NOVEMBER 2022
HORRORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
INSIDE
SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN ON THE BALLOT
KINJAL SHAH DECRYPTS CRYPTO
PLUS
SO LONG TURKEY! MEATLESS THANKSGIVING RECIPES
THE STAR OF “INDIAN MATCHMAKING”
NADIA JAGESSAR
IS BATTLING THE CULTURAL STIGMA OF SINGLEHOOD
How to make the Holidays Healthier page 60
Kinjal Shah page 20
Ideas for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving page 36
6
CONTRIBUTORS BEYOND LIMITS
OPINION
8
Stigma of Being Single
EVENTS
10
46
12
Following her Dharma
20
Decrypting Crypto
FOOD & DRINK Ideas for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Voteworthy Trailblazers
HOROSCOPE
71
Forecast with Farzana
54 Horrors of Human Trafficking
ON THE COVER
WELLNESS
62
Diwali Round-up
PIONEERS
36
FEATURES
Singled Out
How to Make the Holidays Healthier
SEEMA RECOMMENDS
66
Thanksgiving Tableware
CULTURE
68
The Best Podcasts for Career Women
24 PHOTO CREDIT: @NATZPHOTOGALLERY
5
CONTENTS
MEET OUR
CONTRIBUTORS FOUNDER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
SEEMA KUMAR CREATIVE DIRECTOR
SAJID MOINUDDIN
SHARE/ LIKE/ TWEET/ US ON
DESIGN
HB DESIGN EDITORIAL COORDINATOR
ROHINI KAPUR EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE
AHAD SANWARI WRITERS @seemanetwork
ABHIJIT MASIH MELANIE FOURIE NUPUR BHATNAGAR
@seemanetworks
CATE REYNOLDS PREETAM KAUSHIK FARZANA SURI
@seemanetwork
BRAND PARTNERSHIPS, DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY
ANJALI MANIAM
SEEMA™ ISSUE 11 | NOVEMBER 2022 EMPOWERING SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN GLOBALLY SEEMA KUMAR, FOUNDER
COPYRIGHT © 2021 SEEMA, JAYARAM, LLC SEEMA.COM
ON THE COVER: NADIA JAGESSAR (PAGE 24).
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EDIT | SEEMA
BEYOND LIMITS SEEMA KUMAR, FOUNDER
An Ode to the Spirit of Giving
N
ovember is all about giving — and Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year. As a family, we have been hosting Thanksgiving for a long time. Each year, I look forward to this holiday more than any other. The chrysanthe-mums are out, the leaves are morphing to yellow and orange, the weath-er is cool, and the clock is turned back. During all these changes, what brings us joy is the company of friends and family in a warm home, eating comfort foods and sharing stories. 6 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
I recall my first Thanksgiving as a new immigrant, and the warmth of American families welcoming us to their homes, and going out of their way to make a few meatless dishes to accommodate vegetarians. I was always grateful for their hospitality, for the wonderful meal we shared to-gether and the tradition of giving thanks. As a family of our own, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house, inviting stu-dents whose kin were far away and had no family gathering to join. The pleasure of hosting the students is a feeling like no other. So the tradition began, and we continue with it. For Thanksgiving, I don’t cater the food like I usually do. For this holiday I find satisfaction in cooking a meal at home — complete with the effort,
PHOTO CREDIT: SHRAVYA KAG
the attention to detail, and the tradition of cooking foods that we all love — the turkey, and many meatless options. And although the weather brings cravings for satisfying fat-laden, carb-heavy meals, I always try to make the Thanksgiving meal healthy. In that spirit, in this issue we bring you a delectable meatless Thanksgiving menu that even a meat lover will ap-preciate. We also show you how to make Thanksgiving healthy. And we have some recommendations for tableware that will make your board both functional and unique! What good would a Thanksgiving issue be if we didn’t bring you inspiring stories of women who are breaking barriers, challenging stigma, and making the world a better place? Speaking of stigma, why is it that women above the age of 35 are stigma-tized for being single? Is “spinster” a bad word? And what is wrong if you prefer to be single and cherish your liberty than the company of a spouse who you dislike or who dislikes you? We examine the stigma of being sin-gle in a few ways, including through the eyes of our cover star, Nadia Ja-gessar, a key character in “Indian Matchmaking” who discovers that regardless of beauty, accomplishment, or purpose, being a single South Asian woman can stigmatize you. She has some good advice for South asian women. We also bring you the disquieting facts surrounding human trafficking and one women who is trying to make a difference! Finally we offer you a glimpse into 5 trailblazing women to watch for in the upcoming November elections! Check them out — and be inspired to be change agents. We hope you enjoy this issue. Happy Thanksgiving.
OPINION | SEEMA
THE
STIGMA
OF BEING
SINGLE
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“In many countries, there are now more singles than couples, but people continue to view marriage as a symbol of status and success” —PSYCHOLOGY TODAY “Never-married women face social stigma, researchers find” —SCIENCE DAILY SINGLE SHAMING: Why people jump to judge the “Singles face discrimination, prejudice, and financial challenges as they often earn less and pay more for social benefits, health care, and income taxes, according to research.” — PSYCHOLOGY TODAY 8 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
unpartnered. “The number of singletons is increasing, yet people still insist on telling them they’ll find a partner soon. What’s with all the pity?” — BBC
DOUBLED: The % of never-married singletons in their 40s.
“In China, if you are female, educated and unmarried by the age of 27, people might use a particular term – “Sheng-nu” – to describe your social status. It translates simply as “leftover women”. But China’s ‘leftover women’ are using their financial power to fight the stigma of being single.” HALF A MILLION: The figure for singles aged 40-70 in the decade-and-ahalf between 2002 and 2018.
MASSACHUSSETTS: A state where “Being a spinster was a choice.…Some of the country’s most well-known women of that era valued their independence over partnership in Massachusetts, which has a long history of rearing women who lived singly throughout their lives. Woman’s suffragist Susan B. Anthony, who hailed from Adams, never married, nor did Concord’s Louisa May Alcott, who famously declared that “liberty is a better husband than love to many of us.”
Spinster. “A misogynist term with undertones of sour dessication or bumbling hopelessness” —EMMA JOHN, THE GUARDIAN “Never-married women face social stigma, researchers find” —SCIENCE DAILY NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 9
EVENT | SEEMA
THE DIWALI ROUND-UP
T
he days leading up to Diwali saw a string of galas and events being hosted in New York City. Not-for-profit groups used the period of celebrating the festival of lights to showcase their work. IHC for Her, the sister arm of the India Heritage Center, hosted their first annual Diwali Gala in NYC on Saturday, October
10 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
1, 2022 on the 69th floor of the World Trade Center. Kanika Chadda Gupta and Vasudha Viswanath of the professional women’s group HeyMama organized a Diwali brunch on October 9 at Baar Baar. The Desai Foundation held Diwali on the Hudson, its ninth annual fundraising event, in New York City on October 12. Attendees included the who’s who of New York’s South Asians.
PIONEER | SEEMA
Following Her Dharma Megha Desai’s commitment to ensuring empowerment and dignity to women and children through her foundation. ABHIJIT MASIH
M
egha Desai heads the Desai Foundation, an organization that works to elevate the health and livelihood of women and children through community programs, both here in the United States and in India. Set up as a family foundation in 1997 by Samir and Nilima Desai, it has footprints in the metro areas of Boston, New York City and in about 1,400 villages across India. Impacting about 5 million people, it is focused on general health, livelihood and menstrual health. In the recent past, it has focused more on the COVID response, especially in India, but its larger commitment is to ensure the dignity of women and children it serves. Desai is also the founder of MSD (marketing.
