희망과 사랑| The One with Poojee - On Cross-Cultural Friendships & Resilience: Episode 35 (2018)

This is one episode you should not miss as it features my very own Poojee!

In this episode, Poojee aka Omonike (my mother gave her this name, and it means ‘a child to be cherished’ in Yoruba – A Nigerian language) and I gush shamelessly about the love we have for each other. Pu, as I love to call her, and I went to grad school together in Austin, and she now lives in London. If you’re my friend on Facebook, you would have seen posts of me her and together. In this episode, we explored Poo’s story: growing up (female) in India; dropping out of grad school; how she coped with managing those expectations and from others too; our friendship and its oddities; and why we will not be breaking up anytime soon.

Poo is about one of the very few friends I chased (I am usually the one being chased), and I explain why this was so and why I would shamelessly do it over and over again. Poo is as geeky and nerdy as I am and loves Korean drama too. We also both share a mutual disdain for Apple® products. Suffice to say, our friendship will irretrievably break if either one of us cheats on the other by taking a bite from any of the already-bitten Apple products that are Mac and all of its i-Friends.

TL; DR: It’s a story of an odd love, friendship, and sisterhood between two most unlikely people who share different beliefs on religion (she is Hindu, I am Christian) and food (she eats rabbit food (aka vegetarian), and I eat rabbits (aka non-vegetarian), and even personalities (she’s introvertish, and I am hella extravertish, yup it’s a word!). How we make it work and how a little understanding and radical acceptance is needed in cross-cultural friendships. It’s also a story of resilience, dealing with the fear of failure, and keeping things moving.

PS: I would love to hear from my listeners sometimes, you know. My inbox is getting too lonely, and I am feeling a bit insecure about this. Please help me overcome this podcast insecurity by emailing me at talktomo@mosibyl.com on what you either think of the show in general or this current episode. Please and thank you!

Poojee says: “Don’t be afraid to look like a fool asking for help.”
Reflection:

Speak candidly and gently to a friend about their hang-ups and things you think they could work on. In return, listen patiently too to what they have to say about you. The goal is to establish openness in your friendship.

Recommended song:

“Monta Re” – Swanand Kirkire, Amitabh Bhattacharya (2013)

Best, 모 /Mo!/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mosibyl/support