Pavement Conversations

Born and brought up in a small village in Kerala, Anagha then went on to go to college in Pondicherry and work in Chennai. In this freewheeling conversation, Anagha recounts her experiences of moving from a small village to living in cosmopolitan cities. Along the way, we also go down rabbit holes on how women perceive the men around them.

Mridula Menon is a successful woman by any standards. But she has had her own challenges to overcome. In this conversation, we dive into a variety of topics that affected her on her journey so far. The excitement of working for start-ups The magic of writing letters Growing up in a patriarchal family Navigating male-dominated spaces The importance of telling your story The challenges of being a si...

So often we take the extraordinary for granted because we see it every day. In this conversation with Limmy, we get to peer into one such life. At the outset, Limmy's life seems like a normal, every day life. But when we sit down and talk about it, we begin to see just how far from ordinary it is. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com) Related episod...

As young women find their feet in the world, they are also defining how they want to be viewed and treated. In this conversation, I speak with Shruthi, a smart, young woman who is confident about herself and demands the respect due to her as a person. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com) Related episodes: Chasing dreams Perception of women Single l...

It is never easy losing a child. No matter what your age or the circumstances, it changes you. This week, I speak with Shailaja about loss and life.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com) Related episodes: A life less ordinary The price of loss

I sent out a survey that was answered by 89 women on why did they or will they get married. In this episode, Lalitha and I discuss the results of the survey.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Episode art by: Limmy Susan Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this conversation, I speak with Shreeja on what happiness is, the search for a life partner, how it was growing up in Bihar and so much more.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Episode art by: Limmy Susan Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this conversation, I speak with Neena who has consistently chased down her dreams and lived the life she chooses. Her clarity of thought has often led me to think in directions I never expected, and in this conversation, she doesn't disappoint. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Episode art by: Limmy Susan Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this conversation, I speak Shanti about a life that threw her curveballs one after another. What do you do when you suddenly find yourself a single mother of triplets? Well, you learn from life and we are fortunate to learn from her experiences. Shanti is one of the calmest people I know. She is someone who looked life in the eye and didn't back down. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Episode...

How do we perceive the women around us? Does a woman working in an office have to adjust her behavior to fit in to a male-dominated world? This and a lot more in this conversation with my guest in this episode. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Episode art by: Limmy Susan Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

Life is full of surprises. Some good and others not so good. Our guest this week lost her father as a young girl. Her mother and aunt took up the reins of running the home. How did they cope? How did she cope?  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Episode art by: Limmy Susan Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

Ranjani on Insta Buy Rewriting my happily ever after by Ranjani Rao Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

Does marriage have any use any more? Sirisha and I discuss this subject in this episode. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

A freewheeling conversation with Lalitha on women being treated as the property of man. Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

Pavement Conversations is 1....Yay! In this episode, I reached out to guests who appeared on the show over the last year and asked them what rule, spoken or unspoken, that applied to girls but not to boys they would like to change.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this episode I speak to Anusha about being herself in a world that constantly wants her to conform. In this episode, we take a walk through her life, her choices, and the reactions to her many individual choices.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this episode I speak to Prachi about her experience of getting back to work after her maternity break. We also go into her experience of caring for a new born baby while she had COVID.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

...and we have our first male guest on the show! In this episode Preveeth and I go into how he decided to take a sabbatical from work. We talk about how to listen to our bodies and respond to it, how to go about having the conversations around taking a break, and much more.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this episode Srilakshmi and I go into how friendships between the sexes evolves and changes. We take interesting detours to discuss how married women perceive their unmarried women friends and whether a feminine girl is seen differently from a more tomboyish one.  Contact  Vinay on Twitter @vinayjap Music by: Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com)

In this episode, I talk to Sirisha about how it is for a young woman to leave her home and move to a new city to start a career and a life on her own. During the conversation we go into what a bachelorette pad looks like, how much time do young women spend talking about men, what should a young woman look out for as she navigates a world made for men.  Sirisha's LinkedIn profile Music by Varun San...

In this episode, I talk to Niha about how she took to long-distance cycling. We talk about her early struggles to get acceptance and her achievements as a randonners.  Niha's Strava profile Music by Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com) Contact me on Twitter @vinayjap

In this episode, I talk to Lalitha Vaidyanath about her work with the Thrive with Mentoring initiative. This group of experience women take younger, less experienced women under their wing and mentor them through their careers.  Lalitha's Linkedin profile  Music by Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com) Contact me on Twitter @vinayjap

A very different format this time. Instead of me asking my guest questions, Srilakshmi asks me about my Ride for the Children initiative where I do a 450-km ride over three days to raise funds for underprivileged children.  This year I am riding for the Missing Link trust who work to prevent sex trafficking among the most vulnerable populations.  Click here to contribute. Missing Link Music by Var...

In this episode, I talk to Leena Kejriwal about how she navigated the lockdown in a new city.  Leena's website Missing Link Trust    Music by Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@gmail.com) Contact me on Twitter @vinayjap

In this episode, I talk to Mariam about her life under the lockdown. One of the earliest shows I recorded, you can hear how much fun we had recording it as we going through the variety of experiences she had in the last year and half.  Mariam's Insta page: Zulfyina Mariam's Book: Amber in his eyes Mariam's short story in the Bombay Review: Blue, Red Green   Music by Varun Sanmitra (varunsanmitra@g...