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strategy. dharma) which is a branding and strategic partnership advisory serving social good brands. Before being an entrepreneur, Desai spent more than a decade in mainstream advertising, bringing brands and entertainment together on film, television and the internet. Increasing involvement in the foundation led her to transform the family foundation to a dynamic public foundation. It hosts Diwali on the Hudson, an annual event that showcases the work done to empower women and children. This year the event, held on October 12, drew the city’s most renowned South Asian influencers. Desai shared with SEEMA details of her personal and professional journey, and her foundation’s work in India and the U.S.
Megha Desai - President of the Desai Foundation NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 13
PIONEER | SEEMA
How did you remain in touch with your culture and South Asian heritage? I’m really grateful to my mother for always connecting us to our culture through our faith, dance and singing. I feel like I wouldn’t have as steep of a grasp on some of our culture if it wasn’t for the folk dancing and the singing. So I’ve been lucky to continue that practice well into my adulthood and, funny enough, later in life, become a professional singer. I’ve been singing with the Resistance Revival Chorus and have been performing all over the country for the past few years. Tell us about your varied professional roles, past and current, and which one of these is closest to you? I never feel like any professional role should define you. The things that should define you are the pieces of you that make you – your dignity, your dharma, your family. So I think my professional roles have spanned my interests. Initially, my interests were around marketing and communication, then evolved into branded entertainment and that evolved into social impact. Now with the nonprofit I lead with, the Desai Foundation, I think that for me it is not about being boxed into any definition. Everyone’s life is a journey, and it has twists and turns, I’ve just been lucky enough to take advantage of them, and to recognize them when they came up. You had a comfortable job in advertising. What made you take the leap into entrepreneurship and then social work? I had a really great career in advertising. I was in that industry for a little over a decade and I loved the pace of it. I loved the creativity involved and working with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. But for me, my experience in advertising was that the bigger the account that I was put on, the more frivolous the product was. I just wasn’t sure about spending
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Lessena, ne morte comnium, qui stra re ad fuidemquit, ac tem con Ita Sciam incur ad Catius, utem nore
Bringing a smile to countless children
PIONEER | SEEMA
Playing a part in response to COVID
Providing skill development and training for women
90 hours a week and spending time on marketing. It was not sitting right with me and my constitution. So I left to start my own agency, not because I was trying to be an entrepreneur, but because I wanted the opportunity to choose the projects that I worked on. For me, this was the only way that I could do it. The pivot into social work full time was pretty natural, because it’s a lot of what I was already working on. Tell us a little bit about the foundation and what work does it do in the U.S. and in India? The Desai Foundation empowers women and children through community programming to elevate health and livelihood. We do this in about 1,400 villages across India in seven states and in the metro areas of Boston and New York City. Our work is really focused on three main verticals. One is health. One
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“THE IDEA THAT OUR WORLD IS TRULY CONNECTED HAS NEVER BEEN MORE EVIDENT THAN NOW. IN 2020, WE CREATED THE MASKS OF HOPE CAMPAIGN, WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES TO 500 WOMEN WE HAD ALREADY TRAINED IN SELLING, PRODUCING AND DISTRIBUTING OVER 1 MILLION MASKS.” is livelihood. The third is menstrual health. Of course, over the last two years, we’ve been focused a lot on the COVID response, especially in India. But overall, our work is around health, livelihood, and ensuring that we’re cultivating dignity for the women and children that we serve. The idea that our world is truly connected has never been more evident than now. In 2020, we created the Masks of Hope campaign, where we were able to provide livelihood opportunities to 500 women we had already trained in selling, producing and distributing over 1 million masks. We were able to develop a COVID hotline connecting thousands to vital information. We’ve distributed 52,000 [items] and supplies like ventilators, oxygen concentrators, PPE kits, hygiene kits, and food rations that feed an entire family all at the peak of the crisis, as we continue to invest in women and girls in rural India, for COVID recovery and beyond. What began as a family foundation has evolved and pivoted over the years to being a public organization now. How does it operate and encourage participation? We operate just like any other nonprofit. We fundraise and participate in partnerships. You can definitely participate with the foundation by visiting www.thedesaifoundation.org. or emailing
us at info@thedesaifoundation.org. We host lots of events like the Diwali on the Hudson event we just hosted in New York City, and the Lotus Festival in Boston. These are really fun galas that celebrate our culture and our heritage and connect with the work that we do on the ground. If there are businesses that are trying to promote, our audience is really strong. We are always inviting different companies to participate with us and see how we can all achieve our goals of elevating the lives of women and girls in India together. Share with us a few specifics about the programs of the Foundation for women and children? We have lots of livelihood programs around sewing, candle-making, beautician classes, which many NGOs do, which is wonderful because it is so needed. What we do is add entrepreneurship training to all our livelihood programs. We do this is because we serve these rural areas where it’s not really an option for a young girl or a woman to get that 9 to 5 job at the sewing factory. She has to come up with her own way of using this new skill. We want to provide the tools to do that. Most of our women start micro companies where they service the people in their village while sewing, doing beautician work or candle-making. On the health front, we provide access and awareness to a lot of different medical care [options]. We have
NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 17
Regular eye camps organized by the Desai Foundation
“WHEN YOU HAVE FAILED AT SOMETHING, YOU BRING IT TO THEM AND HAVE THEM GIVE YOU FEEDBACK. IT’S A REALLY BEAUTIFUL SOUNDING BOARD TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND. THIS IS WHERE I COULD HAVE IMPROVED. THIS IS WHAT I DID WRONG.”
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health camps, health fairs, gynecological, children’s vision, etc and provide 1,000 villages with access to health care. With our menstrual program, we are providing awareness about menstrual products and care, as well as producing retail quality pads and distributing them door to door so that women have less difficulty using and consuming these products. What inspired you to start a branding company? Marketing. Strategy. Dharma was a branding shop I built after my career in advertising. I felt like I was able to provide the skill set in marketing, communications, branded entertainment and partnerships that I had learned in my decade-long career. I really wanted to choose the partnerships I was working on. And dharma for me has always been about my duty. I like to think a little bit about the righteous path and how we all build and evolve our dharma over our lives. I think that’s really important for a brand to think about. What was your reason to start? What is your reason to evolve? And what is your why? How do you take that journey, and bring people along for the ride? Those were the brands I wanted to work with, I wanted to work with brands that were thinking about this path in a really ethical way. So I put it right in my name. What would be your advice to young women entrepreneurs? One piece of advice I give every young woman I meet is, have a personal board of directors. This is a group of somewhere between six and 10 people, some that are your friends, some that are mentors, some that are really old colleagues or bosses. When you have failed at something, you bring it to them and have them give you feedback. It’s a really beautiful sounding board to help you understand. This is where I could have improved. This is what I did wrong. The second is to be really honest with yourself about what went wrong. What were the implications, what were the external factors that you could not control? What factors could you control? And how
PIONEER | SEEMA would you do it again? I think it’s really about resilience, and being willing to pick up the pieces. How can a person can get involved and participate in doing social good for the community? Well, my first piece of advice is to join with an organization you’re passionate about, even if you don’t have the dollars in your bank. Everybody has something to offer, whether it is time, expertise,
connection or advice. The Desai Foundation, along with so many other NGOs, is doing incredible work on the ground to uplift women and girls in India. To join us and bring other girls with you bring other women with you. There’s plenty of room at the table for all of us. We want to know the other amazing organizations that do similar work. We want to share information. We want to help everyone in this space and do great work.
Candle making workshop-IIT NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 19
Kinjal Shah, partner in First Blockchain Funds, and co-founder of Komorebi, a fund focused on woman entrepreneurs in the field. 20 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
PIONEER | SEEMA
Decrypting Crypto Expert Kinjal Shah provides the details and the potential market for the nascent industry. ABHIJIT MASIH
W
omen in tech are hard to find, tougher in the space of Web 3, cryptocurrency and the metaverse. Kinjal Shah is one of that rare species, a South Asian woman pioneer and a rising star in Crypto Venture Capital. She shares with SEEMA details about the new technology. A partner in First Blockchain Funds, managing over $1 billion in assets, Shah is a co-founder of Komorebi, a fund focused on woman entrepreneurs the field. She has invested in companies like Coinbase and OpenSea from their inception. Her core strength lies in attracting investment and empowering companies and she has an exclusive female angel investor network that has inspired many female entrepreneurs.
