Nidhi Razdan knows how to choose her battles. The rockstar NDTV anchor speaks with Aditi and Christina about why there is such a strong representation of women in the ranks of journalism, saving lives while live broadcasting via a selfie stick, and why online harassment says more about the person throwing shade then the recipient. 

Nidhi Razdan is an award-winning journalist with NDTV where she has worked for over 20 years reporting on politics and diplomacy from countries like Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, and Iran. She has also anchored NDTV’s key prime time shows. She’s currently the anchor of ‘No Spin’, which airs Monday to Thursday at 9:30pm. 

Follow Nidhi on Twitter at @Nidhi

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast 

Credits

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Sound Supervisor: Kartik Kulkarni

Audio Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State

This week, Anushka Manchanda drops in for a conversation. Under her moniker Kiss Nuka, she is a multi-disciplinary artist-producer who combines her art with activism. With a keen interest in visual artistry, Anushka also produces and directs her own music videos and photo essays, deploying them as tools to carry her message into the world.

In this episode, she speaks with Aditi and Christina about listening to ourselves and why spending time in solitude leads to finding our own truth - as well as why women make amazing technicians (and we need more!) and why to always go with blue jeans over red jeans.

Follow Anushka on Instagram–and learn some editing skills along the way at : @kissnuka

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast 

Credits

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Sound Supervisor: Kartik Kulkarni

Audio Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State

Shrayana Bhattacharya is easily the most fun economist we know. Working at the World Bank’s Social Protection and Labour unit for South Asia, she is also the author of a bestselling book, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence. 

Shrayana spent 15 years exploring women’s economic independence through the lens of actor Shah Rukh Khan. Why? Because an SRK movie is a form of escape - and for many women, a luxury - in a life of navigating the patriarchy. 

In this episode, she speaks with Aditi and Christina about bargaining with the patriarchy, the loneliness that can come from seeking out independence, the hope she has for India’s gender norms, and why we all need to be a lot less judgemental–and a lot more supportive—of one another along the way. 

Follow Shrayana on Twitter here: @BShrayana 

Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh can be purchased on the Harper Collins India website here: https://harpercollins.co.in/product/desperately-seeking-shah-rukh/ 

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast  

Credits:

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Sound Supervisor: Kartik Kulkarni

Audio Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave 

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

Ragini Das is the co-founder of leap.club, a community-led professional network for women. She speaks with Aditi and Christina about how to make networking a lot less work–and a lot more fun through breaking out of the fixed idea that networking is a boys club business card-exchanging event into thinking about networking as relationship building around activities you enjoy. Much like investing, the earlier you start building these relationships the better. 

Follow Ragini on Twitter: @ragingdas 

Check out leap.club: www.leap.club 

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast  

Credits:

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Sound Supervisor: Kartik Kulkarni

Audio Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

Rintu Thomas is a documentary filmmaker, director-producer, and co-founder of Black Ticket Films. 

Rintu discusses the narrow margin for error women have at work–especially when they are one of few in their profession. Her documentary, ‘Writing with Fire’, was the first Indian feature documentary to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. 

Nonetheless, Rintu feels pressure to succeed to disprove the “See? I told you women can’t do that” side comments that can be overheard about any profession, but especially male-dominated ones. In this conversation, she speaks with Aditi and Christina about the film, depicting female friendships on screen, and how to create more women-friendly production teams (better bathrooms!).

Follow Rintu on Instagram: @rintuthomas 

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast

Credits

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Sound Supervisor: Kartik Kulkarni

Audio Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal 

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

Dalit History Month co-founder Christina Dhanaraj is also a writer and consultant with over 10 years of experience at companies around the world. 

As a part of several women and minority-led initiatives – focusing on social justice, self-determination, and collaborative models of learning – Christina speaks to our hosts about channeling the strength to work within a system that’s working against you. A free-flowing conversation about the intersection of caste, commerce, capitalism and mental health, this episode is a primer on the need for caste-based affirmative action in Indian workplaces. 

Follow Christina on Twitter: @caselchris1

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast

Credits 

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave 

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

Founder of the award-winning Godrej India Culture Lab, and Queeristan author, Parmesh Shahani is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion in corporate India. 

Parmesh, who has shaped the inclusion policies for many leading companies, talks to Christina and Aditi about the persistent barriers to moving beyond performative inclusivity to taking real action in India’s workplaces - including why hiring is critical and what every employee should be asking for more equitable work environments for all.

Follow Parmesh on Twitter: @parmeshs

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast  

Credits:

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer & Brand Director: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave 

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

While writing her bestselling book Wonder Girls, which maps the lives and career paths of relatable, female role models, engineer-turned-entrepreneur Varsha Adusumilli discovered there was an “aspiration gap” among young girls and women in India. So she started the Wonder Girls platform where Varsha unlocks the world of work for adolescent girls, in a bid to strengthen women’s participation in the workforce in the future.

About Wonder Girls: www.wondergirls.academy

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast  

Credits: 

Host and Executive Producer Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Centre, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

Dr. Ruha Shadab, who founded India’s first professional incubator for Muslim women, joins Christina and Aditi for episode two of our brand new season. 

A Harvard graduate – and the only Muslim woman in most rooms by her own admission – Dr Shadab started Led By Foundation to help women navigate the land mines of negotiating their careers with friends, family and colleagues. But what makes Led By Foundation different from other incubators? It’s tailor-made to India with a laser-sharp focus on bringing Muslim women into the workforce. 

About the Led By Foundation: ledby.org

Join the conversation: 

Follow Ruha: @ruhashadab

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast 

Credits:

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.

Dr. Ruha Shadab, who founded India’s first professional incubator for Muslim women, joins Christina and Aditi for episode two of our brand new season. 

Journalist Namita Bhandare’s rigorous reporting turned the spotlight on the startling statistics about women and work in India in 2019. 

A guest on season one, Namita returns for season two to tell us where the numbers stand as of 2022. Spoiler alert: Things are still looking grim on the work front but there’s a silver lining. 

Join the conversation: 

Instagram: @womeninlabour

Facebook: @womeninlabour

Twitter: @WILPodcast 

Credits:

Host and Executive Producer: Christina MacGillivray

Host and Executive Producer: Aditi Mittal

Executive Producer: Laura Quinn

Chief of Staff: Priya Kapoor

Marketing Director: Maanya Sachdeva

Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Senior Producer: Divita Oberoi

Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Junior Producer: Nikkethana Kamal

Junior Editor: Yash Hirave

Women In Labour is generously supported by a grant from the American Center, New Delhi. All opinions, findings, and conclusions are those of Women In Labour and its hosts only — and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.