Chai & Chat with Ranjit and Sundari

In this episode of Chai & Chat, Sundari begins with the classic film Casablanca as a starting point for a wider conversation about love, duty, sacrifice and marriage. Sundari introduces the film’s iconic lines, characters and story, before we explore how its themes connect to different ideas of romance and responsibility. We reflect on Western ideas of romantic choice alongside South Asian dia...

In this episode of Chai & Chat, Sundari and Ranjit explore the humble chapati, and ask what happens when traditional foods are repackaged as the latest social media food trend. From chapatis, rotis and dosas to Middle Eastern and South Indian flatbreads, we reflect on how food travels across borders, changes names, and becomes part of global food culture. But when a chapati is simply called a...

In this episode of Chai & Chat, Ranjit and Sundari take a light-hearted look at the joys, chaos and little rituals of airline travel. We begin with Rita Dove’s poem Vacation, using it as a springboard into a conversation about anticipation, people-watching and the journey before the destination. From airport lounges and boarding gate nerves to luggage tags, delays, in-flight food and the stran...

As the UK experiences another heatwave (June 2026), in this timely episode of Chai & Chat, Sundari and Ranjit take a light-hearted look at heat, heritage and the familiar comment: “You’re Asian, you’ll be fine!” But does being brown really make you better at coping with hot weather? Sundari grew up in Malaysia, while Ranjit grew up in the Black Country, so we compare very different experiences...

In this episode of Chai & Chat, Sundari and Ranjit continue exploring Sundari’s debut collection, Poems, as she reads more of her work and reflects on the fascinating relationship between poetry, medicine and personal storytelling. Sundari shares poems that draw on her journey through medical training and hospital life, revealing how the emotional and physical demands of a medical career shape...

In this episode of Chai & Chat, Sundari and Ranjit explore Sundari’s debut collection, entitled Poems, and the cultural stories, memories and identities woven through her writing. We begin with the story behind the book itself, including Sundari’s vibrant cover inspired by Magritte, before moving into the deeper themes of migration, belonging and personal history. Through poems such as Belong,...

In this episode of Chai & Chat, we reflect on ageing and hindsight through two very different poems. We begin with W. B. Yeats’ The Wild Swans at Coole, a poem chosen by Sundari because it came from a book of poetry owned by her father, complete with his handwritten notes. Through Yeats’ autumnal melancholy, the passage of time, the swans that mate for life, and the poignant image of fifty-nin...

In this episode of Chai & Chat , Sundari and Ranjit begin with W. H. Davies’ poem Leisure , a gentle reminder to pause, look around, and ask whether we are making enough space to simply be. From there, we move into a conversation about leisure, work, rest and the ever-elusive idea of work-life balance. What does balance actually mean, and is it something we ever truly achieve, or something we...

In this episode of Chai & Chat, Sundari and Ranjit reflect on growing up, and ask the deceptively simple question: when do you actually become a grown-up? We look back at our teenage years, the fears we carried when we were younger, and the ways we tried to fit in, belong, and find our place in the world. We talk about confidence, how it develops over time, and the people, parents, friends and...

In this episode of Chai & Chat , Sundari and Ranjit turn their attention to friendship, opening with Kahlil Gibran’s beautiful reflections from The Prophet on friendship as nourishment, companionship and mutual exchange. Together, we explore the friends who come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. From childhood friends who know the earliest versions of us, to school friendsh...

In this episode, we look back at the awkward, exciting and sometimes chaotic teenage years. From school life and teenage fashion to musical obsessions and first parties, we reflect on the experiences that shaped us growing up in two very different parts of the world. Sundari remembers glamorous house parties in Malaysia, while Ranjit reflects on the world of the British Asian daytime disco scene o...

In this episode, we take a step back and reflect on what it was like growing up, from Sundari’s childhood in Malaysia to Ranjit’s in the Black Country in the West Midlands. We explore the similarities and differences in our experiences, from school and play to family life and expectations, and how these moments have shaped who we are today. It is a personal and reflective conversation about cultur...

In our very first episode, we start where all good conversations begin… with a cup of tea, or chai, or whatever you call it. Join us as we introduce ourselves through our shared memories of tea, from everyday routines to the memories and cultural traditions that come with it. We chat about the different ways tea shows up in our lives, the stories it brings back from childhood, and how something so...