Shah, an authority in crypto venture industry offered SEEMA a master class on the exciting and emerging field. What is blockchain? Where is it used? Will it become mainstream? I think blockchain has definitely been sort of considered mysterious. But at the end of the day, a blockchain is a database. It’s quite boring when you really think about it. It’s basically a way to store information and store data. If you think about how our data is stored, we typically have servers that are centralized, meaning there’s one or a few servers that store all the information. We typically trust banks or intermediaries to make sure that information is correct. Just to make this super real, you know, you go and log into your bank account, and there’s numbers
NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 21
there that represent the money that you have in your bank account. Ultimately, that’s sitting in a database. The fundamental difference with a blockchain is that it’s distributed. So rather than having a database that one person can control, it’s controlled by many people. The core idea in blockchain is what does the power of decentralizing really do? In terms of the question around mainstream use and what blockchain is actually used for? I think this is a horizontal technology that can be applied to financial services, it can be applied to consumer applications. We’re seeing this with the rise of e-commerce and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Ultimately, though, we’re still early days. You know, I think mainstream adoption is likely not going to happen for a number of years until we see more infrastructure and education happen.
At her graduation fromTufts University
“THERE’S A LOT OF MATERIAL OUT THERE TO START LEARNING. I THINK THERE’S THIS ASSUMPTION THAT YOU HAVE TO BE TECHNICAL, OR YOU HAVE TO BE FINANCIALLY VERY SAVVY.” 22 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
What excites you most about this cutting-edge tech? What excites me the most is the potential of the technology to help open access to markets. I think the biggest innovation here is giving financial services access to populations that might not have had it before. And the reason that you can do that is because it lowers costs and lowers barriers to entry. So I’m really excited about the potential use cases on the consumer side that allows greater financial, either empowerment and education, at an adoption level. I think a lot of that is starting to take place now. What advice can you women who want test the waters and dive into crypto and NFTs? I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can get more women into crypto. At the end of the day, it’s just being curious and asking a lot of questions. There’s a lot of material out there to start learning. I think there’s this assumption that you have to be technical, or you have to be financially very savvy. The reality is that anyone and everyone can learn about this industry. It’s really just about getting started. How do you think crypto is defining or shall we say redefining the next consumer transformation? If we zoom out and think about consumers today and where shopping happens, we’re in this big shift of moving online. But still I think it’s something like 15% of transactions are happening online and the rest are still happening physically. I think that NFTs and crypto more broadly are going to accelerate the trend of online sales and e-commerce and what you can do within the internet. That’s something that I’m really excited about.
PIONEER | SEEMA Metaverse is considered the next frontier. How much truth is there to that? The metaverse is a very hyped-up term we’ve seen over the past year. But at the end of the day, I think it’s referring to more a state than anything. And the state is where we spend our time online and how much time we spend online. We’re at this sort of precipice where people are already spending a lot of time working online, but there’s going to be a shift of socializing online. That’s where I think the metaverse idea comes into play. I think it’s going to be slow but the trend might evolve. And there a number of different ways where crypto could play a role here. You’re a founding member of Komorebi Collective, a DAO (Decentralized Automated Organization) investing exclusively in female and non-binary crypto founders. How can one be a part of the DAO and how can someone approach you for funding? We co founded Komorebi last year to get more
investment to women and non-binary founders. We have a website where you can apply for funding, which we active review. You can also reach out to me if you want to get more involved with being a part of the DAO. It’s something that we open on an ad hoc basis, and we like to welcome new members who can help sort of contribute to the mission. What advice would you give people who want to enter the crypto space? Where can they get easy access to information? Start with some of the new sources that are out there. So the block or coin desk. Spend time on Twitter, just learning about the most influential players are in the industry. Definitely sort of learn about the fundamentals. So learn about Bitcoin and Ethereum and kind of go back to academics there. I think those are all great starting points. Then you can jump off into one of many communities from there to help with your learning journey.
Part of a panel discussion about Metaverse, NFTs and DAO at the SXSW Conference NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 23
COVER STORY | SEEMA
SINGLED OUT Nadia Jagessar’s experience on the Netflix reality show “Indian Matchmaking” underscored the generational barriers and cultural stigma that still exists around single women. ABHIJIT MASIH
PHOTOGRAPHER: @NATZPHOTOGALLERY, CLOTHING: AARA BY SANA @AARABYSANA
COVER STORY | SEEMA
N
adia Jagessar is a matchmaker’s dream. Beautiful, single, intelligent, and successful, she seems a “catch” by any measure — a South Asian woman who can attract a long line of suitors. But Jagessar, a star on the popular Netflix reality show “Indian Matchmaker,” discovered a darker side of being a single: stigma. What she thought were vestiges of an oppressive past was a shocking reality the modern Indian woman in the diaspora
deals with today. “One of the things that “Indian Matchmaker” addressed was that there is a
COVER STORY | SEEMA
Nadia at dance show 28 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
whole diaspora outside of mainland India, and the kind of stigmas the community faces regardless of where our ancestors would have settled when they left India,” says Jagessar. “To be able to date in this modern world, you need to be able to break down those cultural barriers with your parents or with your family.” While she always wanted to find a partner, for Jagessar, being comfortable in her own skin was a priority. Her family had moved from Guyana to New Jersey, and that was where Jagessar was born and raised and where she was a cultural anomaly. “My family was Indian, and I grew up in a fairly white American town,” she says. “I kind of hid my culture a little bit because I wanted to fit in with everyone around me. It was a struggle. I look Indian, but my family is Guyanese, and no one understood what Guyana was.” It was through dance that she most connected with her Indian roots. Her mother enrolled her in Indian dance classes when she was 3. She finally went to Rutgers University for her undergrad and was part of the Raas and Garba team there. “After college, I joined a professional Bollywood dance company,” Jagessar says. “I was with them for over 10 years. Dance and an Indian culture have always been so ingrained in my life, during college, I started to fully embrace my West Indian heritage and tried to start teaching my inner circle a little about who I was and what made me special.”
CHANGING MINDS AND HEARTS
The South Asian immigrant community that moved decades ago from the Indian subcontinent, did not just bring their culture along but brought with them the social norms prevalent at that time back home While many of those regressive chains and traditions have been broken in India, many Indians living abroad remain rooted in old ways of thinking. In many ways, Indian Matchmaking reflected the reliance of the diaspora on the custom of traditional matchmaking and arranged alliances. The show also addressed, through the individual stories of participants, the many issues that weigh heavy amongst most South Asian families. The show not only told the stories of different individuals who decided to take the traditional path
mily th her fa
r wi Jagessa Nadia
Nadia at an event
“WE LIVE IN SUCH A REPLACEMENT CULTURE WHERE IF SOMETHING’S BROKEN YOU REPLACE IT. PEOPLE ARE APPLYING THAT TO RELATIONSHIPS. I THINK PUTTING IN THE EFFORT IS SOMETHING THAT OUR GENERATION LACKS.” 30 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
of matchmaking to find their life partners but also brought up different topics that needed to be part of the conversation. It brought up potential topics for discussion not just for the community but for individual families as well. The stigmas attached to being single, married but with no kids, divorced, single parenthood, cross cultural and live-in relationships. “A lot of topics that arose from the show like classism, colorism, sexism, and they are all conversations that need to happen. The conversations we were having on camera are not any different than what people have in their homes. It’s the difference between first-generation Indian Americans versus our parents or past generations— we need to have these conversations, because dating now is so different now.” For the successful fragrance marketer and the founder of Euphoria Events, which she founded in 2018, dating proved to be harder than anticipated. “I think dating now is so tough, because of social media and dating apps,” Jagessar says. “There are so many options, an endless pool of people.” The reality star reveals the flip side of the canvas. “I’ve heard guy friends of mine saying, ‘I went on a date with this girl, and she eats weird or she wore this weird shirt.’ That works for women as well, right? You can just cancel out the simplest things,” Jagessar says. “We live in such a replacement culture where if something’s broken, you replace it. People are applying that to relationships. I think putting in the effort is something that our generation lacks. And the men that I dated have lacked that effort to try.” That disillusionment led her to traditional matchmaking. While the younger generation may want to break away from customs and traditions, they adopt those that have stood the test of time and remain relevant. Dating despair on the one hand and the example of her parents, married for 40 years, on the other, led Jagessar to “Indian Matchmaking.” “My parents were an arranged marriage and I have many instances of arranged marriages in my family,” she says. “It works. So that was one of the reasons why I thought that this would be a great avenue for me to meet somebody who would be serious and aligned to having a serious relationship and moving things forward.”
