Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma

By Anuradha Varma

Listen in to conversations that "swish" or shift your perspective! Journalist and Mindset Coach Anuradha Varma interviews a diverse cast of people who share their expertise and experiences on a range ... more

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How many episodes does Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma have?

The podcast currently has 57 episodes available.

Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma episodes:

September 01, 2025 Ep 57: ‘Nautch Boy’ Manish Gaekwad: On growing up in a ‘kotha’
Life outside the kotha is really quite drab, remarks Manish Gaekwad, son of Rekha bai, the subject of his book “The Last Courtesan: Writing My Mother's Memoir”. Here, he chats about its sequel “Nautch Boy: A Memoir of My Life in the Kothas”, giving flashes of a life that sounds straight out of a Bollywood potboiler.

The radio, according to the journalist-author-scriptwriter, never stopped playing at the kotha, with strains of Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi songs filling the air. As a child, he recalls learning to move his hips like his legendary mother, with the other tawaifs cheering him on. He was also named Monty after Rishi Kapoor’s character in “Karz”, where his mother saw the name lit up in disco lights as an extra on the film sets in Mumbai.

He describes life at an elite boarding school, while spending vacations at Kolkata's infamous Bandook Gully, and living part-time with relatives in the slums, feeling like an outsider everywhere but in the kotha. He also talks about his “illegitimate” father, how he got his surname, and not coming out as queer to his mother in her lifetime.

Listen in!

Timestamps:
02:00 Dispelling myths about “kothas” and how they’re not brothels
05:16 His mother Rekha bai’s signature acrobatic dance move
11:44 How moving was dancing for him; music was in his blood
15:50 The radio never stopped playing in the kotha
18:00 Tawaifs don’t teach their children to be a girl or a boy
21:10 His mother didn’t know how to raise a boy
25:20 The Bandook Gully connection; living in the slums
31:37 How he got the name “Gaekwad”; when his mother and his father’s wife crossed paths
38:00 How he introduces himself to people; his “illegitimate” father
43:30 Mothering his mother through her illness; his relationship with his mother
46:55 On not coming out as queer to his mother
49:10 On being surrounded by sex in his adolescent years, “like a warm embrace”
53:30 On leading a solitary life, how it has shaped him
01:00:00 Being named Monty after Rishi Kapoor in the movie “Karz”
01:03:00 Growing up away from Mumbai’s glamour
01:07:23 Life as an author

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
1h 11min
August 27, 2025 EP 56: Michael Bach: Creating safe, inclusive workplaces
Queer, trans or gender fabulous, there should be a safe space for everyone at the workplace, says Canadian Michael Bach, an internationally recognised thought leader in diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility.

Here, he talks about his own journey of coming out as queer, and decodes the ever expanding “alphabet soup” of gender and orientation — “LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA”, while advocating for using language mindfully. He gives recommendations for creating safe spaces, such as companies offering a gender neutral “parental” leave instead of “maternal leave”.

With nearly 20 years of professional experience, he is also the founder of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) and Pride at Work Canada. He has previously served as the National Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at KPMG Canada, along with being the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG International.

Michael Bach is the author of Alphabet Soup: The Essential Guide to LGBTQ2+ Inclusion at Work and Birds of All Feathers: Doing Diversity and Inclusion Right.

Listen in!

Timestamps
02:00 Talking about the alphabet soup – LGBTIQCAPGNGFNBA
04:15 LGBTQ2+, Two-Spirit, Gender Fabulous, SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity)
09:40 His journey of coming out; not a stereotypical masculine child growing up
13:40 Homophobia remains a reality
15:55 Creating safe spaces at work though policies
19:47 Questions companies must ask themselves
23:27: The Five Fs Continuum for change management, converting “fence-sitters” to “friends” and “family”
32:15 Witnessing monumental positive change in the past decades
35:00 Importance of using language mindfully

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
39min
August 11, 2025 Ep 55: Shalini Singh: 'Indians don't know how to date'
One can find their partner in six months if they’re doing it right, assures Shalini Singh, founder of andwemet, building a community for Indian singles over 28 to find serious relationships.

First, however, Indians must learn how to date and not look for that elusive instant connection or finding that “perfect” partner. Instead, look for shared goals and compatibility, she says. And while marriage may still be the goal for many, those over 40 are open to other forms of commitment, such as live-ins or companionship while living separately.

Shalini is also doing it differently from ubiquitous dating apps, as hers has now moved onto building a community over WhatsApp and minus any pics, which is proving to be a gamechanger.

Listen in!

