Gowri Koneswaran- Welcome to the Open Mic

As we state in our intro Desis are a community from South Asian countries not just India. So it's a thrill when we get to have on our show someone from one of the other countries as it helps continue to expand and specify what it means to be Desi. To that end we are thrilled to have on our show Gowri Koneswaran, a Tamil American from Sri Lanka. As we begin the show we dive straight into how the language we use around what community we are from can be so important. How an issue with a government might cause you to press pause on identifying with that nation state but you still want to honor that area from which you sprung. Gowri walks us through the fog of ignorance around the civil conflicts that have plagued Sri Lanka for the last few decades and through that journey we learn about her transition from lawyer to writer and poet. And how her choice to be a poet is rooted in the same social advocacy as her lawyering. Please tune in to this brilliant woman helping us to be a small bit smarter and better.