tchmaking S1 Behind the scenes at Indian Ma
N A D I A’ S F AV O R I T E S :
• Food – Pizza
• Hollywood Movie – “The Notebook” • Indian Movie – “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” • “Indian Matchmaking” moment – “When I said, I hate having my period.” • Romantic City – Rome. It’s pretty romantic • Home – Morris Plains, New Jersey
32 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
MATCHMAKING REALITY
Six months after Jagessar’s dance company originally sent in her information, she received a response. After her single status was confirmed, she was cast in the first season of the show. The filming coincided with a medical emergency in the family and had to be pushed forward by three weeks. “My mom donated her kidney to my dad, and the surgery had just happened,” Jagessar says. “But when the crew came, they were so sweet and took it easy with my mom because that was the first time she put make-up on and got dressed since the surgery. It was a special time for my family, this very exciting thing happening for me.” Season 1 of “Indian Matchmaking” premiered in the summer of 2020, aiming to capture the long-standing South Asian tradition of older relatives finding a suitable spouse for an eligible bachelor or spinster. Through the narrator and matchmaker Sima Aunty, the series argues that an arranged marriage may not be a bad idea. The family friendly show also brought to the fore
the need and desire for companionship among millennials. “Everyone loves a good love story,” Jagessar says. “It’s relatable on so many levels, and matchmaking happens, not only in South Asian culture, but in so many other cultures as well. It was special to be a part of that and I think since the show, my life has changed for the better.” She says she is inspired by the messages she gets from many men and women, sharing how they relate to her story, how she has inspired them. “It was truly incredible,” Jagessar says. “It was amazing to hear that just living my life had inspired them to either embrace their singleness or have hope for the future.” The pandemic pushed the follow-up season to August 2022, and a lot had changed in the script, both in terms of the show and in Jagessar’s life. At the end of season 1, the prospect of Jagessar and Shekar making a perfect match left fans excited. However, the response to season 2 caught Jagessar by surprise.
NADIA’S CHECKLIST FOR HER PARTNER Someone who’s ambitious, passionate, likes to travel, and who’s family-oriented. Someone who wants to have a family of their own because I do want to have children. Someone who wants to be a father. Someone who is funny and compassionate. It wouldn’t hurt if he also took some of the planning genes to plan things as well. Someone who is going to push me, just as I will push them so we can be better and grow together.
Many fans felt Jagessar unfairly rejected Shekar and instead chose another potential suitor, Vishal. However, she points to the long gap between the two seasons and the editing of the show to maintain continuity as the reason the audience misconstrued what happened. “I’m hoping that I can clarify that Shekar and I were never dating,” she says. “For me, it was a straight line to Vishal, which I think was also another controversy because he was seven years younger than me. There’s no script to this. The only thing the story editors and the producers must work of is what they’ve captured with us. They need to have that hook, and this was a hook for them.” The idea of women dating younger men as being controversial also unnerved Jagessar. “I don’t see anything wrong with that,” she says. “No one would bat an eye if a man dated a younger woman. So why does the stereotype have to go when a woman dates a younger guy? There’s so much stigma around this.” Jagessar watched the new season with the rest of the world when it dropped on the streaming platform at 3 a.m. It didn’t take long for keyboard warriors around the world to attack her for “dumping” Shekar in favor of Vishal. She experienced online witch hunts, trolling, cyberbullying, and the abuse of privacy. Hurt by the criticism, she tried offered her side of the story, explaining that the inaccurate depiction of her character impacted her personally and professionally.
REALITY OF LOVE
“There is a season 3 of ‘Indian Matchmaking’ coming out. I’m not sure when the release date is but I will not be a part of it,” Jagessar says. “I am somewhat of an open book, and I tried to really go into this wholeheartedly. I was looking – and I am looking – for a partner.” While Jagessar may not be a part of the next season, she has other exciting projects lined up. “I am part of another project called ‘Reality of Love,’” she says. “It’s hosted by a dating and relationship coach Nicole Moore. She brings together reality stars from different reality and dating shows.” Jagessar continues to work as a marketing and business development manager at Givaudan, a fragrance and flavors house, and is also focusing on growing her events company. Using the latter she wants to shift from organizing weddings to creating events for singles, especially South Asian and Indo-Caribbean women. “It is taboo to be single in your 30s when you’re a South Asian,” she says. I’m looking to bring some really fun and exciting events to different cities across the country to try and bring South Asians together.” For now, Jagessar is on a Roman holiday, enjoying the Italian sun, away from onerous traditions, taboos and trolls, perhaps hoping for a Hepburn-Peck kinda meeting, as in the 1953 film of the same name.
“ONE OF THE THINGS THAT [INDIAN MATCHMAKER] ADDRESSED WAS THAT THERE IS A WHOLE DIASPORA OUTSIDE OF MAINLAND INDIA, AND THE KIND OF STIGMAS THE COMMUNITY FACES REGARDLESS OF WHERE OUR ANCESTORS WOULD HAVE SETTLED WHEN THEY LEFT INDIA.”
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FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
Ideas for a VEGETARIAN
Thanksgiving Drop the traditional turkey. Here are some meatless dishes to make the holiday just as unforgettable MELANIE FOURIE
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T
his Thanksgiving, turkey can wait. Going meatless for Thanksgiving is indeed possible and can be just as enjoyable. We’ve got everything you need right here for a vegetarian feast that everyone will love, from main dishes to delectable accompaniments. Here’s how to pull off a successful meatless Thanksgiving dinner!
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FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
A P P E T I Z E R H I T S Set your Thanksgiving culinary scene with these delightful entrées. B A K E D B R I E W I T H D E L E C TA B L E C R A N B E R RY J A M This entrée brings a traditional Thanksgiving must-have like cranberries to the fore. The traditional brie en croute is given a modern twist in this dish by using a savory-sweet cranberry jam. The secret is to cut off excess dough as you envelop the brie; otherwise, the pastry
won’t cook properly. The brie may be wrapped in puff pastry and refrigerated for up to 24 hours, making this an ideal appetizer for entertaining on short notice. To get the best outcome, use an egg wash on the outside just before baking, and present it to guests hot.
Brie cheese rolled in dough and drizzled with cranberry jam is a delicious entrée.
