PODCAST · society
Chai Break
by Shwetha Ravishankar
Chai Break Podcast—because nothing pairs better with chai than a good Chai-versation. ☕️💬 From a cross-cultural lens, I, Shwetha Ravishankar, sit down with incredible South Asian women to spill the tea on everything from immigrant stories to sustainability, entrepreneurship to conscious living, and the hustle behind change-makers. Grab your chai and tune in!
Episodes
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Keeping Kalamkari Alive: Nikita Shah on Craft, Culture, and Conscious Creation
After a brief pause, Chai Break returns with a conversation that feels like a deep exhale. In this episode, Shwetha is joined by Nikita Shah — a multidisciplinary artist, textile designer, educator, and researcher whose work bridges the 3,000-year-old craft of Kalamkari with contemporary...
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Thrifting, Upcycling & the Future of Fashion, Meghana Khanna, Founder of The Bindi Project
In this episode of the Chai Break Podcast, I sit down with Meghana Sharma—serial entrepreneur, style therapist, and founder of some of India’s most creative ventures, including Levitate, The Preloved Co., and now, The Bindi Project. From her early days curating Bangalore’s iconic boho boutique...
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Rethinking Period Products: Sustainable, Compostable Pads with Rashmi Prakash of Aruna Revolution
💡 In this episode, we talk about: Rashmi's journey pre-Arun Revolution and what led her to leave the corporate world to build a climate solution rooted in equity What most menstrual pads are really made of—and why that’s harmful The science behind Aruna’s compostable pads and ethical supply…
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Soil to Soil: The Chemistry of Conscious Fashion with Jiwya’s Aishwarya Lahariya
In this episode of Chai Break, we dive into the world of regenerative fashion with Aishwarya Lahariya, textile scientist and founder of Jiwya, a 100% plant-based clothing brand based in India. Aishwarya shares how her background in chemistry, sustainability research, and passion for ethical…
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Bite-Sized Climate Action: Shivani Ramesh on Community & The Sustainability Mindset
In this inspiring episode of the Chai Break Podcast, I'm joined by Shivani Ramesh—a Strategy & Implementation Analyst at ENGIE Impact, environmental engineer, and passionate sustainability advocate. Shivani takes us on a journey from her roots in India to her career in global decarbonization,...
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Everyday Sustainability: Zero Waste Living with Bare Necessities' CSO, Deepti Kharbanda
Deepti Kharbanda’s Journey to Sustainable Living In this engaging episode of the Chai Break Podcast,I Shwetha Ravishanakr reconnects with longtime college friend Deepti Kharbanda, Chief Sales Officer at Bare Necessities, as she shares her inspiring journey toward a zero-waste lifestyle and...
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Samudra & the Seaweed Revolution: How Joyeeta Das is Cultivating a Sustainable Future from the Ocean Up!
Samudra, Seaweed, and a Sustainable Future with Joyeeta Das 🌊🌱 Hello, hello! Welcome back to the Chai Break Podcast, where we sip chai and spill the tea on the world’s most pressing issues. And today, we’re diving deep—literally—into the future of sustainability. We all know climate change…
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Macro Problem, Micro Solution — Breaking it Down with Dr. Sukanya Punthambaker
Breaking Barriers with Sukanya Punthambekar, Co-Founder of Breaking In this episode of The Chai Break Podcast, we dive into one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time: plastic pollution. Did you know that humanity has produced over 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic since the…
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Educate Girls, Empower the Future: Sumana Setty's Vision for Change
In this episode of the Chai Break Podcast, we dive into the transformative power of education with Sumana Shetty, co-founder of Commit2Change. Sumana shares her inspiring journey from her early days in Bangalore to leading a nonprofit focused on empowering underprivileged girls in India and South...
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Planet Positive Gifting with Prateeksha Uday, Founder of Greenr Gifts
Welcome to Season 4 of the Chai Break Podcast. In this episode of the Chai Break Podcast, we dive into the world of climate-conscious gifting with Prateeksha Chandraghatgi, founder of Greenr Gifts. With a tech background at industry giants like Yahoo and Microsoft, Prateeksha shifted her path to...
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Holistic Mental Health with Ektha Aggarwal, Founder of Jiva Mental Health
We're in #chaiversation with Ektha Aggarwal, a licensed clinical health worker, Ektha is a distinguished mental health leader, pioneering holistic therapies at Shakti Therapy and Healing Services, and addressing the unique needs of the South Asian community as the Founder of Jiva Mental Health.…
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Peri-Menopause & Mental Health
4 women, 4 unique experiences - this episode is unlike anything we've done in the past. To begin, Shwetha hadn't even heard of peri-menopause until Rema, who's actively in the throws of it, mentioned it to her. It was then that it occurred to us that this is yet another swept-under-the-rug…
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A Chaiversation with Seema, Founder of The Mindful Parent-Child Journal
We're in #chaiversation with Seema of the Mindful Parent and Child Journals. Seema shares with us why she started this venture, her self-publishing journey, and how the journal can benefit you, your child, and the overall harmony of your home and family dynamics. You can find The Mindful Parent…
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A Chaiversation with Mrinal Gokhale, Author of "Taboo" & "Saaya Unveiled"
Meet, Mrinal Gokhale, an Indian-American writer who began her career as a freelance journalist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most segregated city in the United States. She reported on Mental Health Awareness Month events for Hispanic and African-American publications as part of her work. She...
