This article is in partnership with The Vibe Tribe Co and The Brown Girl Collective.
At Draw Your Box, our core audience is second generation South Asian Australians – those who’ve typically grown up in Australia after their parents migrated from the subcontinent.
Many have felt caught between two cultures –not seen as “Australian enough” or “brown enough”. But in 2025, they are determined to “reclaim their roots”.
From learning their mother tongue, to proudly wearing cultural attire, reconnecting with their family’s heritage, or strengthening an inner confidence as they navigate their identity… “reclaiming your roots” means something different to everyone. It’s also not bound to just second-gen South Asians.
Ahead of the ‘Reclaiming Your Roots’ event hosted by The Vibe Tribe Co & Brown Girl Collective, we asked 7 women what the phrase means to them.
Nadhisha
Reclaiming my roots means gently uncovering the parts of myself I once hid just to belong. Growing up in Australia with a Sri Lankan heritage wasn’t easy in the 90s and early 00s.
I learned to shrink my culture to fit in. Now, as I’ve grown, I’m unlearning that. I’m rediscovering, reclaiming and redefining the woman I truly am beneath it all.
Nitasha
As an Australian-born Pakistani, I spent much of my youth trying to mould myself to blend in. To belong.
To me, reclaiming your roots means rewiring the belief that my differences were flaws to be ashamed of, but proof that I am a layered, rich, and multidimensional human being.
It made me realise that real belonging can never come from diluting your essence just to be accepted. It’s when you show up as your whole self, and in doing so, you show others that it’s safe for them to do the same.
Medhavi
Reclaiming my roots means rediscovering and celebrating my Southeast and South Asian heritage through beauty; honouring the ancient rituals and techniques that shaped the industry, and reconnecting with a culture I once distanced myself from.
Nisha
Reclaiming my roots means honouring the Indian movement, expression and foundation that shaped me over 25 years, and bringing that cultural strength into the dancer, teacher and woman I am today.
Zahra
To me, reclaiming my roots is about blending tradition with modern elegance. Wearing jewellery that connects us to our culture while expressing who we are today. It’s about remembering who I am before the world told me who to be.
Suki
For me, reclaiming my roots has been about making peace with my heritage, my ancestry and the rituals I grew up with, and finally celebrating them loudly and proudly.
I used to shrink myself in white spaces and still feel “not brown enough” in my own – but now it’s outgrowing all that.
Krish
I once softened parts of myself to belong. Reclaiming my roots means honouring them now – carrying my culture with pride, in ways that feel true to who I am today.
Reclaim Your Roots hosted by The Vibe Tribe Co & The Brown Girl Collective is a four-hour immersive workshop in Sydney created for South Asian women to gently reconnect with their culture, identity and inner heritage.
Through a blend of storytelling, journalling, a hair oil master class, movement and heart led conversation, it will explore cultural disconnection, identity, belonging, generational healing & what it means to live between cultures.
It’s a space to feel seen, held and celebrated to reconnect not only with culture, but with community, self expression and the stories that shaped us.
Date: Sunday 16th November
Time: 2-4pm
Location: The Dale Loft, Chippendale
Price: $88 including lunch and afternoon tea
More details can be found here.
Top image source: Stock images via Canva, with additional design by Draw Your Box
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