Chai and Chat

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Chai and Chat

Aditi and Natasha

31 episodes

6 days ago

Our podcasts are stories about women from around the world who have made United States their home. How do we negotiate and adapt habits, attitudes and thoughts? Are there culture clashes or cultural harmony? What successes and failures define us in our new home? Follow us and find out!

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Society & Culture

All content for Chai and Chat is the property of Aditi and Natasha and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Our podcasts are stories about women from around the world who have made United States their home. How do we negotiate and adapt habits, attitudes and thoughts? Are there culture clashes or cultural harmony? What successes and failures define us in our new home? Follow us and find out!

Show more...

Society & Culture

Episodes (20/31)

Chai and Chat

Words to live by - Vijaya Sundaram

The first thing you notice about Vijaya is her voice. It’s deep and musical and it takes me right back to college days when we’d listen, enthralled, to her sing. She still sings beautifully, plays several instruments and writes songs. But what we dwell on is her love of words, in poetry, in writing, in teaching. How did she navigate the duality of teaching English in the public school system and homeschooling her daughter in parallel? We round out 2021 with our last chai and chat of the year.

3 years ago

37 minutes 49 seconds

Chai and Chat

The world at her feet- Alexandra Paucescu

It isn’t often we get to traverse the globe during our little podcast chats. But that’s exactly what Natasha and I felt after our chat with Alexandra. She introduced us to her exciting life in diplomatic circles, her nomadic existence, her life experiences. As a diplomats wife and an author in her own right, Alexandra does her bit in bringing people together. Do listen to our chat with a bonafide world harmonizer!

4 years ago

38 minutes 30 seconds

Chai and Chat

Home on the Range with Blogger Nupur

Our chat with Nupur on her 16 year journey with “One Hot Stove”, a blog about home cooking and so much more. What got her started, what keeps her going, her fun, adventurous A-Z series (check out her X for eXploration:new vegetables, old ways) And what the future hold for her and her blog! Khayali Pulao for starters?!! Link to her blog http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/

4 years ago

32 minutes 10 seconds

Chai and Chat

Light tea, full of happiness - Mangala

To the world at large, she is Dr Mangala Khadilkar, a psychiatrist working in the state prison system. To me and other students of music, she is Mangal Mavashi (aunt), warm and welcoming. How did she adjust to life in this new country in the mid-70s? How did she balance the toughness of her job with the happy and culturally-rich family life she created with her late husband, Vivek? As for what’s in her tea, we got the most “perfect” reply ever to that question. Do listen to the very end. I hope it moves you as much as it did us!

4 years ago

33 minutes 43 seconds

Chai and Chat

The No nonsense Ms Dhillon

Ever met a feisty firebrand who lives life on her own terms? You are about to. Rennu Dhillon is the life-force behind Genius Kids, the organization she founded to provide quality education to kids that focuses on character building and confidence. Running a business is what she does. But what she is is so much more. Natasha and I have a no holds barred chat with Rennu about her life growing up in Kenya to her life as a single mom in the US. What has she learnt about herself and others in the journey? How does she pay it forward and what does she hope for the Indian community? Most importantly - what’s in her Gurudwara Style cup of chai? Listen and discover!

4 years ago

37 minutes 33 seconds

Chai and Chat

Earth Calling Chitra Srikrishna

Earth calling Amma!!! There are times when carnatic singer Chitra Srikrisna is so deeply focused on her art that her family has to gently call her back to reality. Singer, writer, teacher, podcaster! Through all these facets of Chitra’s life run the swaras and ragas of her beloved music. Dedicated as she is in maintaining the purity of the art form, she knows that for classical music to survive and thrive, she must continue to innovate and adapt. We chat about how she does this and so much more, including how one so “steeped” in music makes her perfect cup of chai! I know this pun will get me in “hot water”!

4 years ago

28 minutes 35 seconds

Chai and Chat

Anu Mahadev: Never at a loss for words

Writing was always Anu’s first love and she went back to it after a short detour as an engineer. As the editor of Jaggery Lit online and Woman inc online and a published poet, Anu lives in the world of words. Words inspire, words are cathartic, words heal! In this podcast listen to Anu, as she talks about the beauty behind loss, writing as therapy and the poetry that feeds her soul!

4 years ago

30 minutes 43 seconds

Chai and Chat

intROspectively yours, Rohini!

Do you feel your life is good enough, comfortable enough, secure enough but still not enough? Our very first guest from across the pond, Rohini Rathour, a former fund manager turned leadership coach, chats with us about how she helps clients articulate and fulfill their dreams. And how she developed the Find Your Flow (with Ro) program to help them live the best version of themselves. Its our most introspective conversation to date. .. once we stop “oohing” over that gorgeous Brit accent!

4 years ago

32 minutes 46 seconds

Chai and Chat

A Boston Chai Party with Jaya Pandey

The word “party” comes to mind when you meet Jaya! Everything about this spunky woman is a celebration of life in all its joys, complexities, and challenges. From joining the 100Saree Pact to blogging to creating a community for Indian moms with special needs kids, Jaya uses her outgoing, vivacious personality to raise awareness about autism and bring about social change. Natasha and I chai and chat with a true-blue, sari-wearing revolutionary! Check out her blogs (momlovesanand.blogspot.com and JayaPandey.blogspot.com) and do reach out to her if you or someone you know needs information about the community.

4 years ago

31 minutes 15 seconds

Chai and Chat

Part realtor, part reality check=Bela

When there's a house you want, In that neighborhood Who you gonna call? Bela Vora! Bela isn’t just a realtor. She’s a dream-spinner! Passionate and dedicated, she holds her clients hands through one of the biggest and most stressful decisions of their lives. Along the way, she acts as marriage counselor, therapist, and reality check... all rolled in one! Her client stories could fill a book and they will! Remember you heard them here first! And about her chai? Don’t mess with it, she says!!

