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Mango Bites 🥭
Boardgames to kickoff summer! 🎲☀️
Shaunak Kulkarni
June 20, 2025
If you’re new here, welcome to Mango Bites - a newsletter featuring the best South Asian professional events happening in NYC. Reply and say hi!
Sun’s out, guns out 💪🥵
Stay safe and cool next week, NYC - can’t remember the last time we had temps this high (especially after the coldest winter I’ve seen here).
We’ve got a lot of new folks in here post-Tech Week (if that’s you, hi!!), so a quick reintroduction to Mango:
Mango’s been around for 2 years, building South Asian professional community in NYC through events, this newsletter, and now our new WhatsApp group! We’ve hosted over 25 events - with 3,300+ registrations - ranging from happy hours and meditation sessions to food crawls and tree plantings. Our newsletter is up to 2,500 subscribers, and we’re so glad to have you along for the ride.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, feel free to unsubscribe - though I’ll be sad to see you go ☹️
Now, back to regularly scheduled programming. We’ve got a packed summer ahead, starting with a Game Night next Friday! Whether you're a Catan champ or a poker enthusiast, come hang with some of the sharpest South Asians in the city.
📅 Friday, June 27 | 6PM
📍 Pearl Cohen offices (huge thanks to them for hosting!)
📌 Register even if you’ll be late—just give me a heads-up.
One more thing: We recently launched Mango’s WhatsApp community to help folks connect beyond events and stay in the loop with what’s happening across the city. It’s already grown to 400+ members, and it’s quickly becoming the best way to stay plugged into the broader Mango network. If you’re looking for a more real-time, informal way to engage, come join us!
Upcoming Mango Events 🎇
Register at the links below!
The Mango After Hours Game Night (6/27) - Boardgames and chill for founders, operators and investors
Mango Summer Cricket Day 🏏 (7/19) - Because it’s about time pickup cricket became a thing. Open to all!
The Scene 🪔
Other South Asian events I’m keeping an eye on in NYC
Date | Event | Link |
|---|---|---|
6/20-6/22 | New York Indian Film Festival | |
6/24 - 6/29 | Mahabharata | |
6/26 | Jazba Collective NYC Meetup | |
6/28 | Summer Jam (use code “mangofam” for a discount!) | |
7/2 | Qais Essar and Sonny Singh | |
7/26 | Masala Mixtape (use code “mangofam” for a discount!) |
Cool Desis Doing Cool Things 🐘
Highlighting people in our community making strides in diverse fields!
Proma Khosla and Raashi Desai are directors of Lion Party Films and Drunk Bollywood. They met on a music video shoot in 2016 and decided they had to work together - since then, they have produced tons of shorts, music videos, and now live events! Proma and Raashi founded LPF in 2017 with Priya Shah and Shivani Badgi.
Why do you do what you do?
PK - Not to be dramatic but it sort of feels like what I was put on Earth to do? I remember that feeling from the first time I was on a film set, running around like crazy as a PA but just so alive and fulfilled. Anything that makes you feel like that has to be pursued.
RD - I have to agree with Proma (as usual). I feel as though I have this ability to be so creative and I have a view of the world that I want to share with everyone. Whether it’s through music and dance or film and theater, I have so much to share and it feels unfair to keep it to myself.
What does your Desi identity mean to you, and how has it influenced your journey?
PK - My Desi identity is never separate from anything in my life, and I think that’s something that Raashi and I share and why we collaborate so well on Desi content specifically. As soon as the identity becomes an added flavor or gimmick, it loses authenticity.
RD - My Desi identity and my identity are all the same. When you grow up speaking the language, consuming the art, and loving the people, it just is who you are. So everything I do will always be influenced by the culture. Even if I’m not specifically portraying something “Indian”, I will always have a way of telling that story that came from my background.
What advice do you have for those entering your field?
PK - Know your shit. Love your shit. Be willing to listen and work and get better, otherwise you will absolutely get stuck. Stay curious!
RD - Work! Get more experience with a lot of people and take on the small roles in the big projects. You won’t get more confident until you put yourself through the process and it’s so worth every second. Also, be flexible and be a team player - the industry relies heavily on every member of the team!
PK/RD favs 🌟
🎬 Bollywood Movie: Andaz Apna Apna / Main Hoon Na
🍛 Desi Eats: Mumbai street food
🌶️ NYC Restaurant: Dim Sum Palace / Jongro Korean BBQ
Meme Bazaar 👳🏽♀️
Random Stuff 💃
Mango Resume Drop - if you’re looking to make a career switch!
Love what Mango is doing? 🥭 Buy us a coffee - any support would go a long way and let us keep hosting events!
Want to sponsor an event or host something with me? Get in touch!
Have a friend who’d want to be on this newsletter? Sign up for Mango Bites here!