India with Jessica | Navigating Indian Culture With Love

This episode is for the people who are long term NGO employees, aid workers or those volunteering in an under-privileged environment. Maybe you are burnt out from seeing hard stuff on a day in and day out basis and from being confronted daily with human pain and suffering.

Do Westerners have a lot of money? Life in places like the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe must be easy. Why do Westerners "abandon" their parents in nursing homes? Is romance in the West really like what we see in the movies?

Misogyny, sexism and restrictive gender roles are all challenges that this generation of children are standing up against. In India, we have unique challenges for both girls and boys as the cultural narrative is rapidly shifting of what manhood and womanhood looks like. How do we compassionately parent and empower our children to navigate mixed messages? Is it best to adopt Western values or is th...

This week, we take on the top misconceptions about India and debunk them one by one. Do all Indians have arranged marriages? What is all the fuss about caste? Do Indians ride elephants to school? (Yes, that one really came in.)

Maybe you’ve heard that India is a rough place to live. If you live like locals, there is a lot you can do to prepare yourself and prevent some of the most common inconveniences of life in India. From navigating traffic to avoiding dysentery, there are tried and true ways that local people survive unscathed by India’s sometimes harsh conditions. Even as a visitor there are preparations and life ha...

Once you’re past the surface level touristy phase, you get into what makes India the real deal. How well traveled are you in India? More than checking off a list of places you’ve been, what have you experienced? Show us the real life you’ve experienced in India!

Smartphones have changed the world. But something quite peculiar has happened in India where the use of the smartphone challenges many social norms and yet supports and upholds other time held traditions.

Gender Based Inequality and Violence Against Women in India with Shefa Sikder Shefa Sikder is a hero for women’s issues. She is broadly informed on women’s inequality and laser focused on gender based violence in South Asia.

Varanasi is where the ancient and modern collide in 21st Century India. Hear about the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world with 5000 years of history.

Have you ever wondered why kids are picky or refuse to try different foods? Have you been frustrated with the mess that feeding your child creates? Do you feel like your children’s food habits are spoiled and you don’t know how to fix it?

In Episode 12, Jessica interviews Jon Rider, a linguist, translator, web developer, trainer, cultural liaison and founder of HindiUnlocked.com. In our line of work, we cross paths with a lot of people who are trying to learn Hindi.

There is no formula to raising bilingual children. In this episode Jessica talks philosophy of language learning and what you as a parent can do to encourage your child.

There are no shortage of podcasts and blogs about visiting Thailand, but most of the sites and advice blogs are geared towards Westerners. We take this episode to break down touring Thailand from an Indian perspective. Thailand is a hot spot for Indians, but there is a lot that can go wrong and a lot that you need to be aware of.

What is it like to be a foreigner in India? What about a person who stands out like a sore thumb? In this episode, Jessica shares a bit of our backstory of getting married in the US then returning to India as a family. She also dives into what it is like to be a white person outside of the international, mega cities of India and how white privilege affects her life every day.

Want to learn about Ayurvedic medicine? Hear from Dr Shari Krishna from Kairali Ayurvedic Center as we talk about her introduction to medicine, life as a South Indian in North India, and the basics of Ayurveda. The ancient healing system of Ayurveda has both scientific and mystical beginnings.

Hear our comedic take on "5 Ways to Be Tacky in a 5 Star Hotel" and how we exhibited questionable behavior on a recent trip to Gurgaaon.

Voted the highest quality of life in India, Udaipur way exceeded our expectations. We loved every minute of this beautiful, historic, clean and navigable city.

In this episode we cover a wide variety of information about Rajastan’s vegetarian hot spot, Pushkar and touch on Ajmer’s Khwaja Sahib Shrine. We talk about pro travel trips in India and some specific to Rajastan. What does it feel like in Pushkar? Chai, falafel, good coffee shops, temples, camels and hippies. What is so special about Ajmer Sharif’s shrine to Moinuddin Chishti? How many humps do I...

Hear Jessica's story about giving birth in India and fighting against cultural norms to try for a natural, unmedicated birth. There is a gaping hole of awareness of natural birth in India and there are many reasons contributing to that which are discussed on the podcast. Did you know that India skipped the Industrial Revolution? India went from an Agricultural Society to a Digital Society in a sho...

A visit to one of Buddhism's most holy sites in Bodhgaya ushers one into the mind blowing nature of India’s clash- the modern and ancient all in one place. In this episode, Jessica walks you through Bodhgaya and the Mahabodhi temple experience. Enjoy some pro-travel tips of exploring rural India and learn about the state of Bihar, where Bodhgaya is located.

Imagine, you are on a vacation with your family and the unimaginable happens. Your most important documents, money and devices are stolen out from under your nose. You are stranded in a foreign country for almost 2 weeks because of circumstances out of your control.

Introduction- Who are we? What is this podcast all about? For those of you who don’t know us, we are a cross cultural couple (Indian and American) living and working in India with our two kids. In Episode 1 we talk about why we moved back to India with our young kids after a fruitful life and careers in America. What does it feel like to be a returning NRI? How did we get here? What is it like liv...