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A Chaiversation with Shruti Bharath, Founder of Beyond the Bump
So far in this season, we have been talking about normalizing conversations around mental health and we’ve also talked about the fact that seeking professional help isn’t always tied to big life events. In this episode, we talk to Shruthi Bharath about one of the biggest life-changing times in a...
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A Chaiversation with Dr. Monica Shah, Psychologist & Performing Artist
Dr. Monica Shah is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist based in Manhattan. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT).
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Signs You Have "Good Girl Syndrome" & How to Overcome it?
Chapter 1: What is Good Girl Syndrome? How the phrase "good girl" is ingrained in the vocabulary of our Indian culture and where it stems from? Shwetha & Rema share anecdotes from their personal experiences. Chapter 2: The personality and mental health implications of "good girl syndrome" Chapter...
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A Chaiversation with Kareena Mehta, Founder of Kare Counselling
Our guest today is Kareena Mehta, a mental health professional with a B.A. in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and further education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned an Ed.M. in Mental Health Counseling and an M.A. in Psychological Counseling. Kareena brings with her…
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Normalizing Therapy(Part 2): SA Statistics, Barriers to Access, Books to Read & More
We discuss the barriers we faced whilst trying to access mental health services in the US, and South Asian organizations that are doing the groundwork in creating databases of a network of therapists and services, Plus, Rema shares a few ground-breaking mental health books that were a huge part…
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Normalizing Therapy(Part 1): Shwetha & Rema Share Their Personal Journey
We, Shwetha & Rema, address the elephant in the room - mental health and well-being by sharing our own personal journey of how/why/what got us to seek professional help. It's raw, it's real and it's just the beginning of a power-packed season of personal stories, chaiversations with expert…
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A Chai-versation with Co-Founder & CEO of Ode, Jashima Wadehra
Jashima Wadehra is the co-founder and CEO of Ode, a brand strategy, talent management and business development firm catering predominantly to children of immigrant brands, businesses and artists. While companies rely on third-party metrics, Jashima specializes in taking a “lived experience meets...
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A Chai-versation with Angel Investor & Venture Capitalist Chandani Bhatt
With a background in behavioral psychology, Chandani wears many hats. From co-founding a marketing tech agency to more recently becoming an angel investor and venture capitalist, she is here to talk to us about the world of finance and importance of financial wellness in the South Asian space. In...
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A Chai-versation with Amrita Doshi, Co-Founder of SOAR
Amrita Doshi, is the co-founder and Executive Director of South Asian SOAR, a national organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence in the US, within the South Asian diaspora. She is deeply committed to advancing healing and justice for South Asian survivors and communities. Amrita…
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A Chai-versation with Divya Soneji, Founder of South Asian Nation
Today’s episode is all about how one woman’s mission to share the truth turned into a 40 thousand strong following. From gender inclusivity, fighting the patriarchy, breaking stigma, supporting marginalized voices and curating South Asian content beyond the ordinary, Divya Soneji, Founder of…
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A Chai-versation with Ragini Jha, Founder of Cardamom Counseling
Mental health in the South Asian community has always been taboo. Although we've made great strides, we still have ways to go in normalizing conversations around going to therapy/seeking professional help, not just when you experience a life changing event, but on a regular basis, it's like…
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A Chai-versation with Climate & Sustainability Activist Niha Elety
Niha Elety is a sustainable fashion advocate and designer/founder of Tega Collective. She uses fashion, art and heritage to bring awareness about sustainability and its importance. When joining the sustainability space full of advocates and leaders, Niha noticed that there weren't many…
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A Chai-versation with Award-Winning Actress Anjali Bhimani
In this episode, we chat with Indian-American actress Anjali Bhimani, so much talent packed in one person, its astounding! Her "why not me" attitude helped her pave a unique path in a world where she did not see representation, so she decided to lead the way and not be bogged down by rejections!...
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A Chai-versation with Arthropod Curator & Eco-Socialist, Anjali Pujari
As a chalk carver and Arthropod curator, Anjali has spent over a decade carefully weaving her interests around the natural world. Along with practicing ways of permaculture, she intends to inherit her values from the balancing forces of Gaia and other elements. She is on a quest to bridge the...
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A Chai-versation with Documentary Photographer & Film Maker Shravya Kag
Born and raised in Vijayawada, India, Shravya moved to Brooklyn in 2015 and graduated from the School of Visual Arts with an MPS in Photography. Captivated by oral histories and how they can shape a culture, her work is an exploration of home, identity and personal space largely focuses on the...
