Welcome to What Is This Behaviour? 101 (WITB 101), an annual, growing resource of one hundred and one South Asian people going against the grain.

Born out of a combination of the research we do for podcast guests, and regularly hearing “I can't find any...” in conversations with creative industry heads searching for South Asian talent – WITB 101 is our second baby after the WITB podcast itself. It's here to help recruiters, brands, and organisations find inspiring South Asian people (no more hiring excuses!), and most importantly encourage us to see ourselves and pursue any career in any field.

Rather than a list of who's more influential than the next, WITB 101 is a living, breathing resource that we'll periodically add to. For the first edition, we know there are so many talented folks doing amazing work and so we've kicked off with the first set of inspirational South Asians living inspirational and bold lives, who are going against the grain and redefining our collective identity. This can be through their work, attitude or occupying a space that is against the typical expectation of a South Asian career path.

WITB 101 is filled with people shaping how our community is felt, seen, and received. We've covered as many intersections as possible at this stage spanning ages, sexualities, heritages, abilities, and identities within our global community. This process has been eye-opening, and one that we know will still have some blindspots.

This is just the beginning and we're excited to see where WITB 101 takes us! Download this year’s WITB 101 deck here.