*By Samantha Errico*
Fashion designer Rachel Roy and daughter Ava Dash noticed that very few young adult novels featured Indian narratives. So they decided to write one themselves.
"We realized there have been so many retellings of Greek myths, so we decided that we wanted to be the first," Dash told Cheddar. "So we went through and found a story that really spoke to us."
"I asked her if she knew any Indian myths," Roy said of a telling interaction she had with her daughter, "and she said 'no, you haven't taught me any.'"
According to Roy, who is half-Indian, the book was also inspired by her father, who was born in Bangalore, India.
Eventually, the mother-daughter pair settled on "96 Words for Love," a story about young love and self-discovery. The coming-of-age myth follows a 17-year-old girl who "falls in love and forgets who she is," Dash said. The title, she added, refers to all 96 ways one can say the word "love" in Sanskrit.
Roy said that while she was developing the story, her then-teenage daughter was facing some of the same challenges as her fictional protagonist.
"What do I do next? Is it what my parents want me to do? Is it social media and what I see reflected in entertainment wants me to do?"
Above all, Roy said, she wants to empower her daughter to celebrate "what makes us beautiful both on the inside and on the outside."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fashion-designer-rachel-roy-writes-young-adult-novel-with-daughter).
Officials say 24 people were killed when an elevated section of Mexico City's metro collapsed as a train was traveling along it.
The reopenings are coming in fast and furious now, and the FDA is prepping to greenlight the vaccine for adolescents (Good!). Vaccine hesitancy is still a problem (Bad!). Plus, why everything is so expensive right now, and a fine-dining powerhouse goes vegan.
Cheddar's Michelle Castillo delves into her Filipino cultural roots exploring the ways foodstuffs connect generations of immigrants in the U.S.
Bill and Melinda Gates say they're divorcing. The Microsoft co-founder and his wife, who launched the world’s largest charitable foundation, said they would continue to work together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Jon M. Chu, director of 'Crazy Rich Asians,' discussed the issues of diversity and AAPI representation in Hollywood with Cheddar.
Air travel continues to recover from the pandemic, although it's still not close to normal.
Jill and Carlo talk about the good (100 million Americans vaccinated!) and the bad (India) in the pandemic. Plus, the question of how to get workers back to the office, Elon Musk prepping for a controversial SNL gig, and the best celebrity couple of the 2000s seen hanging out again.
Cheddar correspondent Chloe Aiello went library-hopping to check out the latest programming, including whispering libraries and outdoor reading rooms.
Cheddar’s Michelle Castillo stopped by a Convene location in New York, which provides flexible offices, events and meeting spaces, to see what the future of work may hold.
Catherine Carlson, a senior vice president with the Eagles, discussed the NFL team's partnership with LifeBrand, a brand protection firm specializing in social media health checks.
