Deep, Down & Desi

In the first episode of Bollywood Uncovered, Haroon speaks to Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan on her 20th anniversary at the top.

Kareena is both a superstar and inspiration for many of her fans. She’s successfully navigated the ever-changing industry for more than two decades and managed to do what many considered impossible for a Bollywood actress – stay consistently in demand with box-office hit after hit. In the first episode...

In the last episode of this series, Saima and Maleena talk about the power of talking. Grief can be one of the biggest tests to your mental health. So is there a ‘right’ way to cope with loss? They invite Rabbil to the café to hear his story about how he lost his Aunt and his subsequent struggles with depression. Hypnotherapist Dipti then joins them to give her professional opinion and chat about her own story of grief that i...

Within the British Asian community, care can be a controversial subject. Who should look after you when you’re in your final days and what should you expect from the pros?

Saima and Maleena chat about family expectations, the Asian stigma of so-called ‘old people’s homes’ and the benefits of modern palliative care.

Kamalpreet pops into the cafe to share her experience of looking after her Gran who suffered from dementia and how she n...

If death is inevitable, then planning for it is essential. But it can also be one of the most daunting things that you have to deal with and too many put it off until the very last minute of life.

Maleena chats to Saima in the café about what getting your affairs in order actually means - or the ‘Death Admin’ as she likes to call it.

They hear from Dan, who created a will writing start-up that brings the legal process into the modern...

In this episode of Fresh To Death, Saima and Maleena discuss how honest you can be about your grief and what it’s like dealing with death in unfamiliar surroundings.

Maleena uncovers an incredible story of a young woman who goes on holiday with her secret boyfriend and tragically has to return home without him.

Back at the café, Saima and Maleena chat about the complex cultural issues when discussing the most personal of circumstanc...

In this episode of Fresh To Death, Saima and Maleena explore what it's like to deal with death in the family.

They speak to Raj, who started a Will writing service for the Sikh community with his wife, before being hit with the cruellest of coincidences. Can the experience of dealing with death as a professional help you grieve your own personal losses?

Saima opened Masala Wala cafe with her family, a small Pakistani restaurant that ...

In this episode of Fresh To Death, Saima and Maleena share their experiences of dealing with death.

Saima opened Masala Wala cafe with her family, a small Pakistani restaurant that serves her mother’s recipes with love and charm. Out of nowhere, she was diagnosed with incurable lung cancer, before she even turned 30. Her life has been dramatically cut short - without treatment, she wouldn’t be here today.

After dealing with her diagn...

In a community saturated by talk of babies and marriages, British Asian bereavement is curiously complicated - and often ignored.

Family, religious and cultural issues make each passing unique from the mainstream and brings in sharp focus the generational expectations that can cause further heartache at a time of sensitivity.

Fresh To Death is out to change that.

Restaurateur Saima Thompson is living with a terminal diagnosis of sta...

Raul considers the paradox of being an atheist Hindu, but the truth is hard to digest.

Raul has always loved the old stories of Hinduism – the monkey gods, elephant heads, and frolicking milkmaids – but he’s not so sure what they actually mean to him, spiritually speaking. Over the series, Raul has come to see Hinduism in a whole new light. But he still needs to ask himself the biggest question yet. After all this reading, talking...

Raul attempts to justify his diet – but will the Pandit have beef with the way he eats?

In this episode, Raul weighs up the needs of the planet, the advice of the Hindu scriptures and the demands of his own stomach to figure out if it’s time to give up eating meat. He goes out for breakfast with his comedian friend Kiran Morjaria, entertains his audiences with a story about sausages and returns to the temple to chew it all over with...

Millennia before the West started reassessing the concept of gender, India had the Hijra.

When researching for this podcast, Raul was surprised to discover that, in Hinduism, gender non-conformity is nothing new. The origin of the Hijra can be found in ancient Indian folk stories, but they are also a real community of transwomen that live in India today. Many people still believe that they are mystical beings and that they can confe...

What’s the role of marijuana in Hinduism? Raul takes it upon himself to find out.

When Raul was 19 years old, he received a surprising call from his mother. It was Maha Shivratri, she said, and officially the one day in the Hindu calendar that smoking marijuana was permitted. (Not by UK law, of course.) This got Raul thinking – maybe his lifestyle was more aligned with the Hindu faith than he thought?

In this episode, Raul has a su...

Raul Kohli discovers that he owes the universe the debt of his body. No pressure then.

When it comes to the birds and the bees, Raul was arranged a marriage before he was arranged a sex education lesson. Add to that the confusing depictions of romance in Bollywood films and the fact that Krishna married 18,000 milkmaids, it’s fair to say that there are some mixed messages going on. So, Raul sets out to discover if Hindus are as con...

Raul discovers there’s way more to yoga than sexy leggings and expensive beach retreats.

As a stand-up comedian, Raul’s mind is always going at a million miles a minute, while his body travels to all four corners of the globe performing comedy to late-night crowds. But this lifestyle is taking its toll, and he wants to find ways to keep the stress down.

In this episode, Raul chats to his comedian friend Sukh Ojla, seeks advice from ...