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C R E A M Y
P U M P K I N
S O U P
Pumpkins are synonymous with Thanksgiving, so what better way to start your feast with them, right? Very few things are more comforting than a bowl of this traditional pumpkin soup, yet it takes hardly any time at all to prepare. The following is a RecipeTinEats spinoff that’ll have your visitors begging for more. To dunk, you must have lightly buttered, crispy bread. INGREDIENTS • 1 cup water • Salt and pepper to taste • Pumpkin (about 25 pounds) • 3 cups vegetable stock • Peeled garlic cloves (preferably 2-3) • 1 sliced onion • 3/4 cup fresh cream METHOD 1. Slice the pumpkin into bite-sized pieces. Remove the rind and scoop the seeds out. 2. Cut into bite-size pieces about 1.5 inches long. 3. The pumpkin, garlic, water, onion, and broth should be combined in a saucepan, with the liquid level not quite covering the pumpkin. 4. Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer until pumpkin is cooked through. Remove from heat and blend with a hand blender until smooth. 5. Add salt and pepper, then pour in the cream. 6. Distribute the soup into dishes and top with the optional topping of parsley. 7. Accompany this with your crispy bread, and you’re ready to go.
Pumpkin soup is a great start for Thanksgiving feasting.
Mac and cheese, a classic Thanksgiving staple.
F L A V O R F U L M A I N D I S H E S The following dishes are great alternatives for meaty main courses. MUSHROOM-INFUSED MAC AND CHEESE Mac and cheese is an all-time Thanksgiving favorite. It’s also one of the simplest main dishes to concoct! For a meat version, instead of tossing in some bacon or ham bits, add a generous amount of baby portobello mushrooms! Note that it’s typical to see macaroni and cheese in two distinct varieties: In the French 40 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
variant, a simple béchamel sauce is used to create a velvety sauce (a flour-and-butter variation with milk). Southern mac and cheese is baked and often includes a variety of cheeses, eggs, and evaporated milk. Irrespective of the sauce you choose, both are guaranteed to tickle your taste buds!
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA V E G E TA B L E S H E P H E R D ’ S P I E W I T H M A S H E D YA M S This is ideal for those tired of the ground beef variation, as you can use a concoction of your favorite mixed veggies as a filling, with, of course, your favorite seasoning. It’s also a healthier version of a traditional shepherd’s pie with potato mash, as you’ll be using mashed yams as your
topping, which is less starchy than potatoes. Once your mashed yams are grilled and golden brown, add a sprinkling of grated nutmeg over the top for a burst of spicy flavor! You may also grate some tasty white cheddar over the pie before placing it in the oven.
Mashed yams are placed over the veggie mix in this pie variation.
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FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA
M E A T L E S S S I D E D I S H E S These side dishes are the perfect companion for vegetarian Thanksgiving main courses. B R U S S E L S S P R O U T S W I T H H O N E Y A N D M U S TA R D Veggies provide both hue and flavor to your Thanksgiving feast and are just as vital as the main attraction. Brussels sprouts cooked in the oven are perfect since they keep their adorable form and
need less prep work. Raise these to the next level by glazing them with a sweet and tangy honeymustard glaze, making them the talk of your Thanksgiving dinner!
Brussels sprouts are the main ingredient for many delicious Thanksgiving side dishes.
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Parsnips are a great addition to any Thanksgiving table.
ROASTED PARSNIPS On the hunt for a quick and easy Thanksgiving side dish? Your problem can be solved with parsnips. The time has come to give them the acclaim they have so rightfully earned, but until now, they have gone unrewarded. By roasting them, you can quickly produce a delicious side dish that is just as good as a turkey!
Nothing rounds off a delicious Thanksgiving meal like pecan pie!
D E C A D E N T T H A N K S G I V I N G D E S S E R T S There is always space for dessert, even after a substantial Thanksgiving meal. A sweet craving must be satiated on Thanksgiving, and that means a wide variety of baked goods, from traditional pies to cakes and cookies. A CLASSIC PECAN PIE The traditional American Thanksgiving dessert of old-fashioned pecan pie is a flaky, buttery pie crust filled with a sweet custard filling and topped with a generous helping of chopped pecans. This lovely pie is incredibly simple to prepare.
FOOD & DRINKS | SEEMA COCONUT AND CRANBERRY TRIFLE Trifles are universally loved by most folk. This sweet treat has a medley of exotic and familiar tastes because of the inclusion of cranberries, lime, and coconut. This is a nice way to round off a Thanksgiving feast that
deviates from the norm. So you have it – an assortment of lip-smacking entrées, main and side dishes and delicacies for the most discerning palate!
Trifle is an easy-to-make classic dessert for any holiday. NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 45
FEATURES | SEEMA
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FEATURES | SEEMA
VOTEWORTHY Trailblazers A host of enterprising South Asian women toss their hat in the electoral ring NUPUR BHATNAGAR
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ith election campaigns coming into the last lap, South Asian women who are running are planning how to push their agenda if they win. From education to healthcare, the issues they cover are myriad and important for American democracy.
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FEATURES | SEEMA
A N I T A
S O M A N I
Running for election to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent District 11, Anita Somani (Democrat) is a leader in the Columbus OBGYN community. The founding member of the Physicians Action Network, she has dedicated her career towards providing women with individualized care, trying to ensuring them a healthy and safe community to live in. She hopes her health care expertise will bring a valuable perspective to the state house.
“I have been worried that our state has gone down the wrong path in regard to health care and increasing maternal and infant mortality, more abortion restrictions, and marginalizing communities. These laws hurt our economy by affecting a woman’s ability to work and limiting h e r e c o n o m i c p o t e n t i a l .”
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T H E
H O N ’ B L E
J U D G E
The Hon’ble Judge Juli Mathews (Democrat), currently presiding over Number 3 court of the Fort Bend County Court at Law in Texas is running for re-election this year. An immigrant from Kerala, India, and raised in Philadelphia, she is the first Asian American woman to be elected in the Fort Bend County, and the first Indian American woman to be elected to the bench in the U.S. 50 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
J U L I
M A T H E W S
Mathews founded the Juvenile Intervention and Mental Health Court (JIMH) to service youth with mental health issues in the Fort Bend County Juvenile Justice System in January 2021 with a special focus on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism. A wife and mother of 3 girls, Mathews is fluent in Malayalam and English, and is known for her activism.
N A B I L A H A daughter of working-class Bangladeshi immigrant parents, Nabilah Islam is the Democratic nominee for District 7 of the Georgia State Senate. Watching her family suffer at the hands of the broken health care system when her mother injured herself while working as an order puller drove Islam to be a staunch advocate for quality health care access and Medicaid expansion.
I S L A M
Islam is a strong opponent of the Supreme Court ruling overturning of Roe V. Wade, thus giving right-wing legislatures the power to enact complete bans against abortions. “When I’m in the legislature, I’ll never back down from protecting the right to an abortion – and I’ll sponsor legislation to overturn the Republican abortion ban and enshrine the right to birth control into law”- Nabilah Islam.
S A L I M A H J A S A N I Jasani, who is contesting for one of the two elected seats on the Baltimore Elected Board of Commissioners, is a former Baltimore City Public Schools special education teacher, volunteer, and education consultant. She believes that inequity in education based on disability status, race, gender identity, language proficiency among other markers is the key issue that needs to be dealt with. The immigrant from India who made Baltimore her home has worked at the Maryland State Department of Education as part of a partnership with Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education. She was also a policy fellow in the office of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
P A D M A
K U P P A
The first Indian immigrant to serve in the Michigan Legislature, Kuppa is contesting for Michigan Senate District 9 in the 2022 election. A mechanical engineer who has worked with corporations like Chrysler and Ally Financial, Kuppa moved to politics in 2018 when she was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. She is the founding member of Troyarea Interfaith Group as well as the local Bharatiya Temple’s Outreach Committee. A member of the Progressive Women’s Caucus and as the inaugural co-chair of the Bipartisan Women’s Council, Kuppa is a trailblazer for women in STEM.
