Prim Rose Light

In this episode of Prim Rose Light, I am delighted to have Manoj Kerai, author of The Burning Bride, joining me. In this episode, we discuss some big topics like dowry’s which are particularly prevalent in South Asian culture and the negative impact this can have on women (and their families) whether it’s domestic violence, female infanticide and other crimes.

We cover these topics through Manoj’s novel, which is based in India and challenges an entire society to rethink attitudes towards women and gender equality. Based in India the story is told through the eyes of 9 women. The multiple perspectives highlight psychological, social and cultural factors with prop up systems of violence against women in India, but also highlights the hypocrisy of people who worship women in the forms of Goddesses but treat them badly by committing acts of violence against them.

Manoj has also been a Samaritans volunteer for 8 years and has worked in the mental health space for 18 years since he was at school where he set up a peer mentoring scheme for students at the school. He currently works for Macmillan Cancer Support where he supports the management of the partnership with Boots.

If anyone would find it helpful to reach out, please do contact: 0808 808 0000 which is the Macmillan number. If anyone needs any support from the Samaritans, please contact: 116 123

Equally if anyone would like to contact Manoj directly (whether for a signed copy of the book, The Burning Bride or otherwise) - I’ve linked his details:

www.facebook.com/manojkeraiwriter and

Manojie is the Instagram handle

Sending you love and light, Roshni 🙏❤️🙏

Welcome to season 3 of Prim Rose Light. I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome you to this new series. I look forward to bringing you interesting, educational and topical content, along with my guests, as we continue to cultivate a conscious community. Here at Prim Rose Light, the focus is on mind, body and soul topics including personal development and spirituality, but also, real life topics impacting real people. It’s really important to me that I use my platform and voice to make a positive difference in the world.

To kickstart this series, we are talking about a very raw and real subject. We hear first- hand Gopika’s account of having a very premature baby, Khush who was born at 26 + 3 weeks back in 2020. Gopika shares her shocking birth details which is one of bravery despite many complications along the way.

Some of the UK stats which are quite staggering are:

60 000 preterm births a year so that means 1 in 13 born before 37 weeks

There's 3 categories

Moderate to late (32-37 weeks)

Very preterm (28-32 weeks)

Extremely preterm (less than 28 weeks)

Within this sensitive subject, we unpack the following big topics

1. Prematurity and birthing experiences. The incredible NHS and the work they do.

2. The pressure around getting pregnant and other complications that often go unspoken but impact behind the scenes (a non exhaustive list includes, PCOS, infertility, IVF, career circumstances, general feelings of not being ready to have kids)

3. The role of a father and sometimes the (lack) of support available for them, recognising this is a unit, not just mum and baby.

4. Navigating having a baby through a pandemic and the mental health implications. Breastfeeding and what’s good for mothers to eat but also why the mind is so powerful.

However I must also disclaim that this podcast was done in an effort to share some of the difficulties women can encounter. We both want to stress that this offer some comfort that women that you are not alone. Gopika has been very keen to share her story as a tool to help mothers. She has kindly shared the following resources to anyone who needs it:

https://gulfnews.com/parenting/pregnancy-baby/the-doctor-said-either-i-or-my-baby-wouldnt-survive-mum-1.1639659192541

https://www.bliss.org.uk/parents/support/emotional-support

https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/parenting/covid-mums-year-of-lockdown-parenting/

Gopika has also kindly provided her email address if people have questions they’d like to ask her: [email protected]

In this season finale we end on a real corker to round up the year as we explore the rise and fall of one of the biggest corporate flameouts and venture capitalist bubbles in recent years -- the story of WeWork, and its hippie-messianic leader Adam Neumann. I highly recommend everyone whose interested to watch on sky - Wework:How to lose $30billion in two weeks. We are joined by Sohil who works as a professional investor and fund manager to gain his insights on company valuations, and how inflated they can be in the private sector which doesn’t have the same level of scrutiny as public companies. We also discuss that this was essentially a real estate company which had technology enabling elements but it was not (despite its marketing) a technology company. We also discuss the importance of good corporate governance, what good leadership looks like and the vitally important ESG that is dominating the world of finance and beyond. We discuss flexible working vs hybrid working which is a topic that has become a topic on everyone’s lips (especially relevant for white collar workers) since the start of the pandemic and what predications are for how this may unfold. Finally, Sohil concludes by providing some useful and generic tips for those who are keen to invest in 2022. Thank you to everyone whose supported my podcast. It would mean the world to me if you could like and share my podcast widely with your friends and family. Here’s to season 3 as we continue to cultivate our very own conscious community, so glad and grateful that you’re a part of it. Sending you love and light.