Follow andwemet on: YouTube | Threads | X (Twitter) / X (Twitter-Shalini) | Spotify | instagram | Linkedin / LinkedIn (Shalini) | Reddit

Timestamps
00:48 About andwemet and how it began; getting rejected for having a dusky complexion
05:15 From an app to a WhatsApp community
08:50 Why andwemet doesn’t ask for photos
13:52 Building andwemet for adults who have experienced life
17:20 Internal checks and balances
20:00 Age is still a factor for some
21:20 What are people looking for?
22:30 Indians don’t know how to date
26:00 Are relationships transactional?
30:40 Singles aged 28 to 65 on andwemet; goals for 40+ goes beyond marriage
34:24 Enjoy dating and have fun; six months to find your person
36:26 Marriage is here to stay
37:00 Juggling work and relationships
40:40 Testing compatibility with a shared activity
42:00 Relationship trend – talking about one’s toxic past; seeking meaningful conversations

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
48min
July 10, 2025 EP 54: The Blind Blogger Maxwell Ivey: Why accessibility matters
Maxwell Ivey, better known as The Blind Blogger, grew up in a large extended family, which managed carnival rides. Now a serial online entrepreneur, he is an American accessibility expert advocating for more inclusion of people with disabilities. Here, the 59-year-old talks about how a small button being relocated on a screen can throw off his screen-reader and send his day into chaos, the importance of “alt text” for images and why companies must make accessibility a priority. The aim, he says, is to go from “accessibility to usability to enjoyability for all abilities”.

Maxwell also hosts the podcasts What's Your Excuse and The Accessibility Advantage.

Follow Maxwell Ivey: LinkedIn | Instagram | Website

Timestamps
01:15 On being called The Blind Blogger
05:08 On losing his sight at the age of 12; growing up in a large extended family
12:30 Resilience is a habit
13:42 How website design changes affect him
15:42 No longer a big user of Twitter (now X)
21:20 Accessibility in design improves the overall user experience
23:15 Conversations in accessibility with businesses
28:20 On social platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram
33:35 Impact of AI; positive review for JC Penny
44:34 Determined positivity

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
54min
July 03, 2025 Ep 53: Maya Raichoora: Visualisation for mental fitness
At 27, Maya Raichoora is one of UK’s top mental fitness and visualisation experts and the author of VISUALISE: Think, Feel, Perform Like the Top 1%. When she was younger, a debilitating encounter with ulcerative colitis left her bed-ridden and with zero confidence. The turning point came when a nurse asked her what she would rather do if she wasn’t confined to a hospital bed. Despite finding the question insensitive at first, it set her mind to visualise taking her first steps and start walking, which eventually became a reality.

This set her on a path to finding her passion for visualisation and mental fitness. Listen in as Maya decodes terms like limiting beliefs and manifestation, while talking about empowering techniques like The Batman Effect, and why hibernation is as important as hustle.

Follow Maya on Insta

Timestamps:
01:10 The difference between visualisation and manifestation
04:05 What is mental fitness?
06:00 Overcoming her health crisis
11:58 Your brain can’t tell fake from real; training your brain
16:33 Who is visualisation for? Taking high performers from good to great
18:30 Emotional agility; controlling our responses to primary emotions
23:35 Explaining limiting beliefs; the brain on repeat mode
26:18 Negative visualisation or future proofing
28:29 Building hope and opening up to possibilities
31:20 The Batman Effect, creating a bolder character
34:40 The Seasons Method; importance of hibernation over hustle
37:57 Keeping a journal of small wins
39:55 Visualisation for the ‘Top 1 percent’, to be the best you can be

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
44min
June 19, 2025 Ep 52: Leigh Branham: 'The best leaders had bad bosses'
“I’m on a mission to put pressure on companies to be better places to work,” says Leigh Branham, international bestselling author of four books including The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late and Re-Engage: How America’s Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times. Here, he talks about how the “burn and churn” philosophy is not helping companies and why they should focus on re-engaging burnt out and disengaged employees. Communication is key, he says, and the best leaders possess empathy.

The US-based employee retention expert also talks about the generational differences between Gen X, millennials and Gen Z-ers and the need for conversation for smooth intergenerational functioning. Listen in to know the top reasons employees leave and how one can start asking the right questions before joining a new organisation. The latter is also the subject of his latest book Don't Take That Job ‘til You Read This Book: Nine Lenses to Look Before You Leap, coauthored with Mark Hirschfeld.

Leigh is also a career transition coach and organisational consultant and helps companies better understand the root causes of employee turnover and disengagement. He is the founder and Managing Principal of Keeping the People, a talent management consulting firm.

