EP #106: Mohana Rajakumar - American Creative Living In Qatar Sharing Her Storytelling Journey As An Author, Filmmaker & Standup Comic

Mohana Rajakumar (@moha_doha) is an American-Tamil (currently residing in Qatar) novelist, comic, scholar and screenwriter with a PhD in English.

She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss moving to Qatar in her 20s, the importance of letting your children try everything (nurturing the generalist in them), how she manages her finances as a creative, leveraging Kickstarter to launch her films, writing nine books in nine years, being a meticulous planner, and so much more.

Follow Mohana:
- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/moha_doha/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Mohana Rajakumar
01:21 - Mohana speaks on her formative teenage years
06:15 - Her decision to move from Canada to the United States
07:13 - Moving to Qatar; impact on her personal and professional life
10:58 - Identifying as Indian versus Tamil
13:18 - Starting a branch of Georgetown University in Qatar
16:48 - Does she take offence to not being referred to as “Dr. Mohana?”
18:26 - Her show “Being Brown is my Superpower”
23:07 - Having short films screened globally; and what she’s working on now
34:25 - Do Mohana’s friends/family support her creative career?
39:01 - How she manages her finances as a creative
43:17 - What she would tell her 16-year-old self
43:51 - The personal legacy she wants to leave behind/be remembered for
44:43 - Creator Confessions
54:41 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan