Janani Viswanathan from Sunnyvale, California was on a break from work a couple of years ago, and that lead to her becoming the co-creator of Project NoMoreNirbhaya in Chennai, India. This initiative aims to create safer public spaces for women. Their team teaches free self-defence sessions for school and college girls. They’ve also conducted gender sensitivity training for bus drivers and conductors and safety audits to rate which parts of the city as safe or unsafe. She also works as a Crisis ...
May 19, 2019•26 min
Gulshan Kavarana is the founding member of SFS – Special Families Support group – a support group for families with children with special needs and an art mentor at Mawaheb, an art studio for adults with special needs. Zara, her younger daughter, was diagnosed with Dravet’s syndrome before the age of one. At the time Gulshan desperately tried to seek advice from others who may have been in a similar situation like hers, but she couldn’t find a network. So she set up SFS, a place where others lik...
May 12, 2019•36 min
Have you ever wondered what Hypnotherapy is all about? No, it’s not a swinging watch over your head or people clucking like chickens. Explaining the difference between Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis is Arti Tuteja, a world-renowned hypnotherapist, and founder of Potential Unlimited, a company focused on helping people improve their Emotional Intelligence, learn to manage stress, change behaviour and improve self-confidence. She has many titles to her name like NLP Coach and hypnotherapist but the one...
May 05, 2019•31 min
Andrea Bailey is a world traveller and explorer. Mum to three young daughters, she has made travelling with her children her focus to create a lifetime of memories. She’s here to share her experience as a world traveller while raising her three wonderful daughters, on how one can have a career in travel whilst being a mum and her current passion, sustainable travel. She also shares her favourite destinations, where she thinks is a great place to start if one has not travelled before, her dream d...
Apr 28, 2019•17 min
Pashmina was born in Thailand and brought up in a traditional Indian family in Hong Kong. At sixteen she met and fell in love with her soulmate Willian. They dated in secret for ten years – why secret, because he came from a very different culture and community – literally, one that is at the other end of the world. He’s black Brazilian and their formative years together as a couple were extremely painful as they were shunned, ostracised and looked upon by her fellow community as a traitor and a...
Apr 21, 2019•24 min
Triveni Acharya is a strong, fearless, brave journalist and multiple award-winning activist. She is the president of the NGO, Rescue Foundation. The organization is devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation of victims for human trafficking from different parts of India, and it’s neighbouring countries. She chats with us about her day to day work, the hazards of fighting trafficking, the gratification of helping the girls reclaim their dignity and how it all started when she was cove...
Apr 14, 2019•21 min
No one plans to be messy, but over time with increased access to stuff, clutter creeps into almost everyone’s life. Shelina talks to us about how the concept of professional organizing is only just catching on, what one can do to declutter things that have sentimental attachments, especially after a bereavement and how her method is different from Marie Kondo’s method. Shelina Jokhiya is the owner of professional organizing business, Decluttr Me. Since 2013, she has been working within homes and...
Apr 07, 2019•25 min
Shobhika Kalra is a campaigner for wheelchair accessibility. She was thirteen when she was diagnosed with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a degenerative disease affecting the nervous system and movement. By the age of eighteen, she was bound to a wheelchair. She says, “Disability is not something that can stop people”. She has facilitated building over 1100 ramps in Dubai improving accessibility for the many residents there. She hopes to build ramps in India so it can be more inclusive of people with diffe...
Mar 31, 2019•17 min
Aanchal Wadhwani is a Hong Kong based fashion photographer, entrepreneur and actress best known for her role in DBS Bank’s mini-series ‘Sparks’. She’s learnt that there are still certain industries where women are afraid to touch. For example, photography. She believes there is a lack of female photographers because of societies ideals and the concept that heavy gear and equipment are for men only. She would like to share the message that there are no boundaries for women and shares the realitie...
Mar 24, 2019•19 min
Feng Shui master consultant Samita Khanna is back on the show to share tips on how one can make the most of the year of the boar in 2019. According to her, this is the year of golden opportunities, abundance and windfalls. Everyone can benefit from the year if they grab the opportunities that come their way. She also shares specific tips depending on your sign according to the Chinese zodiac at the end of the show. Connect with the guests: Feng Shui Arabia Master Consultant Email: samitakhanna@h...
Mar 17, 2019•19 min
Shabnam Samuel from Frederick, Maryland is a woman of many talents with a number of accomplishments under her belt. She is a writer, author, business coach, social media trainer and a mum. She talks candidly about her life to us, After being abandoned by her parents, Shabnam was taken care of by her maternal grandparents but knew nothing else outside of that lifestyle. At age, 27, She moved to the US with an estranged husband and 3-year-old son, having to raise the child all by herself, carve a ...
Mar 10, 2019•26 min
Ruchi Gulati is a blogger, the founder of the first Thyroid support group in Singapore and creator of a clothing line for plus sized women, Curvy Craze. She shares her story of embracing her curves with confidence and conquering the world with love, fun and kindness. Ruchi has been curvy for as long as she can remember. She’s also always been confident about herself and her abilities. About ten years ago she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, a condition in which one’s immune system attacks the thy...
Dec 09, 2018•20 min
Malini Ohri our guest today is a certified beauty and health consultant and aromatherapist. She has a career in the health and wellness industry spanning over 40 years and as an aromatherapist for over 30 years. She has a passion for using and making things all natural. She chats with us about aromatherapy, its benefits, how to introduce aromatherapy into one’s life and most importantly how to pick the right products. Aromatherapy is a holistic healing treatment that uses natural plant extracts ...
Dec 02, 2018•25 min
Maithili Appalwar is a 22-year-old senior at Georgia Tech. She and her team won the People’s Choice Award at the Ideas to Serve Competition hosted by Georgia Tech’s Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship and they used the money as their pilot fund for Thrive. Maithili is passionate about improving mental health in low-resource communities which is why she started Thrive with two friends. Thrive hopes to be a platform that helps improve student mental health in India including mental healt...
Nov 25, 2018•15 min
Unexplained Infertility. two words that provide hope and cause frustration in equal measure. Our guest today Supna Shah dealt with this for ten years before getting pregnant through IVF. While dealing with the infertility was distressing, the process of IUI and IVF was emotional, physically and financially exhausting. Supna chats with us about her journey through infertility, the treatment, managing postpartum depression and now raising emotionally intelligent triplets Pranav, Pavani and Vraj. S...
Nov 18, 2018•34 min
Karina Calver is a survivor of incest. She shares her story of enduring rape and how she has turned her life around to become the woman she is today. The silence that surrounds incest survivors can make them feel isolated, and Karina hopes by sharing her story others will know they are not alone. Survivors are all around us, among our friends, at school, at work, places of worship and it’s likely we don’t know they are survivors. The taboo around the subject makes it hard for them to share their...
Nov 11, 2018•35 min
Prasha S Dutra is a is a mechanical engineer currently working as a Quality Manager in a manufacturing facility in Rhode Island. She grew up in a small neighbourhood of Delhi in India and was always interested in the science of things. Prasha credits this curiosity to her upbringing. Growing up her father encouraged her to watch How it’s made on the discovery channel, and she observed her mum be the unconventional one as the only working mum. She shares her story as she wants more girls and wome...
Nov 04, 2018•25 min
This week we chat with Purnima Jagtiani and our first couple on the show Meena and Gopa. They share their stories of detection, treatment and recovery from breast cancer. Purnima has been in remission for a year and Meena for ten years. Neither expected it to happen to them. Yet when it did they had to find a way to move forward without losing hope. They’ve all embraced living in the present, keeping a positive attitude, not sweating the small stuff and not being attached to the outcome as a phi...
Oct 28, 2018•36 min
Sandi Saxsena, our guest today played the role of a supporting spouse in all aspects of her family except financial planning. She was focused on the children as they grew up and her husband met all the wants and needs of the family. That is, until one day, they hit financial challenges. Sandi had to step out into the working world for the first time at 44 with no prior work experience. Sandi did not let that stop her. She kept her faith and focus on finding a job, and she did as a financial cons...
Oct 21, 2018•25 min
Our guest today Sheetal Mulani shares her story of rebuilding her life after her son Mohit passed away at the age of 21. The loss of a child regardless of age is one of the most devastating experiences a parent can face. One is never going to stop feeling the loss, and that gap is never going to be replaced. Sheetal and her family have had to find a way to love and care for each other so their family can survive despite missing a very precious part. Mohit was diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD whil...