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A N N A Thomas, who running to represent District 137 in the Pennsylvania State House, sees stronger education policy as fundamental to greater economic opportunities. Her focus is on expanding access to vocational training and keeping tuition affordable. Growing up in a family of immigrants from
T H O M A S Malaysia and India and observing the dearth of scientists in government, she earned a B.A. in chemistry from Wellesley College in her pursuit of becoming a science-literate public servant. She also has a master’s in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
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FEATURES | SEEMA
THE
HUMAN COST Leading activist Priya Israni shares alarming details about the reach and spread of human trafficking ABHIJIT MASIH
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FEATURES | SEEMA
H
uman trafficking is the fastest-growing and secondlargest criminal enterprise in the world, a $150 billion industry. The impact is felt by more than 28 million victims of sexual trafficking
across the globe. “An average girl of 15 years of age is typically trafficked in the United States,” says Priya Israni, the president of IHC for Her, a subsidiary of the India Heritage Center. “She has to cater to eight men per day, which means by the time she’s 21, she would have been raped and catered to the sexual demands of over 17,000 men.” A common misconception about human trafficking is that it happens only in underdeveloped or developing countries and not in the U.S. But 15,000 to 50,000 cases are reported each year in the country. As reported in the worldpopulationreview.com, California has the highest rate of human trafficking rates followed by Texas, Florida and New York. The
Priya Israni Painter, fashion designer and President of IHC for Her 56 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
Inclusive skilling center
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FEATURES | SEEMA Former Miss World Diana Hayden at one of the IHC for Her events
HOW TO PROT ECT GIR L S FROM BEING TRAFFICKED.
IHC for Her has recently launched awareness programs with these steps to address sex trafficking: • Organizing self-defense crash courses for teens. • Putting together a digital seminar for parents to understand the social media world better and thereby engage in open conversations with their kids. • Bringing licensed programs to schools with clearly defined age appropriate curriculum. • Engaging high school students to reenact scenarios that make children to feel empowered under vulnerable conditions.
four states also account for the most South Asians immigrants in the country. Israni, who’s been the president of the India Heritage Center since 2016, has her painting and fashion design skills aside to focus on her true passion: helping those in need. She is focused on rescuing, rehabilitating, reintegrating and empowering victims of human sex trafficking and giving them a second chance at life. Israni spoke to SEEMA about IHC for Her and how the organization is trying to fight this menace, particularly for the immigrant Indian community. “IHC for Her is a sister arm of the organization called Indian Heritage Center, which actively began work in 2016,” Israni said. “We were trying to record and assimilate and preserve our stories of Indian immigrants. Unfortunately, with COVID happening we regrouped as a team of nine people, and everybody in the team kind of presented their ideas and what resonates with them. For me, I wanted to do something in the area of gifted kids and special needs kids. Also it was decided to have a parallel effort to be able to help a sexually trafficked victim. We kind of understood that the
“AN AVERAGE GIRL OF 15 YEARS OF AGE IS TYPICALLY TRAFFICKED IN THE UNITED STATES. SHE HAS TO CATER TO EIGHT MEN PER DAY, WHICH MEANS BY THE TIME SHE’S 21, SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN RAPED BY AND CATERED TO THE SEXUAL DEMANDS OF OVER 17,000 MEN”
issue, unfortunately, is so large, even here in the United States. All of us decided to pursue this single handedly. That was really two years back; the beginning of us trying to understand and try to help girls conceptually first.” India is a major hub of the $150 billion human trafficking industry. IHC for Her is dedicated to empowering the survivors of sexual trafficking through education and various vocational training. She highlights the mission of the organization. IHC for Her provides the survivor a second chance at creating their own narrative, a right to their own hopes and dreams, and the potential to a better life,” Israni said. “A lot of resources, a lot of great NGO work, is being done in terms of rescuing these young victims of sexual trafficking. Unfortunately, when they come to a shelter, they are not getting adequate training, whether it’s vocational training, or even educational training. So once they turn 18, and they have to move past the shelter and go into the real world, they do not have skills to be able to survive and become self-reliant. Unfortunately, at that point, some of them choose to go back into the world of trafficking.” The organization is involved in the rescue of human trafficking survivors of Indian descent through partnerships with organizations in both India and the U.S. The focus; however is to make survivors
independent. Israni realized the gap between the rescue and rehabilitation work. “We focus our primary attention to ensuring that the survival has fully accomplished all that’s necessary, whether it’s financial literacy, educational or vocational training,” she said. “So when she’s 18, and needs to move on, she’s either able to get a job, or open a small business.” An education and skill training may not be sufficient to get them back on their feet and earn a living straight away. “IHC for Her supplements her income for the next six months if she’s in the job world. So there’s not a lot of stress on her to try to make ends meet,” Israni said. “Similarly, for candidates who are opting for opening their own small businesses, we provide them seed money. Our entire cycle ensures that each survivor is fully self-reliant and able to break away from [past] circumstances.” Human trafficking remains one of the top organized crimes in India. According to a Reuters study, out of an estimated 20 million commercial sex workers in India, 16 million are victims of sex trafficking. Though the prevalent issue has been highlighted in mainstream films like “Traffic” and more recently “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” according to Israni, that is not enough. “As far as ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ is concerned,
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FEATURES | SEEMA
IHC For Her team ( from left, Mudit Gupta,Urvashi Mishra, Priya Israni,Dinesh Khosla, Lavina Datwani, Nishita Datwani, Cristy Kaur, Rajiv Advani
“WE FOCUS OUR PRIMARY ATTENTION TO ENSURING THAT THE SURVIVAL HAS FULLY ACCOMPLISHED ALL THAT’S NECESSARY, WHETHER IT’S FINANCIAL LITERACY, EDUCATIONAL OR VOCATIONAL TRAINING. SO THAT WHEN SHE’S 18, AND NEEDS TO MOVE ON, SHE’S EITHER ABLE TO GET A JOB, OR OPEN A SMALL BUSINESS” 60 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
it’s a very artistic depiction coming from such a celebrated movie director,” Israni said. “While it has some parts that are brutal to watch, the reality is that it’s a very glamorized version. The real life of a sex worker is much more horrendous, much more challenging. And it’s difficult to even withstand the kind of information that comes towards you. I understand they have to choose as movie makers to make it more palatable for a larger audience. Having said that, we’re just happy that the movie came out and it created more space for us to have more conversations. Many more parents are now walking up to us - especially South Asian parents.” Through media reports and films, the common perception is that this is a third world problem. Israni is quick to bust the myth. “It exists everywhere,” she said. “Here [in the U.S.], you have access to cell phones and social media and all kinds of apps. So these predators can connect with young girls. We personally know of a 15-year-old who was trafficked from the age of 12 while living at home, and her parents didn’t know. She would tell them she was going to a friend’s house but, in fact, was being trafficked.” Israni hopes to spread in the U.S. so that parents and loved ones are more vigilant and a similar story does not replay in another home. “Our entire mission in the United States, besides our chapter in India, is to create awareness, which means we’d like to be able to go into schools and talk to parents,” she said. “The 15-year-old girl’s mother didn’t know that this was happening. So the more education we’re able to symbolize to people, I think we can keep our children safer.” The problem is beyond any one organization to handle. But Israni and her team are doing their best to reduce the damage, especially on women. The IHC for Her team has experience in the not-forprofit space. Israni credits her team for the intense work. “This is a team effort. None of us take salaries,” she said. “We take away time from our families and offer it to the girls. So pretty much everybody, including our donors, supporters or volunteers, are instrumental in changing each girl’s life.” Israni has a master’s degree in clinical psychology, holds a degree in fashion and had a successful business in couture fashion apparel. She is passionate about causes related to children and wants to reach them before traffickers do, to empower the young people to make proactive choices for their safety.
STAGGERING STATS “In India and the world over especially wherever there is a conflict region, there are refugees and very young children are being trafficked. In the United States, the average age recorded is 15. While these stats are very uncomfortable to hear, it’s very important for us to understand how bad it is so that we can understand and thereby help our future generation.”
