Hey, it's Empire's book The Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. The actress and author, Shita al-Shef,

wrote this cute kid's book titled Rashi's Rockies. It's about a little girl dealing with her brother

and the backdrop of it is a Hindu holiday. Pretty basic kids' book stuff, right? And yet a decent

chunk of this interview between her and

here and now's Deepa Fernandez is spent discussing the trolls who try and ding Sheetal for

injecting, quote, Western feminism into a story about Hinduism. And I bring that up to point out

that nothing exists in a vacuum. There's a particular strain of Hindu nationalism feeding into this,

and yet all she, though, wants to do is invite more people into her culture. She talks about it

after the break. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant

wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Indians across the world will be celebrating Raksha Bandan.

It's a Hindu holiday beloved by so many families

involving food, music, lots of loud laughter and chatter and celebration.

As part of the tradition, siblings and cousins tie beautiful colored bracelets

known as rakis around each other's wrists.

Typically, it's the brothers that receive the bracelets from their sisters.

In a new children's book, Rashi's Rakhis, a young girl decides to put her own spin on her family's

Raksha Bandun's celebration. For more, let's bring in the author of the book, Shithal Sheth.

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