![]() In the show, this disconnect is apparent as we watch Devi and her mother engage in many bitter mother-daughter fights, fraught with tension and hostility. Vishwakumar struggle coping with her own grief and opening up was extremely familiar because I myself have grown up in a household where I’m aware that my parents love me and only have my best interests at heart, but honest communication and strong emotional vulnerability aren’t common.” “We live in a community where our feelings and mental health aren’t always discussed,” says Pandey. “It was an odd sight watching Devi talk about getting laid in front of the idols, but when I looked back and thought about it I could see what Mindy and the writers were trying to do: make this a normal conversation. “Sex education and dating are often topics that are shunned in the South Asian community, which is unfortunate because it leads a lot of youth to go headfirst into relationships without guidance,” she says. ![]() ![]() However, she believes that this is a good thing. Pandey notes that there were some scenes in the show that felt uncomfortable to watch, particularly Devi’s interest in having sex. Instead, she’s daring, sarcastic, and kind: all traits that make you want to fall in love with her.” “ race is not the center of the comedy in the show like it has been in the case of Baljeet from Phineas and Ferb or Raj from Big Bang Theory,” says 18-year-old Indian American Ipsha Pandey, cofounder of the South Asian Instagram page “While she is a ‘nerd,’ she’s a breath of fresh air where these characters are loved by the audience out of pity. While viewers praise Never Have I Ever’s portrayal of the culturally complex identity of Indian American teens, they also applaud it for not making that identity the show’s driving plot point. Kannan agrees, adding that, “Being able to talk critically about these dual experiences, both the joy and the trauma of belonging partially to two worlds, is something that I hope more shows can do in the future.” Where does that leave us? This notion was highlighted perfectly through Devi’s frustration and it was great to see the show push an empowering ‘Who cares what everyone else thinks? You do you!’ message.” “However, much like Devi in the Ganesh Puja episode, growing up as part of the South Asian diaspora often entails being told we’re either ‘too brown’ or ‘not brown’ enough. So being Indian Australian has always been a huge part of my upbringing,” 24-year-old viewer Sanjana Nagesh, founder of tells Teen Vogue. “Personally, I deeply resonated with Never Have I Ever’s portrayal of dual cultural identities as my family moved from South India to Australia in the early ‘90s, and I was born in Sydney soon after. Devi’s frustration as she tries to strike a balance between her two cultural identities is something viewers feel mirrors the first-generation immigrant experience.
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