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Mohamed Alharbi, a part of the core campaign leadership that brought Zohran Mamdani's bid for Mayor of New York to a historic win, unpacks how people centred politics triumphed. An exclusive Pause with Nandini catch up on the sidelines of Australian Progress 2026.

We speak of strategy and tactics but more about working with heart. He also reflects on what this win means for people of colour, the way the conservatives were won over and of course, Aunties for Zohran, who evidently have no chill.

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To provide 10 million girls access to education in the next 10 years - no easy feat but also not beyond the realm of possibility for an exceptional organisation, Educate Girls, which has made history as the the first Indian organisation to win the prestigious 2025 Ramon Magsaysay award.

With Gayatri Nair Lobo at the helm, Educate Girls is working at the grassroots, bringing millions of girls into education. The organisation solves for issues at the local and societal level to enable continued engagement and emancipation for girls through education.

Gayatri speaks to us about the work, the challenges, and the dream.

Watch, listen, reflect. This has been an honour.

To learn more about Educate Girls or to donate, visit:

https://educategirls.us/

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Part 2 of a conversation with four of the five founding members of The Reserved Compartment - Aleena, Gautam, Daniel and Abhijit.

The Reserved Compartment is a pioneering, community-driven initiative to amplify Dalit, Ambedkarite, gender-inclusive voices through spoken word poetry, storytelling, music, and performance.

By reclaiming the term "Reserved Compartment," which historically refers to
segregation, they are creating a platform for subaltern narratives to challenge caste, gender, and other intersecting oppressions.

Rooted in the legacy of the Bhakti movement, the Ambedkarite jalsa-shahiri tradition, and the Dalit Panthers, they aim to move beyond tokenism, ensuring the art and lived experiences of marginalized artists are honoured with dignity.

Share, like, subscribe as always.

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Four of the five founding members of The Reserved Compartment, Aleena, Gautam, Daniel and Abhijit join me to talk about their first-of-its-kind poetry initiative - The Reserved Compartment. The fifth, Shripad could not join us.

The Reserved Compartment is a pioneering, community-driven initiative to amplify Dalit, Ambedkarite, gender-inclusive voices through spoken word poetry, storytelling, music, and performance.

By reclaiming the term "Reserved Compartment," which historically refers to
segregation, they are creating a platform for subaltern narratives to challenge caste, gender, and other intersecting oppressions.

Rooted in the legacy of the Bhakti movement, the Ambedkarite jalsa-shahiri tradition, and the Dalit Panthers, they aim to move beyond tokenism, ensuring the art and lived experiences of marginalized artists are honoured with dignity.

Share, like, subscribe as always.

Thank you for listening! Watch all episodes of Pause with Nandini on https://youtube.com/c/NRIAffairs

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Sneha and Runjhun from the Aunties Fund join me to talk about The Aunties Fund.
The Aunties Fund is the first permanent fund for South-Asian women, by South-Asian women. They are on a mission to raise $100,000 for culturally informed services for women facing domestic abuse.
The data is startling.
1-3 migrant women face some form of domestic abuse. Many are South Asian. Visa and Dowry abuse is the most prevalent.
This fund will help 4 exceptional organisations working in this space.
• Indian (Sub-continent) crisis & support agency
• House of Sakinah
• Immigrant Women's Speakout Association
• Harman Foundation
Find them on https://www.instagram.com/auntiesfund to know more.
Donate at: https://aunties-fund.raiselysite.com

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The British novelist, Rajeev Balasubramanyam, now a somewhat unlikely Instagram influencer, joins us on Pause with Nandini to explore the difficult questions of the psyche, and of our times. We speak of the spiritual and the political, mental health, wounded narcissism, a personal journey through sex, drugs and alcohol to a healing through self-enquiry, and the reasons for a re-engagement with the political.

We speak of the woundedness of young men, the angry patriarchal masculinity on one hand and the rising discourse about toxic masculinity on the other - and a generation of young men caught between the two. We speak of how there can be a third way, rooted in masculine vulnerability, in the ability to cry, and the need to heal.

This is an important conversation in our fractured times, that goes beyond the what, deeply into the why, and through a story of an examined life, it takes us to into a path of possibilities, redemption, and ultimately of hope.

You can follow him on Rajeevwriter on Instagram.

As always, like, share and subscribe.

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Giri Sivaraman, Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner, spoke with Nandini Sen Mehra about the larger questions of racism in Australia, the institutions and structures that need an overhaul, and the genuine concerns and issues that everyday Australians are facing, across communities and ethnicities.

He talks about the critical need to implement the anti Racism Framework that includes the establishment of the Anti Racism Taskforce with representation from government, institutions and civil society, something we at NRI Affairs have been championing as well.

In addressing concerns over the targeting of the Indian diaspora in inflammatory fliers being circulated by anti-immigration campaigners, he offers his perspective on preventive measures, the role of law enforcement in building trust in community, and what he considers of primary concern should a racist attack occur.

For this and more, watch, listen, subscribe.

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When Rabbi Shergill says, ‘write the truest line you know,’ he isn’t only quoting Hemingway. In a way, he is capturing a lifetime’s quest for authenticity.
In word, in artistic expression , and in navigating a life that didn't always fit into neat boxes.
In this soulful conversation, he speaks of the awakening of his passion for Panjabi, which for him is the language of love, of his grandmother’s sweet phrases, of poetry rooted in everyday life.
He says art comes from an intimate corner of your being and to connect with Delhi is to connect with Delhi’s poetry.
He speaks of Tolstoy, of Bulleh Shah, Santana, Abida Parveen, of Shiv Batalvi, of Baba Farid.
He speaks of his father, an oriental scholar and the only true blue genius that he knew first hand.
He says today we don’t have artists, we have craftsmen, we have algorithms.
We speak of many things in a little over an hour, and in the end, I wonder: do we know Rabbi, the artist and the man any better than we did before?
In some ways, yes, we get a glimpse behind the veil, but yet, much of the enigma remains.
And in a way, I’m thankful for it.

Listen, like, share, subscribe. And perhaps take a moment to revisit the magic and memories of Rabbi Shergill's music.

Thank you for listening! Watch all episodes of Pause with Nandini on https://youtube.com/c/NRIAffairs