Heart to Heart with Hyacinth

Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hyacinth, a podcast celebrating ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the communities around us.

Hosted by scientist, author, and artist Dr. Hyacinth Paul, this podcast invites you into heartfelt conversations with people from all walks of life. We’ll explore their upbringing, struggles, turning points, triumphs, and the moments of courage, kindness, and resilience that have shaped who they are.

Along the way, we’ll talk about life, culture, community, creativity, art, mental health and well-being—and the many ways people find hope, purpose, strength, and joy.

In a world where we hear so much about what is wrong, Heart to Heart with Hyacinth chooses to shine a light on what is good: the humanity, generosity, perseverance, and quiet acts of courage happening around us every day.

Everyone has a story. Let’s listen.

 #HeartToHeartWithHyacinth #EverydayHeroes #InspiringStories #ArtAndMentalHealth #HumanConnection 

Heart to Heart with Hyacinth
Hosted by Dr. Hyacinth Paul — scientist, author, artist & educator.

Ordinary people. Extraordinary stories.

Come for the story. Leave with something to carry into your own life.

If this conversation moved, inspired, or surprised you, follow Heart to Heart with Hyacinth and share this episode with someone who might need to hear it.

🎙️ Podcast: https://hearttoheartwithhyacinth.buzzsprout.com
🌐 Art: https://hyacinthpaulart.com
📸 Instagram: @DrHyacinthPaul
✉️ [email protected]

Everyone has a story. Let’s listen—heart to heart.

Recorded at the Miami Valley Communications Council, Dayton, OH
https://www.mvcc.net/

Music by Placard, @day_kneel

Medicine, Art, and Community: Dr. Saraswathi Kalvakota | Heart to Heart with Hyacinth

“Art is Life, Life is art.” — Dr. Saraswathi Kalvakota

How do we find belonging in a new country? How can creativity, community, and positive habits enrich our lives?

In this episode of Heart to Heart with Hyacinth, Dr. Hyacinth Paul welcomes Dr. Saraswathi Kalvakota, an internal medicine physician in Miamisburg, Ohio, for a heartfelt conversation about the Indian immigrant experience, women in medicine, community service, lifelong learning, and her belief in the power of the arts.

From India to American medicine

Dr. Kalvakota studied at Osmania Medical College in India and continued her medical training at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York, Indiana University Medical Center, and Kettering Medical Center in Ohio. Her career has included patient care through Kettering Health Medical Group and teaching connections with Wright State University and Kettering Medical Center.

Behind those professional milestones is a personal story of adapting to a different country and building a life far from home.

“It took us ten years to get over the culture shock,” she recalls.

She describes working hard and choosing to settle in a midsized city where her family could build meaningful connections. Her experience reminds us that establishing a career and feeling at home can follow different timelines.

“We are community people”

Community has been central to Dr. Kalvakota’s life. She established Maitri and organized community programs, creating opportunities for people to come together.

“We are community people,” she says—a simple statement that captures her commitment to participation and belonging.

Her story invites us to consider who helped us feel welcome when we were new, and how we might extend that welcome to others.

As the daughter of former Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Dr. Kalvakota carries a distinctive family legacy alongside her own identity as a physician, educator, and community member. She has also supported blood donation awareness through the Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao Memorial Charitable Trust.

Her public health education work includes Health & Healing With Dr. Saraswathi Kalvakota on Mana TV International, bringing health conversations to audiences beyond the clinic.

Creativity and lifelong learning

“I can be thrown into any place and I am busy.”

Dr. Kalvakota’s lively observation captures her enthusiasm for staying engaged. She studies classical music and continues to make room for curiosity and learning.

For her, creativity belongs within everyday life. “Art is Life, Life is art,” she says, reflecting on her belief that creating lifts the mind and helps it keep going.

Her words offer an invitation to revisit our own interests. What have we wanted to learn? What activity brings us joy? When did we last create something simply for the pleasure of making it?

“I strongly advocate for the arts,” she says. Her advocacy connects her love of creative expression with her hopes for peace and connection within a community.

Children’s emotional wellbeing

“Even children can have low times,” Dr. Kalvakota reminds us.

She speaks with concern about children’s emotional lives and shares her perspective on the value of creative expression:

“We have to raise mentally healthy children and art brings a lot of help to the children.”

Her reflections invite parents, grandparents, educators, and community members to consider how they make space for children to express themselves. Are we listening to their feelings alongside celebrating their achievements? Do they have opportunities to explore music, art, and their own creative interests?

Positive habits and daily effort

“The wellbeing doesn’t come free, you have to work positively everyday.”

Dr. Kalvakota emphasizes the effort she believes is involved in living well. Her interests in medicine, music, learning, and community provide context for that outlook.

“You become addicted to good habits,” she observes, expressing her enthusiasm for constructive routines and continued engagement.

And with the memorable phrase “Feeling good is an epidemic,” she offers a hopeful way to think about the encouragement and positive energy we can share with others.

Her Story Lives On Through Art

Dr. Saraswathi Kalvakota donated a sari for my Udaan mixed media art, knowing it could become something creative and meaningful rather than remain tucked away in a drawer. Her contribution also supports the Great Banyan Tree of Dayton installation, celebrating how Indian immigrant women nurture their families and the wider community. These women’s stories also inspire my forthcoming children’s book, Udaan Means Flight.

Explore the artwork and learn about the book through my art website linked below.

In this episode, we explore:

• A career in medicine and medical education.
• Culture shock and building a life in the United States.
• Creating community through Maitri.
• Family heritage and service.
• Classical music, creativity, and lifelong learning.
• Her advocacy for the arts.
• Supporting children’s emotional wellbeing.
• Positive habits and the daily effort of living well.

Join us for a warm conversation with a woman whose life brings together medicine, creativity, cultural heritage, and community—and whose reflections encourage us to keep learning, participating, and creating.

Join the conversation: How has art, music, or community helped you feel more connected? Which of Dr. Kalvakota’s reflections resonated most with you?

Follow or subscribe to Heart to Heart with Hyacinth for more conversations with ordinary people whose lives hold extraordinary stories. Share this episode with someone who values creativity, community, and lifelong learning.

#HeartToHeartWithHyacinth #WomenInMedicine #IndianAmericanStories #ArtsAndWellbeing #womeninmedicine

Heart to Heart with Hyacinth
Hosted by Dr. Hyacinth Paul — scientist, author, artist & educator.

Ordinary people. Extraordinary stories.

Come for the story. Leave with something to carry into your own life.

If this conversation moved, inspired, or surprised you, follow Heart to Heart with Hyacinth and share this episode with someone who might need to hear it.

🎙️ Podcast: https://hearttoheartwithhyacinth.buzzsprout.com
🌐 Art: https://hyacinthpaulart.com
📸 Instagram: @DrHyacinthPaul
✉️ [email protected]

Everyone has a story. Let’s listen—heart to heart.

Recorded at the Miami Valley Communications Council, Dayton, OH
https://www.mvcc.net/

Music by Placard, @day_kneel

Aging Gracefully at 89: Life Lessons from Dr. Prem Singla | Heart to Heart with Hyacinth

What does aging gracefully look like at 89? Retired family physician Dr. Prem Singla shares life lessons on resilience, living independently, moving forward through personal loss, and finding joy in everyday life.

In the first episode of Heart to Heart with Hyacinth, Dr. Hyacinth Paul welcomes this grandmother of nine and longtime Dayton, Ohio, resident for a heartfelt conversation about family, the Indian immigrant experience, creativity, and approaching life with an open heart.

At 89, Dr. Singla stays connected to her community, embraces new technology, and shares her love through homemade pickles and delicious treats. Her story brings together a life in medicine, profound personal loss, and the everyday choices that help us keep moving forward.

Building a life far from home

In 1966, Dr. Singla and her husband arrived in Chicago from India with very little money and no established support network. They faced an unfamiliar country, extreme winter weather, and life without the Indian grocery stores, temples, and community connections they had known at home.

