Culture Chaos Podcast is back and in my 75th episode, I share some stories from my recent India trip. Some bitter sweet memories and some very important realizations that made this trip an important chapter in my journey of navigating life away from home. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode that I loved creating.  I am thrilled to be back!  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review. Thank you for listening.

Culture Chaos : Stories of An Indian Abroad

75: The India Trip That Broke My Heart

After a long break, I am finally back. Please stay tuned for my episode releasing tomorrow!!

74: Culture Chaos is Back!

Whether you’re trying to re-live your entire childhoods on your visits home, or you’re trying to recreate a piece of back-home in your lives abroad - we all have designed a bunch of our own comfort rituals over time. I am posting this episode right before my flight takes off on my trip home, to MY Mumbai and share a few things that I plan to experience as a part of my comfort rituals. Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review. Thank you for listening Update Description (https://audioboom.com/posts/7410858-eastern-gurus-sects-in-the-west-truth-or-scam/edit)

73: What's Your Comfort Ritual?

Since the 1960s, we’ve seen a growing appeal for eastern culture, religious sects and gurus in the west. Is this the biggest scam to be born out of the sub-continent or is there truly an appeal for our culture in the west. If so, what is it? Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review. Thank you for listening

72: Eastern Gurus & Sects in the West - Truth or Scam?

Navratri for the NRI community is beyond the 9 days of fasting, its beyond garba dancing or the religious celebrations. For the NRI community, Navratri events have always had a huge cultural significance and is seen as a time to get together and celebrate our roots and culture. It took me almost 8 years of attending Garba events in North America to understand the deep cultural meaning this festival held for the Indian community abroad.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review. Thank you for listening Update Description (https://audioboom.com/posts/7379703-climate-change-sustainability-and-our-cultural-inheritance/edit)

71: Navratri in the NRI Community: A Culture Beyond Garba.

With the climate change and sustainable living conversation capturing the attention of the world, it is now time for each one of us to act upon it and make some adjustments to how we go about our daily lives. Surprisingly for us, the basic principals of sustainable living were very much a part of the lives of our parents and grand parents and we've all witnessed some of it.  For today's podcast, I revisit some of these memories from the past and make a case for us to bring the best of the past culture and present scientific discoveries to build a live-able future for the coming generations.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review. Thank you for listening

70: Climate Change, Sustainability and our Cultural Inheritance

For immigrants or any one that has ever moved away from home, it is these humble ethnic hole-in-the-wall restaurants that bring them true flavors of nostalgia. From the joy of discovering these joints, to the whole cultural experience of visiting and dinning there, these restaurants each tell a unique story. Today's podcast, is an ode to all the home chefs, caterers and food enthusiasts who go out of their way and bring migrants a taste of their home, away from their hometowns.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

69: Beyond Fine Dinning at Humble Ethnic Restaurants

Even though it has been at the centre of criticism for several decades, the Indian schooling and education system has features worth appreciating. From introducing us to multiple languages at an early stage, to taking us through several memorization techniques; from innovative methods to learn math and science to developing a resilient personality - we owe a lot to our school system. In this episode, I look at some qualities of the Indian education system which may have a role to play when it comes to Indians across the globe and their success stories.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

68: Indian education system could be doing something right

For a couple of decades now, brain drain has been a big concern for policy makers and trend analysts in India but how much of the argument really holds true?  For a landscape like India, is the economy really getting adversely affected by the youth moving out of the country? If so, than what is it about the economy that is compelling our youth to move back to the home county after getting an education and probably some work experience abroad? What's causing a reverse brain drain of sorts? For today's episode, we talk Brain Drain and look at the different conversations around it.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

67: Brain Drain - An Indian Myth or Reality?

Does being an immigrant control the dynamic of a relationship one is in? For this episode in the Culture Chaos letters series, I share snippets from some of the messages and letters I’ve received over the past few months. Whether it is instances from being raised by immigrant parents or curiosities of being married to one, being in a relationship with an immigrant definitely comes with its complexities. Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening! Update Description (https://audioboom.com/posts/7319154-season-of-long-weekends/edit)

66: In a Relationship with an Immigrant - Culture Chaos Letters

July marks one of the biggest holidays of the year on the North American continent. What are these July long weekends all about and what do they stand for? In this podcast, I look at the 4th of July & Canada Day weekend's cultures, traditions and how they compare to the way we celebrate our national holidays back in India.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

65: Season of Long Weekends

Last week, the world celebrated International Yoga Day and it was a phenomenal moment for a lifestyle, a philosophy and an art form which has become an ambassador of Indian culture all over the world. On this week's podcast, I discuss whether Yoga has put India on the map or are we slowly loosing the true essence of something so sacred to our culture due to it's misinterpretation all over the world? Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

64: Has Yoga Put India on the Map?

A desi person moving abroad and getting a new western name, used to be a fairly common practice for NRIs back in the day. A lot of us still try to use shorter more general type of names to go on the coffee cups or restaurant reservations just to keep things simple. Ever wondered why this is the case? In this week’s podcast, I look into whether it is simply a western influence or are there deeper cultural reasons for desis adopting western names?  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

63: What's in a Name?

In observance of the Immigrant Heritage Month, I look into the history of the Chinese Immigrant community and draw parallels between their history with that of Indian immigration history over the years. Despite of having such few things in common as a culture - the  stories between our two communities have a lot in common and this says a lot about the present day success of these two immigrant groups in the west.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

62: Immigrant Heritage Month & our shared history with Chinese Immigrants

In this month's Culture Chaos letters series - I share Hanik's story who is the 3rd generation of his NRI family. Having been away from the homeland for over a century - his family has beautifully preserved and carried forward the heritage and culture. Hanik continues this quest to discover his roots and reconnect with his people back in India. In his letter, he shares some amazing moments from his India trips as an NRI and talks about the his philosophy when it comes to cultural identities.  Check out more episodes from Culture Chaos where I share stories of my experiences trying to navigate life away from India. You can write to me at culture_chaos@yahoo.com or leave your feedback/review on iTunes. Thank you for listening!

61: 'Understand your roots to know where you're going' - Culture Chaos Letters

A true desi and a proud Mumbai girl, 5 years ago I moved out of home and have been going from one country to another and have changed more houses and cities than I can remember. This is a podcast about life abroad, trying to make sense out of different cultural norms and a whole new way of living. My confusions and the stories that arise from this chaos while I try to hold on to my culture, identity and life as I know it...

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Culture Chaos : Stories of An Indian Abroad

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