Welcome to the first anonymous episode of Mentor Me Macha. In this episode, we talk about what dating is like in your late 20's, the societal pressure of getting married and explore the difference between being close minded and knowing what you want in terms of dating. 

Join me in conversation with the owner and co-founder of the Good Vibes Only Cafe where Harish Raghavendra shares his life long dream of getting into the restaurant business which manifested into opening a beautiful cafe. We talk about this experience with starting a business during Covid and muse over the different factors that helped him navigate through a tumultuous time. Hear us talk about the importance of listening to your intuition in business (and life ) and in choosing an empowering and supportive circle of friends and family. 

Krishna Vikas- A plant based fitness coach who is creating awareness about plant based lifestyle through his establishment called The Weekend Cafe in Secunderabad. 

Listen to this informative episode on how @krishna__vikas found his purpose in a vegan lifestyle, how he’s challenging the beliefs about proteins and bodybuilding and how he found himself making an impact within the plant-based community as @samantharuthprabhuoffl ‘s personal trainer!

I absolutely love people who can make you feel at home within the first few minutes of meeting. And that's the kind of vibe I had with Aarti.  If I have to describe Aarti Shastry in one word, I can't! A single word cannot do any justice to this mixed platter of a person. But here's how I would describe her. She's a truly incredible soul, an Improv actor, Biker, Sustainability warrior, avocado lover, a fellow dabbler and my spirit animal and you are really in for a treat with this episode.

I'm always surprised when I meet a person as sweet and as grounded as Sreemukhi. Founder of an Art company called Kilkaari, Sreemukhi aims to bring art and the benefits art can have to each and every household. In this episode we talk about her journey into starting Kilkaari, what drives and motivates her and her experience with working as a costume designer for multiple movies!

Here's how you can get in touch with Sreemukhi and learn more about Kilkaari! 

Kilkaari's Instagram handle: @kilkaari.theartco

Who can relate to this? Growing up, whenever I was asked who my favorite band was or what genre of music I liked, I always felt uncomfortable and felt a sense of shame for only listening to regional music. I never grew up listening to The Beatles, Kurt Cobain or even Michael Jackson. I grew up listening to gazals, melodies of Kisore Da and SPB and keerthanas that my mom sang every morning! 

When I first heard Band Capricio perform, I was transported back to my childhood! Especially to one very vivid memory of my mom, my siblings and our dogs sitting on the rooftop under the stars and singing to our heart's content! That is the kind of magic they create with their music. 

Band Capricio is India's first Retro Regional Cover Band that started in 2016 of November. On this episode of Mentor Me Macha watch them uncover the story behind becoming the most loved band in the city. Come listen to Shravan, Eknath and Tej's story, everything from their goals and passion to their favorite cuss words! 

Do you remember your parents/grandparents narrating Ramayana and Mahabharata as a kid? I vividly remember my experience. My dad was very into Mythology and would narrate these tales to me as bedtime stories, and he would always end the stories in creative ways like, 'Well Ram is walking through the forest now, it will take him sometime so lets continue tomorrow'.  I'm not sure if it's this curiosity about Indian Mythology that got me excited to talk to Siddharth Naidu who just happened to write a unique article about his take on Lord Ganesh's origin story! 

Siddharth Naidu is the CEO of an up-and-coming Media House called Voxspace, but more importantly he is an amazing writer and a storyteller. 

So naturally I was excited to talk to him about story trends in current age cinema and also his take on Indian Mythology.  I'm very excited for you guys to listen to this episode! 

Join me in this absolutely incredible conversation with one of the best wildlife photographers in India! There is so much I can say about this guy! Varun was awarded the Best Nature Photographer of the year in 2016 by Nat Geo, in 2019 his picture of Elephants wrapped in a double rainbow was shared by Tim Cook on Twitter and he is probably one of the few wildlife photographers in India who can create magic with his picture composition. Given all his achievements, his humility and the fact that he is so down to earth makes me want to respect him even more! 

Hear Varun Aditya talk about his journey into finding his purpose and passion for widlife photography, his incredible adventures in the wild and also hear him share some interesting tips on how he creates magic and adds soul into his pictures and his work! 

I know what you all are thinking. We are talking about Self-Love Again?! I just thought it was interesting how Self-Love happened to be the over-arching theme and something that is mentioned by multiple guests on my podcast! So it made sense for me to dedicate a whole episode to self love so we can finally get over the vagueness surrounding this 'skill'. Yes it is apparently a skill, which means, its learnable. 

In this episode, I talk to Harsha Maheshwari, a dancer who made her own mark in the country with not just her dance, but also her way of life! She started a movement called #HealNotHate through which she advocates body positivity and talks about how she developed the skill of loving herself over the past 2 years, her experience with it and how everyone CAN and MUST practice Self-Love!