Using creativity and resourcefulness, she found ways to preserve Indian traditions while building a comfortable life for her family. She also helped pave the way for other Indian families who followed, creating connections and a sense of belonging far from home.

Alongside these responsibilities, Dr. Singla worked full time as a family physician, caring for patients while raising her children.

Moving forward through loss

Twenty years after arriving in the United States, Dr. Singla lost her husband, a surgeon and her greatest source of support. Three years later, she lost her oldest daughter.

Through these profound losses, she continued caring for her family and building a future. Her three surviving children are now doctors, and she is the proud grandmother of nine grandchildren.

Her advice is direct: “Don’t think about yesterday, go forward.”

In our conversation, we explore the perspective she brings to life after personal setbacks, the importance of staying connected, and what it means to continue finding purpose as we age.

Creativity in everyday life

“Everything is a form of art,” Dr. Singla says.

For her, creativity extends into cooking, knitting, caring for others, and finding solutions to everyday challenges. Her gifts of homemade pickles and other treats offer a personal expression of generosity.

In retirement, she enjoys traveling, being with friends and family, and keeping up with modern technology and gadgets. Her curiosity continues alongside her commitment to the Dayton community.

Her Story Lives On Through Art

Dr. Singla donated a cherished sari and dupattas for my Udaan mixed media art and Great Banyan Tree of Dayton installation, trusting that I would transform them into something beautiful. These women’s stories also inspire my forthcoming children’s book, Udaan Means Flight.

Explore the artwork and learn about the book through my art website linked below.

In this episode, we explore:

• Aging gracefully and living independently at 88.
• Beginning again in a new country while preserving cultural traditions.
• Balancing a medical career with family life.
• Moving forward after grief and personal setbacks.
• Finding creativity in cooking, knitting, and everyday acts of care.
• Staying curious and connected across generations.
• Learning from mistakes and letting go of perfectionism.
• Looking for something good in every person.

Wisdom to carry with you

Dr. Singla’s reflections are simple, thoughtful, and grounded in experience:

“Live in the moment.”

“Don’t be a perfectionist.”

“Don’t be arrogant about your ups.”

And, perhaps most fittingly for this first heart-to-heart conversation:

“You have to keep your heart, eyes and ears open to listen to them and you will find something good in everybody.”

As Hyacinth shares, “I believe everyday people do a lot of extraordinary things as well.”

Dr. Singla’s story captures that spirit. Through her work, family, friendships, and everyday generosity, she reminds us how much one person can contribute to the lives around them.

Watch or listen to this first episode of Heart to Heart with Hyacinth for a warm conversation about resilience, family, creativity, and finding joy throughout life.

Join the conversation: Which of Dr. Singla’s life lessons resonated most with you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Subscribe to Heart to Heart with Hyacinth for more conversations with ordinary people living extraordinary lives, and share this episode with someone who could use a little encouragement.

Listen to the podcast:
https://hearttoheartwithhyacinth.buzzsprout.com

Explore Hyacinth’s art and projects:
https://www.hyacinthpaulart.com

#HeartToHeartWithHyacinth #AgingGracefully #LifeLessons #Dayton #resilience #immigrantstories

Heart to Heart with Hyacinth
Hosted by Dr. Hyacinth Paul — scientist, author, artist & educator.

Ordinary people. Extraordinary stories.

Come for the story. Leave with something to carry into your own life.

If this conversation moved, inspired, or surprised you, follow Heart to Heart with Hyacinth and share this episode with someone who might need to hear it.

🎙️ Podcast: https://hearttoheartwithhyacinth.buzzsprout.com
🌐 Art: https://hyacinthpaulart.com
📸 Instagram: @DrHyacinthPaul
✉️ [email protected]

Everyone has a story. Let’s listen—heart to heart.

Recorded at the Miami Valley Communications Council, Dayton, OH
https://www.mvcc.net/

Music by Placard, @day_kneel