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.

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 the difference. If you’ve ever felt the pull of something bigger, this one’s for you.​​​​​​​​​​​​

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 life had a name.
I also talk about why India’s obsession with female facial beauty runs so deep — from our ancient texts to British colonialism to Bollywood. This conversation is 2000 years old. And it’s time we had it honestly.
This one is personal. Raw. And I have a feeling it will resonate.
Because somewhere out there is a girl who was never called the beautiful one. This episode is for her!

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 Gujarat who showed me there was another way — to refusing to shrink for an alliance, pursuing my MBA, moving cities, and marrying the man I chose at 30.

This one is personal. And I have a feeling it will resonate.
Because somewhere between the movies we watched and the lives we were expected to live — most of us never stopped to ask:
Whose blueprint are you living? And is it actually yours?

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 responsibility. The moment you realised your sibling is an individual perfectly capable of making their own mistakes. And the guilt of letting go.
This one is for every elder daughter who has been everything to everyone — and is still figuring out how to just be herself.

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 "woman entrepreneur" should eventually just mean being an "entrepreneur."