welcome to madrasi cafe, a podcast where we reclaim the term "madrasi," an outdated exonym that has often been used as an ethnic slur against south indians. join us, two indian-american girlies, as we celebrate and share south indian culture over some tea.
from delicious cuisine and vibrant festivals to modern trends, we will talk about pan-indian acceptance. tune in for heartfelt conversations, cultural insights, and a whole lot of fun as we embrace our heritage and create a space where everyone can vibe with us. this is your space to drink tea while we spill the tea.
madrasi cafe is under new management… but don’t worry, it’s still us! :)
we started this podcast to yap about our culture and our experiences, but now it has grown into a space where we talk about, well -- pretty much anything and everything.
while we’re expanding the menu and franchising into new areas, one thing isn’t changing: we’re always going to be south indian girlies.
so, what does that mean for madrasi cafe? guess you’ll have to listen to find out.
26 Nov 2025
it's literally the climb
we are BACK people !!! sometimes chai is best when it has cooled down a bit, don't you think?
thank you for your loyalty and patience. life happens, and that's exactly what we are talking about in this episode: careers, south asian expectations, generation gaps, social norms, purpose, and the journey of it all.
shayla has moved across the country, navigating job changes. kaavya has been trying to figure out what the purpose of life is. we get real deep into a mountain analogy... i guess you will need to listen to find out more.
also shout out to our good friend meghana for hosting us on her podcast episode, talking about a similar topic. click here (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HWPoA7v3Gd6I43kw7RBSm?si=159cf82f1700458d)to listen to that! and, make sure to subscribe to her channel "the in-between years" !!!
what else.... oh yeah, enjoy the view, live life, and breathe!
xoxo
follow along with our chapters
00:00 reconnecting
03:33 shayla's journey
07:09 kaavya's journey
11:44 choices choices choices
15:41 tech + health
19:11 immigrant hustle
26:50 the mountain analogy
31:44 success beyond finances
36:20 checkpoints and pivoting
44:36 embracing non-traditional routes
49:04 valuing creative careers
54:22 purpose
18 Mar 2025
speaking of languages (part 2)
the wait is finally over! thanks for being patient with us. we still have a lot of thoughts on this topic, so let's jump right in... 7 months later hehe. life happens xoxo
19 Aug 2024
speaking of languages (part 1)
hey friends and loyal fans ~ welcome back to madrasi cafe! grab your fave bev and vibe with us as we spill the tea on south indian languages and our experiences of becoming bilingual yappers. the duo lingo owl got nothin on us!
we are bringing you some hard hitting facts, a map, some accents, and a few of our deep childhood memories. so join us for just 47 minutes! now if you thought, "dang that's not enough time," then you are absolutely right! don't worry folks, this is just part 1 of 2. so sit tight, 'cause we'll be back only.
xoxo,
k & s
10 Jul 2024
spilling the first cup of tea
this is our first podcast ever, please be nice to us. xoxo.
meet your hosts:
kaavya was born in tamil nadu and was mostly brought up in the suburbs of dallas. however, growing up, her family moved a lot, which made it hard to find a community. she learned that a constant in her life is her south indian/asian roots. being in singapore for a random year during her adolescence showed her how awesome it can be to be proud of her tamil heritage and culture. ever since then, she has embraced being a rasam-loving, jimiki-wearing, tamilian girlie. she portrays her identity through art (@tamizhdreams (https://www.instagram.com/tamizhdreams/)), music, and films.
shayla is a part time software developer full time kannadiga. she was born in portland, oregon and moved to austin, texas two years ago. she enjoys outdoor adventures, cooking, painting, spending time with friends, dog sitting for indian aunties, and incorporating south indian culture into her day to day life. she hopes that this podcast helps spread awareness on varying south indians and their quirks because we are not all the same - there is more to indian food than naan and paneer tikka masala.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 9 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
5
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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