After qualifying as a solicitor with leading international law firm Allen & Overy, Tania turned her passion for real estate and design into launching G&T, a construction and development business focusing on developing award-winning residential schemes across central London. With a £250m backing from the Carlyle Group and Blackstone in 2017, Tania founded Uncommon, a flexible workspace provider. With Tania as the CEO, Uncommon has established itself as the leading flexible operator focusing on delivering best in class sustainable design-led, and technologically advanced spaces growing from 20,000 to 250,000 sqf in central London. Tania is a regular speaker at leading industry events and conferences including Property Week and PERE. She sits on judging panels of a number of leading real estate awarding bodies including Estate Gazette and has herself been nominated as the Young Personality of the Year 2020 by Property Week, Top 46 women continuing to shape the world of real estate in 2019 and as top five property developers shaking up the UK real estate. Tania has two little boys and is an avid traveller. Here’s the book she recommended and referenced in the podcast too: https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Morning-Not-So-Obvious-Guaranteed-Transform/dp/0979019710

In this episode, I welcome back Rajiv for a deep dive discussion of Ayurveda. This ancient tradition stems from the vedas and is the study of life. It’s a science that is thousands of years old and we delve into the basics of these traditions to help us discover who we truly are, our essence. In this episode we recap what are the doshas, learn some practical tips on what is our dominant dosha and how to establish if there are any imbalances at play. We also discuss what our tongues show us, offering us another insight into our health. Finally, we explore how to navigate another winter living with Covid-19.

For those of you who’d like to know more, Rajiv is an Ayuvedic practitioner based in London and offers on a chargeable basis one-to-one sessions.

If you are interested in knowing your dosha and prakruti and this podcast conversation has sparked your curiosity, please feel free to reach out to him directly on [email protected] and he will send you a copy of it and go through it with you so you can understand yourself more.

Finally if you have questions on any matters which were discussed on the podcast or have any questions on Ayurveda, please feel free to reach out. By way of recommendation, a great book and source of knowledge is the science of self healing by Dr Vasant Lad which is referred to in the podcast.

Please feel free to follow Rajiv on:

Instagram: @swasthaveda

Twitter: @swasthaveda

Facebook: www.facebook.com/swasthaveda

And if you’re not already following prim rose light, you can follow on Spotify which has lots of different topics right from climate change to conditioning to relationships. You can also follow her on instagram @roshnithakrar

Sending you all lots of love and light. Roshni

In this birthday special episode I’m thrilled to have been joined by my good friend Rupin who’ll you’ll remember from series 1. We discussed many topics on this podcast and focused for the first half on conditioning and what it is and how it pervades our lives. We also discuss the link between parenting as much conditioning starts at this point. Please share this podcast with friends and family so that we can grow our conscious community and help each other as we try our best to live conscious lives. Sending you peace, love and light. Roshni 🙏❤️

In this episode of Prim Rose Light we meet with Lucy Shepherd to discuss her unique career path, her lifestyle and training regime (both mentally and physically) but also gain an insight into how she deals and manages fear and near death experiences. Certainly, as our world grows ever smaller and more connected, it’s easier to travel, but harder to find true adventure but at twenty-eight years old, Lucy is at the forefront of modern exploration.

From high mountains, rainforests, to the Arctic, she has plotted a thrilling, inimitable path. Made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society at age twenty three and on the council for the Scientific Exploration Society as a result of her expedition achievements.

Lucy's expeditions have taken her all over the globe and she now shares her love for this world with others by both guiding expeditions to the Arctic and sharing her own adventures on film.

Her next expedition takes her back to the Kanuku mountain range and she knows this is the biggest expedition yet..

Lucy in her own words:

“I am a strong believer that when we put ourselves in challenging situations, whatever that may be, that our character grows and we become better people as a result. Given the current climate of how those in power are acting and how mental health and obesity problems are on the rise, we could all do with stepping outside our comfort zone and doing what we previously thought impossible.”

