Featured in Psychology Today - 2023

Featured in Psychology Today - 2023

Featured in the Times of India - 2022

'Extremely clever and funny' - author Karen Inglis 2018

Shweta Aggarwal

My Story

Shweta Aggarwal is an anti-colourism activist with a colourful life. A computer science engineer by way of background, her passion is dance and writing. After moving to London in 2000, she ran a Bollywood dance company, Threebee (Bold, Beautiful and very Bollywood), alongside working at UBS in their IT department. As the creative director of the company for 10 years, some proud moments include her troupe featuring as a semi-finalist in Britain’s Got Talent 2010 and being invited by the London Olympics team to audition for the closing ceremony in 2012.

A new passion emerged when she closed the dance company to prioritise family life. The lack of representation in children’s books inspired Shweta to launch the Dev and Ollie series of picture books based on festivals in India. The series is popular in schools and libraries all over the world. Shweta was awarded the Asian Women of Achievement Award for Arts & Culture in 2016 and invited by the late Her Majesty the Queen to Buckingham Palace for the UK-India Year of Culture in 2017. In 2020, triggered by the Black Lives Matter movement, Shweta started writing her memoir based on her journey through colourism from the age of six. Her mission is simple: to instigate change, for which she is prepared to risk exposing herself to the world.

Since the launch of The Black Rose in December 2022, the book has been featured in Psychology Today and Brown Girl Magazine, and Shweta has been invited to multiple BBC radio interviews. She is quickly becoming a recognised voice as an anti-colourism activist and is frequently invited to schools and corporate and charity organisations to deliver talks on colourism. 

Shweta Aggarwal

My Books

The Black Rose

$10.89

Aged six, Shweta Aggarwal learned that she did not live in a fair world. Indian society at large simply did not equate her dark skin tone with ‘beauty’. She was mercilessly reminded that she was the ‘black sheep’ in her fair-skinned family and taught to believe that only ‘fair is beautiful’. Since then, the shadow of colourism haunted her wherever she lived – be it India, Japan or the UK – until she finally surrendered. But what does ‘surrendering’ really mean? And what instigated change in her after thirty-eight years?

Buy Now

Amazon

Dev and Ollie – Colour Carnival

$9.50

Dev and Ollie have just arrived in India to enjoy the amazing festival of colours, Holi. But Dev doesn’t like getting mucky! Will Dev’s magical bedtime owl, Ollie, be able to change Dev’s mind?

 

Modern, informative and funny, the Dev and Ollie series of books takes children on magical adventures to unique festivals in India and around the world.

Buy Now

Amazon

Dev and Ollie – Kite Crazy

$9.00

Dev has just unwrapped his favourite birthday present…a cool new kite! But how will he learn how to fly it? By going to one of the largest kite festivals in the world, of course! Ollie, his magical bedtime owl, knows just the place in Gujarat, India.

Modern, informative and funny, the Dev and Ollie series of books takes children on magical adventures to unique festivals in India and around the world.

Buy Now

Amazon

Dev and Ollie – Camel Caper

$9.50

All the camels from Dev’s local zoo have gone missing! Where could they be? Perhaps at a camel fair? Join Dev and his magical bedtime owl, Ollie, on their quest to find them.

Modern, informative and funny, the Dev and Ollie series of books takes children on magical adventures to unique festivals in India and around the world.

Buy Now

Amazon

Testimonials

“It was truly an honour and pleasure to host Indian-born author, Shweta Aggarwal, at New York University (NYU) for a reading, conversation, and signing of her powerful memoir on colorism, The Black Rose. Students, faculty, and guests were captivated by Shweta’s story of living with, battling, and working to dismantle colorism in the Asian community and everywhere. The Black Rose is written with honesty, passion, and grace. A must-read for anyone who wants to end colorism once and for all.

Shondel Nero

Professor at Steinhardt, NYU

“A very charming memoir of the dangers of growing up dark-skinned in a world of skin colour prejudice.”

Konnie Huq

BBC TV & radio presenter, author, and screenwriter

“We were delighted when Shweta agreed to be our keynote speaker for Linklaters’ South Asian Heritage Month, which celebrates cultures, histories, and communities, and helps us to better understand the diverse heritage that continues to shape the UK and South Asia. She hosted an open and honest conversation with attendees about her journey, the impact of colourism, and how we can all empower people to take pride in their heritage and culture and be agents of change.

Shweta struck the perfect (and fine) balance between conveying a powerful and hard-hitting message, yet in an inspiring, encouraging, and non-judgmental tone. She successfully tailored the content of her speech and PowerPoint slides to ultimately celebrate and lift up those who may be struggling with the impact of colourism. The session was engaging and thought-provoking and provided a safe and open space for audience members to share their own experiences.

The event has sparked plenty of discussion, which highlights the importance of continuing the conversation around colourism. Thank you, Shweta, you are a brilliant speaker, activist, and author!”

 

Linklaters

London Office

“The Black Rose is a book that will remain with you long after you’re done reading, as it leaves an emotional mark. It will make you stop and pause, it will make you want to make a difference in your own life, and it will make you think about how to treat the ones around you with compassion.”

Amazon reviewer

“Shweta kindly agreed to present to Capital Group on the topic of colourism as part of our 2023 International Women’s Day event. Capital Group is committed to advancing DE&I, and raising awareness of colourism, particularly how it disproportionately affected women was very aligned with this objective.

She was highly collaborative during the event format planning, provided a tailored slide deck and script for us, and engaged our group through an interactive Q&A session during the hybrid part of the event (i.e. both in-person participants and virtual attendees). Shweta also proposed the idea for a more intimate discussion to continue in person after the formal presentation, and this worked really well as it encouraged associates to share more personal stories in a safe space.

The event was really well received, and we believe it has helped to shine a light on an often overlooked form of discrimination.

Thank you so much for engaging and educating us!”

Capital Group

London office

“A gripping memoir that has paved the way for many more voices to speak out against the damaging impact of colourism.”

Sejal Sehmi

UK editor of the Brown Girl Magazine
Events UPDATE

Upcoming Events

April 17

Glowreel Event – I am a woman

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Join Shilpa Bhim, founder of Glowreel, in conversation with Shweta Aggarwal, author of The Black Rose, in an open dialogue about navigating the world as a brown woman, what it’s […]

Features

For any inquiries

Please contact Shweta on:

CONTACT

Mobile: (+88) – 1990 – 6886

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    CONTACT

    Mobile: (+88) – 1990 – 6886