The first season of Zubaani is produced by Peerbagh with Upasna Kakroo as the host. "Zubaani" in Hindustani translates to "through the language" or "by means of language." The first season talks about South-Asian parenting tips and storytelling for our future- showcasing folk, personal, and regional stories that build our common myths and community as people.
Episode 1: Far from the tree
This episode delves into the complicated experiences of South-Asian immigrant parents or those who grow up away from their heritage cultures. We talk about the challenges parents face in teaching their children mother tongues when the world as we know it is becoming more and more homogeneous. The episode also discusses why this is a critical need for kids - both to preserve language and culture and to get a sense of roots. The host and guests share some tips for parents navigating this journey.
The name Zubaani was selected by Peerbagh's late founder, Vatsala Kakroo. The episode art was made by Upasna Kakroo. Krista Rodrigues supported the episode research. The background soundtrack features Slim Finger Pickings by artist Heston Mimms (2021), sourced from Imuno. The Zubaani podcast artwork (separate from the episodes) has artwork from Anushka Singh, a grade six student from Mount Abu Public School, Delhi.
This program is supported by the Elevate grant from the City of Austin’s Economic Development Department and Texas Humanities.
About: Peerbagh is an award-winning 501c3 nonprofit organization incorporated in Austin, Texas. The nonprofit produces storytelling events and workshops and produces an illustrated South-Asia-inspired children’s quarterly magazine Bento.
Website: peerbagh.com/bookstore
Instagram: instagram.com/peerbagh.stories
Guests and further reading:
Tasneem Diarywala, Children’s Book Author, https://www.instagram.com/tdairywala/
Vaishali Patel, Founder Sanskar Teaching, https://www.instagram.com/sanskarteaching/
Two languages dying every month: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/social/indigenous-languages.html
Mother Tongue: https://longreads.com/2019/08/05/towards-chinatown/
South-Asian languages: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/jsall-2021-2034/html?lang=en#:~:text=2019
Language & Culture: https://contextualscience.org/does_language_influence_culture
Vanishing Cultures: It has been estimated that approximately 10,000 spoken languages have existed. Today, only about 6,000 languages are still spoken and many of these are not being taught to children. More than half of these languages are unlikely to survive the next century. See W. Davis, ‘Vanishing Cultures’, in National Geographic, vol. 196, no. 2, pp. 62-89, 1999
Storytelling: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/storytelling-and-cultural-traditions/
https://houghtonmackay.com/culture/the-art-of-indian-storytelling/s-rupsha-mitra/
https://ingostudio.com/storytelling/asian-storytelling/