To see more on Lucy please check out the following links:

www.lucyshepherd.net

Instagram - @lucysheps

www.YouTube.com/LucyShepherd

Her recommendations:

Books -

No Shortcuts to the Top - Ed Viestrus

Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know - Ranulph Fiennes

Wild - Cheryl Strayed

Podcasts she’s listening to -

The High Performance Podcast

Chatting to a Friend

Jason Fox Wild Tales Podcast

Happy Place by Fearne Cotton

Films she loves for inspiration-

Meru

The Dawn Wall

Soul Surfer

Touching the Void

Wild

Gita is a lawyer with particular expertise in environmental and human rights issues. Formerly Head of Legal at Friends of the Earth, she now works as an in-house consultant for NGOs and the United Nations. Alongside this, she is a trustee of the Climate Justice Fund, which has been set up to support legal climate initiatives, predominantly in the global south. Gita has a strong background in environmental legal campaigns and was shortlisted for In-House lawyer of the Year by The Lawyer magazine during her time at Friends of the Earth. In addition, she has a keen interest in spirituality and environmental matters and is studying for an M.A in spirituality and ecology, as well as coordinating a environmental sangha group at her local temple. Gita is also a co-founder of the Regenerative Activism series of conferences, which focus on taking a holistic approach to environmental activism.

In this episode I am joined by Dr Ravi Mehta discussing the hugely relevant and topical issues of what is a virus exploring the Zika and covid 19 viruses. We also got a good understanding into vaccines, the use of antibiotics and how this is causing a very real problem of anti microbial resistance. Ravi is a hospital doctor specialising in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine. During medical school, he undertook a period of training in Tanzania, where he started developing a passion for tropical medicine and global health. In 2015, he served a majority Maori population as a hospital doctor in South Auckland, New Zealand, and in 2016 moved to Brazil to lead research into the neurological complications of Zika virus, during the time of the epidemic. He has since continued his training as a doctor, rotating through hospitals in central London; and during the pandemic surge he redeployed to the Intensive Care Unit to look after critically unwell patients with COVID-19. He is passionate about medical education and is involved in training and examining medical students and junior doctors. He is currently in a research role at Imperial College, where he is using the latest tools in genetics and chemistry to discover new ways of diagnosing infectious diseases. His overall aim is to enhance clinical outcomes for patients with infections and reduce the burden of antimicrobial resistance globally. Outside of medicine, he is passionate about space, languages, rock climbing and mountaineering.

In this episode I’m joined by Nisha Aaliya, a British Actress based in London. Dutch born, she is from Indian and Burmese decent. Aaliya has worked in the Hindi Film Industry along with UK Theatre productions; independent British short films and worldwide television commercials. We explore Nisha’s journey into Bollywood and all the trials and tribulations of building up a career in acting. This includes feelings of imposter syndrome and the copious rejection that goes with the job.

Impressively, Aaliya is increasingly being seen in Indian film shot in the UK. She appeared in the Sony Pictures-India production of Shakuntala Devi, a 2020 release, which streamed on Amazon Prime and stars acclaimed Indian actress Vidya Balan- who Nisha's character interviewed in a pivotal scene. She also featured in the Punjabi feature film Musafir (2020) and the Hindi film thriller Badnaam (2020) which starred well-known actor Mohit Sehgal (2020).

Soon to release are three more films: Mira (2021), starring Parineeti Chopra, which is Reliance Entertainment's adaptation of the iconic and award-winning Hollywood film, Girl on a Train; plus the thrillers Rat on a Highway starring Randeep Hooda; and Firrkie, starring iconic actor Jackie Shroff.

Nisha also has a lead role opposite Raqesh Bapat in Forever (2020), a feature directed by Vinay Ram Tiwari, which premiered in London's Cineworld cinemas.

She recently appeared opposite the late legendary actor Irrfan Khan in the new Syska Ad and has shot ad spots for various multinational companies.

Nisha is theatre-trained and played the lead in Bring on the Bollywood, a musical dance comedy which played in theatres across London and the UK to great critical acclaim.

With a strong dance background, Aaliya has performed at iconic London venues. She is skilled in Indian and Bollywood dance, Commercial, hip hop, street and Afro styles.