Oct 14, 2018•34 min
Rachna Nath shares her story of how an emotional choice she made as a teenager impacted her career. As a biologist, she now understands why she made the choice. That choice has shaped how Rachna takes on life, with confidence, not afraid to take risks and with an unconventional attitude. Listen in as she shares her journey of resilience and perseverance. She is our NRI Woman, and this is her story. Until next time, keep learning, keep inspiring and be kind! Connect with the guests: Email: rachna...
Oct 07, 2018•20 min
Sonia Anand believes stillness is the key to restoring the balance within ourselves and on a larger scale the world. She thinks when the organic beauty of our soul evolves through gentle practices we automatically begin to radiate love health and positivity to the universe. Sonia was like most of us, wearing many hats at the same time. From raising her young kids, managing the home to juggling her corporate job, Sonia felt like she was being pulled in ten different directions at the same time. T...
Sep 30, 2018•25 min
Sameera Khan comes from a traditional Muslim Indian family and she’s decided to pursue a path, unlike others who come from a culture similar to hers. She’s a standup comedian. Ten years ago Sameera’s exposure to standup was limited to watching Russel Peters on YouTube, she never thought then that ten years on she would be on a stage making people laugh. So what changed? How did she do it? Her journey from having crippling stage fright to overcoming it and performing in front of a tough crowd has...
Sep 23, 2018•23 min
Jennifer Dsouza, our guest on today’s show chose to become a single mother at the age of 45 via adoption. Adoption by single women in the Indian culture is uncommon. Recent changes by CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) giving preference to single, financially stable women over 40 means that it is changing and more single women now have the opportunity to become a parent. Jennifer shares her story of why she chose to adopt, the adoption process and how she’s changed after becoming a paren...
Sep 17, 2018•21 min
Season two begins with the inspiring and surprising story of Caroline Monteiro. She was lost on the streets of Mumbai when she was just seven years old. From living on the streets to finding a home with an adoptive family to building her own family, Caroline has come a long way. We all need something to hold onto, something that gives us the confidence that we can go on with life, even when things don’t go the way we want them to. For Caroline it’s her faith in God, She believes it may not be go...
Sep 10, 2018•32 min
For our season finale, we’re talking about a subject that is mainly Indian- Joint families, an arrangement where many generations bound by a common relationship live together in the same household. It’s common to see this kind of living arrangement in Indian families residing outside India as well. Some of us may have grown in one, and others married into one. Either way, it’s likely we know of someone who is part of a joint family. Joining us in our conversation today is Aashna Mulgaonkar who w...
Jun 25, 2018•25 min
Our guest, Padmini Gupta, is an Oxford graduate, World Economic Forum Fellow and a social entrepreneur tackling a USD 5 billion industry in the Middle East. She combines her passion for solving social issues with building an enterprise that is sustainable and profitable. RISE, her fintech company, is her first foray as a social entrepreneur, and she hopes to change the lives of the 750,000 maids and nannies currently working in the UAE so they can upskill and plan for a better future for themsel...
Jun 18, 2018•19 min
Feng Shui means wind and water and is a traditional Chinese concept linking the destiny of a man to his environment. Samita Khanna is a master consultant of Feng Shui with over twenty years of practice. The fundamental principle is that energy known in China as “Chi” flows through one’s environment and all objects possess chi that can be used to bring luck, wealth and opportunity into one’s home or business environment. It’s believed the reverse is also true. As an example, we’ve all had years w...
Jun 11, 2018•30 min
From a psychotherapist to a makeup consultant after a 20-year gap, our guest today Sanyukta Kumar is an exemplar of new beginnings. She moved to a new country with her kids when the youngest one was just three months old and her older daughter was four. Sanky, as she is lovingly known, decided like so many of us do, with a move and new additions to the family, to take a break from her job. When she was ready to go back to her career, she found that it was not an option. The laws of the country d...
Jun 04, 2018•20 min
Ikigai is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the reason for being. Why are we here? What is our purpose? Are these some of the questions you ask yourself? Some of us would have spent our whole lives without finding or knowing it. Our guest today Harsha Makhija believes she has found her Ikigai. How? Listen in to find out. Harsha is a pilates instructor, mum to three and a vagabond at heart. She believes everything she does must have a purpose and she lives her life with that in mind. Dis...
May 28, 2018•23 min
