Heartistry

Dr. Nadhi Thekkek is the Artistic Director of Nava Dance Theatre, and uses the south Indian dance form of bharatanatyam to navigate place, identity, and politics through the lens of her lived experience as a South Asian woman and a child of immigrants. She reimagines how bharatanatyam and South Asian forms can serve marginalized narratives that need to occupy space in the US right now.

So many moments and interactions throughout this conversation were a gateway to reflection for Farah, and we are certain our listeners will feel the same way!

For those in the Bay Area, come see Nadhi and other brilliant artists of Nava Dance Theatre perform "Rogue Gestures Foreign Bodies" on Fri, Mar 13 at Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco - sourcing community interviews, historical texts, and poetry to explore the intersections of labor, agency, and belonging in our South Asian ancestry. Listen to this excerpt for a little more about the show, and get your tickets today!

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

Season 7 of Heartistry is here (!!), and we are launching with a joyful and inspiring conversation with the awesome Hamama Tul Bushra!

Trained as a graphic designer from National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan, Hamama earned her Master’s degree in Art History from the University of Missouri, Kansas City in the United States. Her thesis explored two folios (pages) from a Mughal album, Gulshan Muraqqa, at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where she assisted the curator in research and write-ups for featured art and objects in exhibitions. While pursuing her doctorate, Bushra’s energies shifted during the initial Covid era/isolation to visual art. Meanwhile, provoked by the social, political and personal environment she was compelled to respond to her inner dialogue through painting, a passion she returned to. 

Today, Hamama practices a unique style of figurative painting defined by stylized forms that carefully preserve and highlight the soul and personality of each subject, enriched by cultural and traditional references and metaphors. Her signature bright color palette in acrylic on canvas and the application of material reflects her graphics background, separating her paintings from mainstream work. 

Fun fact: Hamama was inspired by a photo she saw of Farah and created an original work as a result! If you "watch" this episode, you might catch glimpses of this piece on both Hamama's and Farah's walls. Swipe to see this beautiful and vibrant work by Hamama.

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

Aranyani is a Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer who began her training in 1990. Over time, Aranyani has developed her own distinctive approach to Bharatanatyam focusing equally on the human and divine; the religious and secular; and the traditional and modern.

In 2025, Aranyani Co-founded Indian Dancers for Gaza’s children to raise awareness about the plight of children in Palestine, and later Lebanon, and helped to raise a significant amount of funds through dance performances across the world for a paediatric charity in Gaza. 
For all our fellow dancers out there, check out this excerpt where Farah and Aranyani get into notions of "tradition, contemporary, authenticity". Sound familiar? Listen to the whole episode to hear what they have to say about this and so much more! 

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

Mona Ahuja is a certified Yoga Instructor as well as a Pilates Reformer Instructor and Deep Stretch Coach. 

There were many moments that we loved in the conversation with Mona, but this had to be one of our favorites. Lesson: acknowledging - and acting on - the importance of how our own happiness and fulfillment can positively impact those around us. 

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

This conversation with Mariam Magsi has been a long time coming, as Farah knew right away upon meeting Mariam in Pakistan in 2023, that this was someone that had to be heard on Heartistry! Finally, the stars (and schedules) aligned, and we are thrilled to share this episode and the infinite reflections, takeaways, words of wisdom, you name it, we know you're going to love it! 

Based in Toronto, Canada, Mariam Magsi is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and educator using photography, poetry, performance and other arts to amplify marginalized stories, challenge norms and ignite change.

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

Sisters and co-founders Lakshmi and Vinaya Ravi share their path to creating @vyoletclothing where simplicity meets quality and elegance in apparel.

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts.
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

If you have seen either Roopa Mahadevan or Sruti Sarathy perform, you know just how brilliant they are! If you haven't, now is your chance!! And this time, they are premiering their collaborative project "Songs of Many Lives" which will bring their minds, hearts and music together in ways that are both rooted in their artistic sensibility, and bring so many unexpected layers to it. Swipe to hear @sruti.sarathy and @roopama speaking about the work, and even @farahyasmeenshaikh give her take on this uniquely grounded work.

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 

See the live performances in the San Francisco Bay Area on Oct 25 & 26 in Mountain View and on Nov 9 in San Francisco!

#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

Nikita Shah is a brilliant Kalamkari and textile artist, originally from Mumbai, and now based in Brooklyn. This episode is extra special because Farah not only had the chance to learn so much about Nikita, but these two artists are both being presented as part of @whenyesspeaksf on Oct 11 & 12.

Nikita will be giving a workshop in Oakland on Sat, Oct 11, and Farah and @nooranidance company will perform on Sat & Sun in SF, sharing their unique and reflective project “Saabit Qadam - Perseverance.”

Nikita’s work will also make some special appearances in the performances! Hear them talk about all of this and more in this conversation.

Conversations like this one exemplify so much of what the Heartistry Podcast is all about. Spotlighting voices and stories of individuals who are equally focused on doing the same in the various ways that they show up in the world.

Preethi & Shruti are a dynamic duo that - through their own individual and collective artistic practice, as well as through their various endeavors, platforms and opportunities they are creating for others - are sparking reflection, dialogue, inquiry, healing, and so much more.

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast

Arjun Verma is an internationally acclaimed sitarist trained by Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, Alam Khan, and Roop Verma, and has recorded with GRAMMY-winning artists London Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and John Beasley, performed with musical greats Swapan Chaudhuri, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and Alam Khan, and presented music at the United Nations, the Fillmore, Prague Castle, and on NBC TV.

Throughout this episode, Arjun shares about the beautiful pathways and people that led him to where he finds himself at present. Much like his music, there is a deeply reflective nature in the way Arjun communicates, one that is profoundly introspective, but never without absorbing and learning from others, and then always sharing - whether through teaching, performing, or in developing his own artistry.

Hear the full episode of @heartistrypodcast on @iheartradio app @rukusavenueradio and wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. 
#PassionCompassionCommitment #Heartistry #Podcast