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vaishnavi naidu

Vaishnavi Naidu

Vaishnavi Naidu is an NYC based-reporter and has developed such an attachment to the city she plans to never leave. She writes a lot, but she also loves multimedia journalism and has worked in audio, video, film, and digital photography. She graduated from NYU with honors in Broadcast Journalism and Psychology. You'll probably catch her either hunched over her laptop, napping, or arguing that veg biryani is pulao.



Latest Stories

A Syrian Orthodox Christian priest celebrates Saint George's Day in Kottayam, Kerala. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is a church based in Kerala, India. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century CE. (Rainer Krack/Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

What Kerala’s Syrian Christians Tell Us About Caste

The community has toed the line between its minority status and privilege for millennia. But few have examined its contested past.

Vaishnavi Naidu
Woman massaging her baby with oil, picture taken in Nepal (BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How the West Bastardized Baby Massages

As U.S. practitioners “discover” the millennia-old tradition from the Indian subcontinent, what gets lost in the process?

Vaishnavi Naidu
MIRZAPUR, INDIA, 24 April 1996, Phoolan Devi, backed by a bodyguard and supporters, stops during her political campaign to be photographed. (RAVEENDRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Phoolan Devi: Bandit Queen, Activist, Goddess

The Dalit leader instilled fear in men and fought for her beliefs. So why do many depict her as a victim?

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Intricate drawings of ancient art form kalamkari in Andhra Pradesh, India (Anil Kr Sharma/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

How Kalamkari Became Chintz

The British took the ancient textile tradition global. Its artisans have yet to benefit.

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Ravi Shankar and George Harrison in Los Angeles in 1967 (Courtesy of the Ravi Shankar Foundation)

Ravi Shankar, the Maestro Who Made the Sitar Cool

His unexpected friendship with Beatles guitarist George Harrison brought Indian classical music to the world and changed global music forever.

Vaishnavi Naidu
Sufi Malik (left) and Anjali Chakra (right) on their engagement day (Instagram)

What the Anjali-Sufi Story Says About Us

For five years, fans fawned over the interfaith, queer influencers. But a sudden split ahead of their wedding led to a flurry of judgment.

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Catamaran from the Coromandel Coast, India. The true catamaran was a raft, the name being derived from the Tamil expression 'tied logs.' (SSPL/Getty Images)

Tamil, the Indian Language that Spread Across the World

The vernacular is one of the oldest, reaching as far and wide as Thailand and Australia. Why doesn’t it get its due?

Vaishnavi Naidu