, rock, and classical Indian traditions. The result is stunning. Music that grabs at your heartstrings, pulling them along with the emotional cadences of the songwriter’s honeyed voice. When we heard she was previewing her next album … Read More
Thanushka Yakupitiyage (Thanu by day, Ushka by night) is a Sri Lankan born immigrant rights activist, cultural organizer, and DJ based in New York. She leads the U.S. communications work at climate justice organization 350.org by day, and DJs and runs the QTPOC, immigrant centered party iBomba by night. Kajal caught up with Thanu to … Read More
