The Woman Next Door

She started working at 21, spent 15 years in leading MNCs across India and the USA, navigated the pandemic across China and India, and then took a 13 year career break.  At 50, she came back - as a Trauma Informed Certified Coach, author of The Khudi Trilogy, and a woman who has turned every season of her life into something meaningful.  We talk about the Defence childhood that taught her to adapt...

Saakshi left a corporate job that didn't fulfil her, took a solo trip to McLeodganj that changed everything, and became a digital nomad travelling the world. Then she lost her father — and built a travel company in his memory. Today she runs The Original Travel Company with her husband, curating trips for 50+ travellers — mother-daughter groups, solo seniors, couples — at a time when most trav...

She didn't set out to be a founder. She set out to solve a problem nobody else was solving. Meenakshi grew up in Mandsaur — small town- father who ran a tent business. She studied hard, got into a top MBA, spent 10 years learning the startup ecosystem from the inside — Myntra, PharmEasy, ShopClues, Reliance Retail. And then one dinner table conversation changed everything. Nobody was building...

She was never scared of life itself. Just the small things. My ex-flatmate Urvashi and I go back to our Bombay days — Wai Wai noodles, cheese slices, green chillies, red wine and very questionable life decisions. 😄 Between then and now she has become one of the most multidimensional, self aware and unapologetically herself women I know. From a lonely childhood in Lucknow to NIFT to pivoting to PR...

She was born with two fingers on her right hand. She was loved, protected and celebrated — and somewhere along the way, that love became a cage she didn’t know she was in. In this episode I sit down with my literal neighbour Meenal — the woman next to my door — for one of the most honest and liberating conversations on The Woman Next Door so far. Meenal spent years seeking validation from the worl...

The side of motherhood that doesn’t make it to Instagram. We sat down to talk about nutrition. What unfolded was something far more important. In this episode I sit down with my dear friend Sudarshana, a Product Manager turned Nutritionist — opens up about her high anxiety pregnancy, the invisible toll on a new mother’s body and mind, and the rage that nobody warned her about. It wasn’t the tearfu...

What does it actually mean to be a modern Indian woman? Is it the clothes you wear? The rituals you skip? The traditions you follow? In this episode I want to challenge that conversation. Because modern doesn’t mean defiance. Modern means informed. And traditional doesn’t mean blind. Traditional means rooted. I share some of the most personal moments from my own life — a ritual at my wedding I lau...

What does it take to walk away from a stable paycheck and follow your creative passion? In this episode, we sit down with Adrisha, a former business analyst turned full-time DJ on the Bangalore underground music circuit. She opens up about the slow-burn moment that changed everything, how she taught herself to DJ, navigating financial uncertainty, and why having the right support system made all t...

What happens when you grow up not fitting the beauty standard? Not the Kamal Nain. Not the fair complexion. Not the lead in the school dance performance. In this episode I share something I have never spoken about publicly — growing up being called China Gate, hearing cute but rarely beautiful, and the moment on my wedding day when I finally learned that what I had been apologising for my whole li...

We grew up on DDLJ. On Kasauti Zindagi Ki. On heroes who moved mountains and women who waited gracefully. Nobody handed us a manual — but somehow we all received the same blueprint. Education. Job. Husband’s home. In that order. In this episode I share my personal journey of questioning that blueprint. From a 9th grade girl in UP asking her father “then what?” — to witnessing empowered women in Gu...

Nobody asked us to be the second mother. Nobody sat us down and said — you’re the elder one, so you’re responsible. It just happened. Quietly, gradually, and so naturally that we didn’t even notice. In this episode I sit down with my dear friend Anusha — also an elder daughter — and we talk about something that doesn’t get spoken about enough. The weight of being first. The invisible responsibilit...

In our debut guest episode, Anukrity sits down with Aditi, a "rockstar entrepreneur" who has spent over a decade navigating the Indian business landscape. From helping with her family’s business to founding Sticky Pins and her fragrance and personal care brand Avyu , Aditi gets candid about the "greener grass" on the corporate side, the exhaustion of motherhood, and why being a...

Imagine a boardroom with high-stakes decisions. Who did you picture? If they were all men in suits - you’re not alone. This episode is about why women say ‘we did it’ while men say ‘I did it,’ and what that pattern costs us over decades. From cameras-off in meetings to apologizing before speaking, we’re making ourselves invisible. And visibility leads to sponsorship, advocacy, and promotions. I’m...

Right when something good is happening in life, a voice appears and whispers: Are you sure you deserve this? In this episode of The Woman Next Door, I reflect on the inner critic that made me doubt myself for years — from career moments to creative dreams. If you’ve ever delayed something because you felt you weren’t good enough, this one’s for you.

Happy Women’s Day! This one’s a fun one. In this episode, we’re ditching the heavy inspiration and celebrating something better — our quirks. The clichés about Indian women that we joke about, roll our eyes at, and then immediately recognise in ourselves. From “I’m almost ready” taking 45 minutes, to packing for a weekend like we’re relocating, to running three grocery apps simultaneously to save...

It's Saturday morning and I'm irritated - but I can't pinpoint why. A misplaced towel? Toys on the floor? Turns out, it's neither. It's the exhaustion of being the household CEO all week, even with all the help in the world. If you've ever felt weekend irritation you couldn't explain, or wondered why you're tired when you 'have so much help' - this one's...

At 4 AM, feeding my baby for the third time that night, I remembered something I’d completely forgotten: the little girl who used to practice interviews in the mirror.