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Chetna Maroo’s Western Lane is a deeply moving coming-of-age story about grief, sisterhood and the immigrant experience. The Nairobi-born author of Indian origin found her debut novel nominated for the 2023 Booker Prize. It sees the world through the eyes of 11-year-old Gopi, a Jain girl in London whose life becomes consumed by the game of squash after her mother dies. Gopi’s father turns his attention to implementing increasingly brutal training programs in an attempt to avoid his grief and anxiety about raising three daughters alone.
EAT
It’s mango season, and we’re particularly loving the Honey Gold variety right now. An absolute winner with its unique sweetness (which resembles honey), what gets us is its smaller seed and therefore fleshier mass. It’s also juicier and fibreless, so the best way to eat it is – au naturel of course! Great in salads and smoothies too. Equally fascinating, is that this increasingly popular mango came into being by chance: it was bred in the Rockhampton region in 1991 as a hybrid between Aussie staple Kensington Pride and an unknown variety.
WATCH
After a whirlwind tour of several international film festivals (Rotterdam, Busan, Durban, Chicago, and closer home to us in Sydney and IFFM), Joram is now in Australia in commercial release. Writer-director Devashish Makhija’s captivating storytelling takes us into a landscape that’s far from the picturesque places Bollywood lovers are typically fed. Lead Manoj Bajpayee shines as his character flees his tormentors, infant child in his arms, after his wife is brutally murdered. A gripping survival thriller unfolds amid a harsh terrain of ravaged woodlands, unchecked avarice, defiance, and the violent repercussions of “progress.” Indian Link Loves
LISTEN
Girls That Invest is a wildly successful podcast by Simran Kaur and Sonya Gupthan. The New Zealand-based South Asian duo are empowering women and minorities to grow their wealth by demystifying industry jargon and breaking down the world of investing, which they believe is still gatekept. With more than five million downloads, the pair’s sense of humour, rapport and authenticity have earned them top spots on various business podcast charts around the world, including Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. The girls are also among this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honorees.
With contributions from Rajni Anand Luthra and Suhayla Sharif
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