Timestamps:
01:03 Focus on wellbeing at workplaces after the pandemic
03:58 Toxic workplaces and quiet quitting by Gen Z
06:30 The reason behind disengagement—burn and churn philosophy
09:03 The direct manager is the top reason for employees leaving
11:54 Gaps in leadership and empathy
16:10 To become an employer of choice, you have to show people you care
24:05 Difference between baby boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z
29:33 The perception of Gen Z
30:52 The reasons employees leave
37:00 "Don't take that job till you read this book”--how to assess their new employer
40:37 What to ask interviewers before you take that next job; use LinkedIn to network with those in target companies

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
46min
June 03, 2025 Ep 51: Neeraj Sagar, WisdomCircle: ‘Don’t retire, find a purpose’
We’re all living longer, but how do we constructively utilise these extra years? Neeraj Sagar, Founder & CEO of WisdomCircle, which is building a post-retirement work marketplace, talks about creating space for retirees in corporate systems, the value of intergenerational teams, and the “price per unit of wisdom”.

Currently at over 100,000 registrations, with 2,500 white-collar jobs from nearly 300 companies on his portal, he believes it has barely scratched the surface. The idea for WisdomCircle came to Neeraj during the pandemic after he quit his corporate job as he turned 50. He is now an active part of a thriving community that is creating solutions for the senior segment, where the 60+ population is poised to grow to a staggering 300 million by 2050.

Organisations, he believes, must tap into the wisdom of an experienced talent pool that wants to give back and can help youngsters grow faster. In return, they need to feel respected and relevant. Companies can also help their retiring workforce ease into becoming mentors from doers, taking on the role of educators or specialists.

He is also a Global Ambassador for the Stanford Center on Longevity. Listen in!

Resources:
(This is purely for information and not an endorsement)
Research
* The Stanford Center on Longevity: The New Map of Life
* ABCEL (Aditya Birla Centre for Enriching Lives): Designing pathways for collective wellbeing
* The Gerontechnologist: A media platform that covers agetech globally
* Human Edge: Longevity health programmes
* Ashoka New Longevity: Exploring new narratives in ageing
* Live Ivory: Neuroscience for a sharper brain
Health & Community
* Priya Living: Active, purposeful intergenerational living
* Athulya Senior Care: Assisted living for seniors
* 25YearsMore: Services for an active retirement
* GetSetUp: Curated events, activities & travel for older events
* GenSxtyTribe: Changing the age-old narratives of ageing
* Khyaal: Club for senior citizens
* GenWise: Club for senior citizens

Timestamps:
02:40 Coming up with the idea during the pandemic
04:30 Agetech as a concept, building the community
09:16 Agetech companies solving for senior issues
12:05 On how WisdomCircle is providing post-career opportunities
16:15 Fighting existing narrative around ageing in the system
19:45 Stanford Centre for Longevity; ageism as an idea impacts everyone
21:50 What are retirees looking for?
28:30 Use-cases for using seniors to close skill-gaps
32:50 As you get older, people are more open with referrals
34:25 Any age ceiling in senior hiring?
39:44 The importance of intergenerational connectivity
42:15 People with daughters may age better
45:25 Is there a retirement age?
49:50 Entrepreneurship for seniors
53:36 Easing into retirement

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
58min
May 21, 2025 Ep 50: Shobha Viswanath, Karadi Tales: The soundtrack of Indian childhood
When Shobha Viswanath returned to India from the US in 1995, she couldn’t find audiobooks for her young daughter, something that her son had enjoyed growing up. That prompted her to start Karadi Tales and its signature audio cassettes that accompanied illustrated books. Children could read along as they listened to the story, encouraging "sight vocabulary" as Shobha calls it and, more importantly, have fun in the process!

Married into a family of Carnatic classical musicians, Shoba tells us, the family band ‘3 Brothers & a Violin’ provided the score for the books, narrated first by actor Naseeruddin Shah and his theatre troupe, and later Gulzar, Girish Karnad, Saeed Jaffrey, among others. Usha Uthup lent her voice to some very Indian-themed nursery rhymes written by Shobha and set to classical ragas.

In a journey spanning nearly three decades, Karadi Tales also set up Karadi Path, an education company that teaches English to learners of all ages and backgrounds using an immersion method, inspired by how we pick up our mother-tongue. They also collaborated with P. Sainath, founder-editor of the People's Archive of Rural India, to create chapter books around grim realities faced by children, such as migration and climate crisis, tinged with hope.

The goal, however, remains to inspire and empower children and adults with the magic of storytelling and the joy of reading, says Shobha. Listen in!