4 years ago

26 minutes 6 seconds

Chai and Chat

The Extraordinary Expat: Nyna Caputi

We kick off the new year with the multifaceted Nyna Caputi. As a film maker, she talks about the challenges she faced while making the award winning documentary “Petals in the Dust: The Endangered Indian girls” an unflinching look at female infanticide and sex determination in India and shockingly, among the Indian diaspora! Her second incarnation, as the founder of The Expat Woman, happened as a result of her struggles with acute homesickness and an inability to fit in when she first arrived in this country. Hear about how she grew a network of expatriate women to 13k strong and fostered a community that provides a platform for collaboration, networking, and sharing of resources! And about Nyna’s chai? Let’s just say that she may be missing a “tea” ingredient!

4 years ago

26 minutes 8 seconds

Chai and Chat

Swati follows her joy....why not!

Movement is meditative and a source of joy for Swati Chaturvedi. Listen to her story about choreographing people and horses to Bollywood music! Whether it is therapeutic horseback riding (yes, you read that right!) or her "passion project", the Community Bollywood Dance Project (CBDP) which she founded as an outreach program using Indian culture and story telling through dance to bring people together. How does she keep her passion alive? What is this one-of-a-kind special project that has her excited? What's in her cup of tea? You do not want to miss this final chat of 2020!

4 years ago

27 minutes 17 seconds

Chai and Chat

Art that heals: Swaroopa

As a physiotherapist and yoga instructor, Swaroopa Gadgil’s life was focused on healing others. But when she was at a low point in her life and looking for solace, it was sharpies and markers that beckoned. From the creation of her colorful and vibrant artwork to the birth of her business,Swa Designs, Swaroopa takes us on her journey of self healing!

4 years ago

29 minutes 7 seconds

Chai and Chat

Shali’s Indian Kitchen on Wheels

Far from the hustle bustle of her beloved subzi mandi and machhi market, Vaishali has created her own slice of India in her hometown of Nacogdoches. She drives her "kitchen on wheels", laden with Indian delicacies to tickle Texan tastebuds. Her passion for food, and her encounters with customers will make you crave a chicken tikka masala yourself! And her cup of chai? It has to be just perfect!

4 years ago

24 minutes 30 seconds

Chai and Chat

On the edge with Dr Shaily Menon

It is entirely appropriate that at the end of a roller coaster week, as the nation elects leaders with a progressive agenda which includes recommitting to protecting the environment, we bring you our chat with Shaily Menon, the Dean of Arts and Sciences at St Jo’s, As a life long educator, Shaily is an impassioned crusader for environmental ethics and conservationism. Listen to Natasha and I fangirl through a chat that includes lion-tailed macaques, flying squirrels and the occasional golden masala chai. Find out why interesting things happen on the edge and at the boundaries!

4 years ago

29 minutes 30 seconds

Chai and Chat

Yolanda: From Suriname with Love

If you are a fan of Hindi movies, you have, doubtless, heard of Raj and Simran from Dilwale Dulhania... Today we bring you Raj and Yolanda, and their story is far more interesting! Yolanda lived in Suriname, where she met her Raj, who brought her to Miami, Louisiana and Texas. How did Yolanda adapt to her new multicultural Indian and American life? How different was it from Suriname? And what's in her cup of tea that always keeps her bubbly and optimistic? Listen in! Hosts: Natasha and Aditi Sound editor: Nakul

5 years ago

19 minutes 55 seconds

Chai and Chat

Minal : The doctor is in the house

To mark breast cancer awareness month, we bring you hematologist/oncologist, Dr Minal Dhamankar. We chat about her many many years in training in India and the US (with a short but important detour in Germany), the differences in healthcare in both countries and how she deals with her stressful job. But it’s not all serious stuff, people! How many of us can describe our life choices with the help of....a Bollywood song? Any guesses ? PSA: Get your mammograms, ladies. Yes, even in a pandemic. Partners-in-Crime: Nakul Agrawal, Natasha Agrawal

5 years ago

26 minutes 42 seconds

Chai and Chat

Priya's Tea - Steaming Hot Till the Last Drop

Priya's life is full of transitions. From Pune to California, from a corporate job to elementary school, from a teacher to an author and a researcher...she embraces every change and every flavor of life! Her life mantra: perspective is everything! In the morning, she loves her steaming hot ginger tea (no sugar, thank you), but as evening descends, it's time to be Californian and transition to another beverage! Ready for more? Get your chai and tune in!

Sound Editor: Nakul Agrawal

5 years ago

30 minutes 22 seconds

Chai and Chat

Sharing coffee, Brazilian style with Cristiane

Move over chai! This week we bring you coffee, strong and sweet, from Brazil. Meet Cristiane who came to the US to take courses to improve her teaching skills. Along the way she met her husband, created a bilingual family, and wrote a book! Cristiane talks passionately about language as a rich cultural connection to our roots. Check out the fun Brazilian music (shared by her) that Nakul added to the episode. Sound editor: Nakul Agrawal. Art: Vicki Qvintero

5 years ago

26 minutes

Chai and Chat

Arathi: Staying Rooted with Dance

Can traditions be tweaked? Do they still remain traditional? Listen to Arathi speak about Bharatnatyam with a passion, and Bollywood music with glee! Arathi claims to be “reborn" in her new American life. Her search for masala chai in India is hilarious, as is her observation about spaghetti strap dresses! Don't miss her special tea ingredient, helpful for her art and aging knees! ! Sound editor : Nakul Agrawal. Art: Vicki Qvintero

5 years ago

22 minutes 31 seconds