• The United States not only faces a problem of foreign victims trafficked into the country, but there is also a huge homegrown problem of American children being recruited and exploited for commercial sex. • Over 25% of sextortion incidents happen to kids 12 and younger and most of them meet their offender online. • In the United States, more than 800,000 children are reported missing every year. • 70% of those will be forced into trafficking
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WELLNESS | SEEMA
HOW TO MAKE THE HOLIDAYS HEALTHIER A good diet, exercise, and stress management can reduce the pressure on you CATE REYNOLDS
T
he holiday season is officially here! While they result in wonderful celebrations with family and friends, those festivities can take a toll on our bodies, physically and mentally. Health and the holidays may seem impossible to pair, but a few simple changes can help you stay healthy from November through the new year and avoid that post-holiday slump.
MAKE THE SWAP FOR HEALTHIER INGREDIENTS There are plenty of ingredient substitutions that can make your favorite holiday dishes a bit healthier. In many recipes, you can substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream, oil for butter, nut milk for cream or half-andhalf, and dark chocolate for milk chocolate. These simple swaps allow you to enjoy your favorite dishes in a more guilt-free way.
EATING HEALTHY DURING THE HOLIDAYS
OPT FOR HOMEMADE While pre-made, processed, or canned foods will save you time in the kitchen, they won’t help your health. Making dishes yourself allows you to avoid excess sugar and salt common in processed food.
The seemingly never-ending flow of decadent treats and indulgent meals makes it challenging to eat healthy during the holidays, but it isn’t impossible. These tips can help you still enjoy all the delicious offerings in a healthier way. 62 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
TAKE YOUR TIME We’re usually all a bit eager to eat at a
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holiday meal, and it’s easy to quickly scarf down all that tasty food and head for seconds. But one of the best tips for healthy holiday eating is to eat slowly. Doing so gives our stomachs enough time to let our brains know we’re full, helping us avoid overeating. STAY HYDRATED Be sure to mix in plenty of water between those holiday cocktails. Proper hydration can help boost your metabolism, control calorie consumption, control hunger, fight exhaustion, and aid digestion by helping your body process and absorb nutrients properly.
EXERCISING DURING THE HOLIDAYS
We all know the importance of exercise, but we still tend to be more sedentary during the holidays. But given the stress and all those delicious meals and treats, staying active is extremely important for physical, mental, and emotional health. Even if a family 5K on Thanksgiving morning isn’t your thing, there are plenty of ways you can stay moving through the holidays. ADJUST YOUR WORKOUT SCHEDULE With a surplus of social gatherings and errands, schedules become busier during the holidays. Be realistic about changes in your schedule, and adjust your workout routine. Instead of your regular 30-minute routine, opt for a quick 15-minute workout. Some exercise is always better than none! WALK, WALK, WALK There are plenty of ways to get your steps in during the holidays. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Park far away
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from the store entrance while running errands, or do an extra few laps in the fall while shopping. After enjoying a big meal with your family, suggest a post-meal walk. Not only will you get exercise, but walking after a meal helps digestion and lower blood sugar. TRY AN APP Travel is typical at this time, which means you might not have access to a gym or normal exercise equipment. There are many apps that offer workouts you can do practically anywhere and require little to no equipment. Some popular fitness apps include Nike Training Club, Peloton, Apple Fitness+, and Sweat. MANAGING STRESS DURING THE HOLIDAYS Feeling stressed or overwhelmed during the holidays is not uncommon. A National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) survey found that 75% of people say that the holidays contribute to feeling sad or dissatisfied, and 63% feel too much pressure during the holiday season. A little self-care can go a long way to combat the holiday blues.
PRACTICE MINDFULNESS The holidays are filled with distractions that can prevent us from being present. Practicing mindfulness helps us center ourselves mentally and emotionally, thus reducing stress and anxiety. It can be done through breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and meditation. Meditation apps like Headspace and Calm offer different guided meditations and courses to help you practice mindfulness. STICK TO A SLEEP SCHEDULE Stress often leads to poor sleep quality, which can negatively impact our energy level, mood, and eating habits. One way to combat this is by sticking to a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same times each day, and aim for a minimum of 7-8 hours of sleep per night. TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF While time with friends and family is important, it’s equally important to give yourself time to decompress. Whether it’s enjoying your favorite movie and a cup of tea, reading a good book, or spending time outdoors, take moments to rest and recharge.
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RECOMMENDS | SEEMA
SEEMA RECOMMENDS:
THANKSGIVING TABLEWARE A beautiful table can turn any Thanksgiving meal into a memorable experience. Here are SEEMA’s favorites this holiday season. GOLD TURKEY PLACE CARD HOLDERS, SET OF 4 Pottery Barn $25.50 Add a festive feel to your Thanksgiving table with these simple and elegant place cardholders. Buy online www.potterybarn.com
THANKSGIVING TABLE RUNNER CALLIGRAPHY GloryCo via Etsy $40 and up This table runner is an inventive way to add a personal touch to your table. You can customize it with a favorite poem, names of family members, or a Thanksgiving greeting! Buy online www.etsy.com
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5-PIECE HERITAGE BAKEWARE SET Le Creuset $356 These premium stoneware baking dishes are a must-have for any host. The dishes easily transfer from oven to table, making them perfect for all your Thanksgiving eats. Buy online www.lecreuset.com
ARTESIA ROUND WOVEN RATTAN PLACEMAT Crate & Barrel $14.95 Available in five colors, these placemats add a cozy and classic feel to your holiday dinner table. Buy online www.crateandbarrel.com
HOUSE OF HACKNEY BLACKTHORN NAPKINS, SET OF 4 Anthropologie $48 Add a cheerful pop of color to your table with these gorgeous printed napkins from British interior brand House of Hackney, part of an exclusive collection for Anthropologie. Buy online. www.anthropologie.com
MODERN BRASS METAL CANDLEHOLDERS West Elm $38+ These brass candleholders, sold individually or in sets of two, four, or six, are available in three sizes. Add your favorite taper candle for a warm and welcoming finishing touch to your Thanksgiving table. Buy online www.westelm.com
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THE BEST PODCASTS FOR CAREER WOMEN Top audio supplements to supercharge your professional skills PREETAM KAUSHIK
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areer women have to juggle work, home, and various interests. They may also be looking to better themselves. In this, podcasts deliver quality information or entertainment, quickly and easily. One advantage of this medium is that they can listen to podcasts anywhere, whether during their daily commute or while grocery shopping. Here are some of the best podcasts available today. NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 69
CULTURE | SEEMA SOUTH ASIAN TRAILBLAZERS This podcast by Simi Shah retraces the footsteps of South Asian innovators and leaders across the country. You can hear the real-life success stories of famous personalities, such as U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Twitter CISO Rinki Seth. This podcast inspires self-confidence in you while also letting you subtly engage with your culture. GOAL DIGGER Here, Jenna Kutcher, the host, gives you insights about things you can do to ensure your business succeeds. From tips on marketing to branding your entrepreneurial venture, this podcast is a mustlisten if you are keen on taking your business to new heights. Find out how to maximize your email list, create online courses, and use social media strategies to help you. It is available on Spotify, and Hubspot, among others. THAT DESI SPARK Formerly known as the Woke Desi, this podcast hosted by Nehal Tenany and Annika Sharma, stays true to its name. No subject’s taboo to be discussed on this show! This podcast provides diverse bits of information, from dating to dealing with infertility. Tenacity and boldness mark this program that focuses primarily on the empowerment of South Asians. LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, and Instagram are just some places where you can find the episodes. CLEVER GIRL FINANCE As a career professional, you must know how to manage your finances. This show by Bola Onada Sokumbi can guide you through the process. A certified financial education instructor, Sokumbi shares her knowledge of the financial nitty-gritty. Find it on YouTube and SoundCloud. BROWN PEOPLE WE KNOW An engaging podcast, it explores non-traditional views such as being an immigrant in the United States and raising children as a single mother. Hosted by Suraj Kandukuri, this fascinating program seeks to break stereotypes of gender and identity, including LGBTQ issues. Past guests on this thought-provoking show include a fusion artist who blends Eastern and Western dancing and a successful Death Metal guitarist who became a dentist on retirement!
