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 world around her — from relationships, from achievements, from anyone who would accept her as she was. A marriage that taught her everything about herself. A divorce that set her free. And two years of quiet, courageous self discovery that brought her home to who she always was.
In this episode we talk about:
Born Special — growing up with a visible difference and the overprotection that came with love.
Seeking Validation — how years of external approval shaped her relationships and her choices.
The Marriage — rushing in because someone accepted her, and what she learned from that.
The Divorce — not as an ending but as the beginning of everything.
Career & Identity — 14 years, 7 organisations, and never letting her special ability define her limits.
The Shift — from “I don’t have 3 fingers” to “I have 2 extra fingers.”
Baatcheet — building a community rooted in connection and self acceptance.
Meenal’s closing words say it all — “I’m a very simple, loving, generous person who thrives on connection.”
She always was. She just needed to find her way back to herself.
What didn’t break her, built her.

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 tearful sadness we associate with PPD. It was an intense, frightening rage — thoughts that scared her — that made her pick up the phone and call her therapist.
We talk about the invisible mother, paternal PPD, the floating road to recovery and why even 0.5% of doubt is enough reason to reach out.
Her words: “You owe it to yourself. Don’t wait.”
And mine: Seek support shamelessly. Don’t let your ego come in the way. Because happy mothers raise happy children.

Struggling with postpartum depression? Reach out to iCall India at 9152987821. You are not alone.

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 laughed through, a ceremony I researched before agreeing to, a surname we chose that belongs to neither me nor my husband, a fast I don’t keep but a festival I never miss.
And a mother who looked at the word Kanyadan — the giving away of a daughter — and said: why would I give you away? You are still mine.
This one is for every Indian woman quietly navigating the space between who she was raised to be and who she is choosing to become.