#5SmartReads - March 17, 2022

Hitha on the untold stories of the Gilded Age, hijabs, and a St. Paddy's Day tradition

March 17, 2022

This week’s #5SmartReads is sponsored by Blue Apron.

Policing what a woman can or cannot wear is outdated and simply wrong. Women should wear what they want, for whatever reason they want.

Banning hijabs - and then effectively banning protests that would rise because of said ban - is wrong and simply makes no sense.

Hijabs are beautiful, and the women who choose to wear it do so with great intention.

I know I’m going to get DMs from people who will claim I have no right to opine on Indian politics and that I should stay in my lane, but Karnataka’s ruling follows a troubling trend of similar bans around the world, which are simply wrong.

To my friends who wear their hijabs proudly and beautifully - I stand with you, no matter where you are in the world. And I highly recommend following my friends Hina and Melanie who have taught me so much about this incredibly significant choice.

“So many of my career choices were based on what I thought I should do: another notch on my belt, another degree, another thing to make the Indian aunties proud of me,” Saujani says. “You have to ask yourself, Why do you see this as an investment in you?”

The log kya kahenge (“what will they think?”) is so ingrained in the South Asian culture that it takes several attempts and years of unlearning to stop living your life to other’s expectations and to live it on your terms, especially for first generation South Asian Americans.

Even my superstar friend Reshma Saujani has felt it and succumbed to it before she broke free from it, and went on to change the lives of girls and women.

Knowing this part of Reshma’s story makes Pay Up make even more sense - and if you haven’t gotten your copy yet, I highly recommend the audiobook because it’s like getting a pep talk from her and is so motivating.

While this is an important for Afghani refugees (and other refugees from Ukraine, Sudan, and South Sudan), I do hope it’s followed up with more significant support for their families and loved ones who were unable to leave their home countries to find safety.

As well as a reformed asylum process, which is still cumbersome and painful for those seeking it both in the United States and outside of it.

Just a reminder that we have a global refugee crisis that is poised to get worse with nationalist tyrants and climate change, so the sooner we figure out long-term solutions as a global community, the better.

Thursdays are an interesting day of the week - it’s become a catchall day for calls and meetings that didn’t get scheduled earlier in the week, strategic work that I didn’t finish, and a day I usually try to tackle organizing some part of our home.

The fridge is a frequent target, and it usually ends with me cooking up the last Blue Apron meal well ahead of dinner time, which my husband definitely appreciates. This meal is almost always a tried and true favorite - one of their pasta dishes, or a bowl of something comforting. It’s always fresh, delicious, and takes less than an hour to make. 

Want to give Blue Apron a try? Get $120 across your first 6 boxes and free shipping on your first box with this link.

I plan on catching up on The Gilded Age during nap/quiet time next week, when the boys are on spring break. And I have a deeper appreciation for the show’s commitment to untold American history.

These are the stories I wish were taught in our history classes in school, along with a more honest education of slavery and the Civil War, Reconstitution, and all the other hyphenated histories that make up the short yet consequential history of the United States.

I digress. I’m grateful for Julian Fellows for elevating these stories in his show, but I’m even more grateful to Audarshia Townsend for teaching me about these incredibly important Americans.

To those who celebrate, happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The annual dyeing of Chicago’s river green was not originally a nod to this holiday, but to clean up the waterfront. That the chemical they used to find the sources of waste turned the water green was a bonus, and the start of a holiday tradition in addition to a city service.

Talk about a both/and situation.

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