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WEIGHT LOSS FOR SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN PROFESSIONALS If you have been dithering on meeting your weight loss goals, this podcast by Dr. Amruti Choudhry can help you get there. Learn about staying committed to your health goals, overcoming the temptation of food, and controlling your mind so that negative emotions do not overwhelm you on this journey. THE DOUBLE SHIFT Listen to the fun, moving, and exciting experiences of women like you who have to pull a double shift as a mom and an employee. You’ll hear about unique motherhood challenges from the guests on this show hosted by Katherine Goldstein. Tuning into this podcast tells you that you are not alone in this. The challenges you regularly face on the work and personal front are something that most women encounter, South Asian and otherwise. Besides the convenience quotient, podcasts are generally free of the bias seen in mainstream media. They also let you learn unique topics directly from the experts, and the icing is that they are usually free!
HOROSCOPE | SEEMA
FORECAST WITH FARZANA Mar 21 - Apr 19
No matter what life throws your way, you are connected to the Divine and pure loving energy. There is renewed hope and faith, for you are truly blessed by the Universe. Pitch for a new contract, throw your hat in the ring for the promotion or ask for a raise. You have a window of opportunity to make these things happen, so don’t allow the grass to grow under your feet. Release any baggage you are carrying in love. It is time to accept the ones you love the way they are. You are entering a loving phase in your life. Financially, things are likely to be positive. Celebrate the little victories.
Apr 20 - May 20
Your victory lies in your independence, confidence, optimism and unbridled energy. You have a chance to make a positive splash if what you are doing is in alignment with what elevates your spirit. Assert yourself and do not allow any competition to buckle you. Being spontaneous in life and love, could go a long way. Get out there and mingle in case, love is what you seek. Follow your intuition and focus on what you want. There’s an opportunity to achieve a level of financial comfort where you are
able to do both – make or receive a good amount of money and know how to hold onto it, too.
May 21 - Jun 20
Set your sights on your vision and boss up, especially in your career, finance and business. Make sure that you stay in control of your energy and your resources. Get financially conscious and learn more about investments for long-term growth. In your career, success comes when you lead with accountability. Give it your absolute best and stop settling! Take the time before you trust or open up to people. In the affairs of the heart, be prepared to take things slow and easy. Your victory lies in the discipline of your daily routine and ability to manage your wealth, investing wisely for the long-term. Eat right, work out, and take care of your mind, body and soul.
Jun 21 - Jul 22
It may be time to back off, regroup and consider whether you need to change direction if things are not moving. You may need to make hard decisions and set your sights on that one key goal, until it is achieved. Shake off the emotional clutter and distance yourself from any drama and politics you may be pulled into. A good time to travel, relocate or invest in
a new pair of wheels. Focus and recommit yourself to a project or relationship you may have been making excuses about. Your relationship is likely to evolve into something more solid with open communication or much-needed space. Your intuition is your compass; follow it.
Jul 23 - Aug 22
It is time to make peace with the past so you can focus on the present where the magic lies. There is a possibility of a new source of income arriving. Be bold and ask, seek support, willingly, and it will be given. Let go of the emotions, energies and circumstances that no longer serve you. Allow yourself to have a curious mind and unleash your inner child – free yourself with spontaneity. Rekindle some of your lost loves, either people or passion projects. Invest in yourself to the point that other people want to invest in you, too. Be kind and compassionate with those who need it most and yourself.
Aug 23 - Sept 22
Embrace new perspectives to overcome any challenge at hand. Take a brainy and communicative approach to be victorious. Heed warnings when they are given but also remember, don’t let your emotions rule your decision. Improved communication is the key for stronger, deeper relationships. NOVEMBER 2022 | SEEMA.COM | 71
HOROSCOPE | SEEMA Steer clear of toxic people. Your currency is your truth and authenticity. It is an opportune time to work on your goals. The life you deserve is the one you create. It may be a time in your career where you receive a raise, a promotion, or the option to work on a new project. Use all the tools that life is offering you in life and love.
Sept 23 - Oct 22
It’s time to think clearly and rationally while making life-altering decisions. You are in a grand moment of becoming and worry and anxiety have no place in this cycle of growth. While all may not seem as it looks, patience will prove fruitful. It may be time to mend fences if you have offended (knowingly or unknowingly) someone in the past. The power of communication can bridge any divide more so in love relationships. Make financial prudence and focus on health, a priority. Make you come first, the struggle you are going through is nearing its end. It’s okay to seek support and find healthy ways to manage your stress.
Oct 23 - Nov 21
This isn’t the time for hiding who you are and what you want - be bold and direct. Be open to what others are bringing to the table, too. Rise above your limiting beliefs, people and situations that block your personal and professional growth. A financial windfall, or a new project or a job opportunity, is likely. Your confidence, hard work, and enthusiasm put you in the spotlight. If you are vying for a leadership role, now, is the time to initiate meaningful 72 | SEEMA.COM | NOVEMBER 2022
conversations. Take the lead in the area of love, and remember, relationships thrive through communication. Keep a lid on your anger and focus on what lights you up.
Nov 22 - Dec 21
Destiny meets opportunity with open arms. Begin implementing your plans and goals with optimism. Look at what you already have at your disposal to be successful in your endeavors. Change is on its way, through new roles, ventures, assignments or a move. Welcome, new friends, ideas and learning. Whether you’re looking for love or wanting to bring your relationship to the next level; have faith in yourself and your dreams. Be mindful of people with hidden agendas and the information you share with others. Independence, initiative and creative expression, are your strengths. Visualize your victory. Avoid the temptation to manipulate or be bossy. Trust what you feel, not what you hear.
Dec 22 - Jan 19
Focus your efforts in the right direction rather than spending time and money on projects that won’t help you achieve your goals. Patience pays so put your head down and just keep chipping away. However, if your efforts have not yet yielded the results you anticipated, perhaps your expectations might be unrealistic. Keep your spirits up and continue to create. If things are moving a tad slowly in your relationship, now is not the time to rush. Organize your tasks, step back and take perspective. Focus on the bigger picture, especially in the area of your financial status, property, career or health. The seeds you sow will sprout into blooms of abundance in time!
Jan 20 – Feb 20
All things are possible for you with a new beginning, manifesting for you. Should you take your chances, and work hard, you may be rewarded with a promotion, a business venture, or a job that truly fulfills you. Remember, the seeds for success are planted in the actions you take, today. Be confident that your efforts will pay off. Relationships may feel prosperous and abundant. Some kind of windfall or financial gift is likely to come your way. Take care of your health; and you will be, actually taking care of your wealth. Lighten up and stop being too serious. Allow your new restored sense of self out to play.
Feb 21 – Mar 20
Things may not be going the way you like, but this is no time to throw in the towel. Rise above any politics and drama. Stop playing victim and hoping others will pity you and save you. Let go and accept your current circumstances and recognize that to facilitate renewal there must be a change. If you have been pushing yourself to collapse, then forced rest is on the cards. Things are likely to change in a partnership whether you like it or not. Remember, there’s nothing that can’t be forgiven, repaired or replaced. Keep marching in faith. Avoiding any financial risks at this time can be beneficial for you. Farzana Suri is a Victory Coach who coaches people through their life’s challenges to take the leap to victory, using the science of numerology. For a personalised forecast, you may contact Farzana at surifarzana@gmail.com or visit her website www.farzanasuri.com
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