Chai Across Generations
Chai Across Generations is a podcast featuring two friends a generation apart, Nikil and Shankar, as they explore a new topic each episode to better understand - and maybe even bridge - the gap between generations of South Asians.
Episodes
43 episodes
Episode 42: The Legacy Of MLK, Equality, And Colorism
In honor of MLK Day, we chat about our personal experiences of the holiday and discuss similarities and differences between the histories of African-Americans and South Asians in the US. We also talk about discrimination - especially in the for...
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Episode 42
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23:04
Episode 41: How Different Cultures And Generations See The New Year
Happy New Year! We chat about our personal impressions of New Year, how we think about New Year’s Resolutions and goal-setting, and questions to ask other generations to better understand their hopes and goals for the year.🍿 WHERE TO WA...
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Episode 41
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24:52
Episode 40: Our Funniest Moments In 2023
We recap our funniest moments from the first 39 episodes in this year-end special! From Shankar sharing hilarious stories with his daughter to Nikil playing a South Asian-inspired version of "Would You Rather?" with Mukhunth, this year had seve...
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Episode 40
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24:12
Episode 39: 2023 Recap - 4 Lessons To Improve Your Mental Health And Your Chats With Your Parents And Kids
We recap the four biggest lessons we learned in 2023 from our conversations on the podcast. From mental health to communicating with other generations and raising multicultural kids, this year has taught us a lot that continues to be relevant i...
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Episode 39
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30:27
Episode 38: 3 Things We Love And Hate About The Holidays
We’re back! We share some life updates that have kept us from the podcast in recent weeks. With the holidays right around the corner, we also talk about the top 3 things we love and hate about the holidays including music, expectations, and the...
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Episode 38
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38:13
Episode 37: Raising Multicultural Kids And Diwali
Raising kids in a foreign land can be challenging, especially around times of celebration back home. On today's episode, we talk to Ajanta Chakraborty and Vivek Kumar about tips for raising multicultural children, the power of stories, and the ...
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Episode 37
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46:46
Episode 36: Chills, Thrills, And Immigration: A Halloween Special
Many young South Asians leave their home countries to pursue their dreams in other countries like America. As they build their lives, they face an interesting question about whether to stay or to return to their home countries to be closer to f...
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Episode 36
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37:10
Episode 35: Mental Health Stories That Inspire Hope And Healing
We all have things that affects our mental health, and it can feel very vulnerable to share them with others. In this episode, Abhjith Ravinutala joins the show for an inspiring, vulnerable, and courageous conversation about mental health. He s...
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Episode 35
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1:37:08
Episode 34: Healing From Grief Of Loss
Healing from grief after losing a loved one can be incredibly challenging. How do we move forward, and how do we make peace with their absence? How do we heal when our communities aren't as supportive or understanding about grief as we would li...
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Episode 34
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55:28
Episode 33: Indian Cricket And A World Cup Preview
The ICC 2023 Cricket World Cup starts later this week, the biggest event in the cricketing calendar. India is hosting the tournament and hopes to win its third World Cup title. We bring on special guest Balaji Narasimhan to chat about the histo...
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Episode 33
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46:11
Episode 32: Education and Career Choices
If you've ever been to a South Asian dinner party, you've probably gotten these questions from all of the aunties and uncles: "What are you studying? What are you doing?" Education and and career are highly valued in the South Asian community. ...
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Episode 32
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53:41
Episode 31: Talking About Jaahnavi Kandula - The American Dream Unfulfilled
We reflect on the life and story of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old graduate student who tragically lost her life when a police officer in Seattle accidentally hit her with his car. Her story became a big news story this week after body camera ...
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Episode 31
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33:48
Episode 30: A Passage To India (Nikil's Version)
Nikil just got back from a trip to India and we chat about all of the things on his trip, including the beauty of a blended Hindu/Sikh wedding, the joys and challenges of visiting relatives back home, and all of the food he ate along the way. P...
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Episode 30
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29:09
Episode 29: Me Or We - Traditions We Love And The Beauty of Rebellion
We finish our Me Or We series by exploring how individualism or collectivism show up for individual people as and how South Asia and Western societies differ on these dimensions. We also chat about the longstanding South Asian tradition of morn...
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Episode 29
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25:58
Episode 28: Me Or We - How Do We Balance Family And Friends?
We continue our Me or We series this week and explore the topic of family vs. friends. We chat about a number of themes including the challenges of navigating emotional space with parents, the generational differences in how we think abou...
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Episode 28
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23:03
Episode 27: Me Or We - Navigating Privacy ("My Room And My Phone")
We continue our Me or We series exploring how individualism and collectivism show up in South Asian and Western countries. On this episode, we dive into the idea of private space and how to navigate privacy between generations, especially betwe...
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Episode 27
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27:34
Episode 26: Me Or We - My Space Or Our Space
We kick off a new series called Me or We: examining individualism vs. collectivism in the South Asian community. The research and our experience shows that South Asian countries tend to be more collectivist while America and other Western count...
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Episode 26
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25:45
Episode 25: Quarter Century Check-in
We're 25 episodes in and take a look back at how the podcast has grown and changed in that time. What did we set out to do initially, how have done against those goals, and what's next? We also chat about what we've learned about ourselves, how...
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Episode 25
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31:31
Episode 24: Traveling Chai - Culture, Spirituality, and Connection
Traveling to a new country opens our hearts and minds to new ways of thinking and being in the world. While Shankar travels to a new country, we exchange stories and ideas about yoga, meditation, and spirituality as tools that help us "level up...
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Episode 24
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26:44
Episode 23: Immigration - The Culture That Endures
Immigration marks the start of a personal journey for each person as they learn to relate to both their home culture and their host culture. On this episode, we chat about what it looks like to integrate between two cultures as an immigrant, th...
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Episode 23
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34:34
Episode 22: Immigration - Second Generation Guilt And Growth
Immigration affects both those immigrating and their children, who make up a second generation that may find themselves caught in-between two different worlds or cultures. In the second part of our immigration series, we focus more on the secon...
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Episode 22
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33:35
Episode 21: Immigration - Tales Of A Reluctant Immigrant
Immigration is an incredibly important force in the lives of South Asians as well as others who have moved away from their home countries. What is immigration? Why does Shankar consider himself a reluctant immigrant? How do we honor the stories...
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Episode 21
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36:39
Episode 20: Father's Day - Father And Daughter
With Father's Day coming to a close, we've got another special father-child conversation this week between Shankar and his daughter Shivani. The roles are reversed as Shivani interviews Shankar on a range of topics including Shankar's exp...
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Episode 20
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41:14
Episode 19: Father's Day - Father And Son
Father's Day is this Sunday, and the father-son relationship is very unique. On this episode, we share a conversation between Nikil and his dad about a number of topics including his dad's immigration story to America, what it means to be a fat...
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Episode 19
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45:31
Episode 18: Cousins Across Continents - Bigger And Badder Than Ever
Cousins play a special role in the lives of South Asians, even when they live continents apart. This week we have a special, heartfelt conversation between Shankar and his cousin Hema filled with bits of wisdom as they talk about how their rela...
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Episode 18
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45:13