Timestamps:
00:45 The start of Karadi Tales, nearly 30 years ago
05:09 Naseeruddin Shah as their first narrator for the book
07:50 Launching the first audio books as the pioneers
12:00 Moving into picture books
14:40 Songs that became popular, such as from Monkey King
15:00 Writing English rhymes for Indian kids, set on classical ragas
19:45 Recording with Rahul Dravid
20:50 Challenges of packaging the book and audio together
21:48 Her experience as a special educator for visually-impaired kids
25:25 Starting Karadi Path education, to support language labs
31:36 Drawing stories from rural India, with P. Sainath
38:44 Reaching a larger audience through schools
41:58 Message for parents and educators
45:05 What’s next for Karadi?
46:00 The financial challenge of recording audio books

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
50min
May 07, 2025Ep 49: Leadership coach Dr Marcia Reynolds: Reflective inquiry & neuroplasticity
From being in jail at barely 20-years-old, facing prison time on a drug charge and feeling, “My whole life, one stupid mess after another,” international leadership coach Dr Marcia Reynolds has come a long way. Nearly 50 years later, she counts among the top voices in coaching.

Here, she talks about the power of reflective inquiry and how it forces one to look deep within and take hard life decisions. She also debunks the “crazy belief” that the coach must ask only open-ended, not closed questions. A coach or thinking partner, she says, gives people the courage to step into the decision they know they want to take. She also warns one against the “shoulds”—”Ask yourself, who made that rule?”

Based in the US, Dr. Marcia Reynolds, Master Certified Coach and president of Covisioning LLC, is a pioneer in the coaching profession and was the 5th global president of the International Coaching Federation and inducted into their Circle of Distinction for her many years of service to the global coaching community. She is recognised by Global Gurus as one of the top five coaches in the world.

She has provided coaching and training in 47 countries, to thousands of coaches and leaders online, is on faculty for coaching schools in the US, Asia, and Eastern Europe. She holds a doctorate in organisational psychology, besides two master’s degrees in learning psychology and communications.

Listen in!

Dr. Marcia Reynolds’ books include:
Coach the Person, Not the Problem: A Guide to Using Reflective Inquiry
Outsmart Your Brain: How to Master Your Mind When Emotions Take the Wheel
Unexpected Angels: A Six Month Journey Into Light
Wander Woman: How High-Achieving Women Find Contentment and Direction
Breakthrough Coaching: Creating Lightbulb Moments in Your Coaching Conversations
The Discomfort Zone: How Leaders Turn Difficult Conversations Into Breakthroughs
Timestamps:
01:40 Starting 50 years ago, from jail to leadership coaching
09:00 Walked through a dark tunnel to learn lessons
10:20 From a corporate career to becoming a founding member of the ICF
15:00 What is coaching? Becoming a thinking partner for clients
20:42 Reflective statements combined with enquiry
26:03 An outcome is not an action; finding purpose for a client
29:43 Reflective enquiry taps into the middle brain and long-term memories
31:50 Open-ended vs closed questions, forming connections
37:42 Common threads in client issues
41:25 Giving space to feel the emotion

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
45min
April 21, 2025 Ep 48: Polyamorist Arundhati Ghosh: All love is messy & beautiful
For Arundhati Ghosh, polyamory means “the desire, the ability and the practice of loving more than one person simultaneously, with or without sexual intimacy, and with the consent of all.” A practising polyamorist, cultural practitioner and social activist, the 53-year-old is the author of All Our Loves: Journeys with Polyamory in India, published by Aleph.

In her earlier years, she felt her feelings resonated with Ghalib’s couplet, Hazaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwahish pe dam nikle; Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle.” Here, she talks about how polyamory is not shallow, but a deep exploration of love, her dislike of the overarching concept of “one true love”, dealing with jealousy and the idea of commitment.

In this candid talk, Arundhati talks about exploring relationships minus the “relationship escalator” or conventional stops of marriage and dating, living a life that is “more honest and truthful to myself and others”. She quotes late author John Berger: "Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one." Listen in!

Timestamps:
01:00 What is polyamory and how is it different from a “situationship”?
08:30 One true love and the monogamy as a majoritarian trend
16:36 The relationship escalator…what’s next?
20:40 On her experience of monogamy
22:25 Her journey with polyamory
27:27 Polyamory historically in cultures
28:47 Navigating social openness as a polyamorist
33:53 Being a solo polyamorist and living with loneliness
35:45 Nesting partners and dealing with jealousy
45:11 What commitment means in polyamory
50:47 Managing multiple relationships; setting boundaries
56:00 The Indian legal system and polyamory
01:00:05 Red flags in polyamory; gaslighting
01:06:20 Who is it for?
01:09:10 Why polyamory works for her

Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
...more
1h 13min

FAQs about Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma:

How many episodes does Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma have?

The podcast currently has 57 episodes available.