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A Chai-versation with Glowreel Founder, Shilpa Bhim
Shilpa Bhim is the founder of Glowreel, a media startup dedicated to celebrating the achievements and amplifying the stories of BIPOC, Black, Indigenous, and people of color women. Through Glowreel, Shilpa's aim is to ensure current and future generations of BIPOC women feel represented…
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A Chai-versation with Entrepreneur Shweyta Mudgal
An Architect/ Airport-Designer by training she turned social entrepreneur when she founded Eight Thousand Miles - a sustainable ethically handmade line of children's & adults lifestyle collection, that places social impact at the core of its business model, in 2014, in Mumbai, India. Convinced…
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Is the “Perfectionist” Mindset Setting Us Up For Failure?
The word “perfect” has somehow become the ideal that we’re all constantly striving for. The perfect vacation, the perfect dress, the perfectly behaved children and the list goes on. I know we’ve all been guilty of that at some point! Honestly, the word “perfect” can be quite exhausting. It makes...
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A Chai-versation with Multi-Hyphenate Deepa Pillai
Deepa Pillai is an Actor, Bharatanatyam Dancer, Choreographer and a Hatta Yoga Practitioner, based out of Planet Earth . An Engineer turned Performing Artiste, she holds a degree from New York University’ Tisch school of Arts as the most recent one. Her interest in life is to decode the magical...
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A Chai-versation with Life Coach Nameeta Jagtiani
After her successful stint as a corporate executive for many years, Nameeta felt disconnected from her true purpose in life. In 2020, as the world shut down, she embarked on a journey of looking inward and discovered years of generational trauma that needed healing and darkness that needed to be...
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A Chai-versation with Dancer, Choreographer Bharathi Penneswaran
We are excited to kick off Season 2 and bringing to you a roster of incredible, every day South Asian women from across the globe who are making a difference in their communities. Our first guest today is Dancer, Choreographer and Founder of Aalokam Dance Company, Bharathi Penneswaran. We talk to...
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Gratitude: A Feeling, A Practice
November is celebrated as the month of thankfulness and gratitude here in the United States. Rema and Shwetha each share what they're grateful for and collectively express how thankful they are for an engaged audience like "YOU" - yes, each and every one of you, without whom this podcast wouldn't...
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Part 3: History of Thrifting, Sustainable Brands & More
In our concluding conversation on sustainability we talk about the history of thrifting and the concept of conscious thrifting. Then we delve into brands that walk the talk on sustainability. Please note: This episode is NOT sponsored by any of the brands mentioned. Each brand is a small, women…
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Sustainability Series: Sustainable Fashion
This episode of Chai Break we talk about Sustainable Fashion something that is very near and dear to our host Shwetha Ravishankar, who after years of working in the retail spaces and becoming a shopaholic as a side effect, started to educate herself about the industry and it's practices. Today…
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Sustainable Living Rooted in Indian Culture
Ever before we had even heard of the word "sustainability" we look back at our life growing up in India and reflect on how "sustainable living" was simply a way of living. We were raised in homes where "wastage" of any kind was not encouraged. We up-cycled, re-used, conserved and recycled...
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Are We Our Moms?
Desi moms in South Asian culture all have a few famous lines in common, which have been used as a weapon in parenting for eons. Rema and I look back at our own experiences and some of the most frequently used lines. We also reflect on how they do have an impact in shaping us as adults, cue the…
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Body Positivity
In this episode we talk about body positivity and the impact of body shaming on individuals. We dive deep into our own personal journeys growing up in India and how casual commentary from friends and family can have a lifelong negative impact on your confidence and how you look at yourself. We…
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From Our Grandmother's Spice Rack
Long before turmeric lattes and supplements ever became a thing, our grandmothers and their grandmothers have been using spices to enhance the flavor of food as well their medicinal properties. Head to our blog for the recipes mentioned in the episode and one BONUS TIP!...
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Self Love
In this episode of Chai Break we explore "Self Love" in the context of our growing up years in India. Was it even a thing back then? What it means to love yourself and what are some self-love rituals you can include in your daily life. Do you have a ritual you'd like to share with us? Write to us...
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Colorism
Growing up in India, we experienced colorism on an everyday basis. In this episode we explore the roots of colorism and how it came about to becoming such a deep-rooted issue that has been unfortunately passed down from many generations. We also look to the beauty industry that has played a huge...
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Spiritual & Personal Growth During a Pandemic
The 2020 global pandemic brought everything we knew as a normal life to a screeching halt. Looking back, the biggest positive that came out of it was, time. Time with ourselves, our families and time to just stop and really question if we are living our life with true purpose and meaning. We...
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Introduction: Chai Break
Are you an immigrant? Did you move to a different country later in life? Then give ChaiBreak Podcast a listen! This is the story of Shwetha & Rema, 2 Indian immigrants who moved to USA more than a decade ago and how they navigated everything from culture, career and conversations, to becoming the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Chai Break Podcast—because nothing pairs better with chai than a good Chai-versation. ☕️💬 From a cross-cultural lens, I, Shwetha Ravishankar, sit down with incredible South Asian women to spill the tea on everything from immigrant stories to sustainability, entrepreneurship to conscious living, and the hustle behind change-makers. Grab your chai and tune in!
HOSTED BY
Shwetha Ravishankar
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Chai Break have?
Chai Break currently has 46 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Chai Break about?
Chai Break Podcast—because nothing pairs better with chai than a good Chai-versation. ☕️💬 From a cross-cultural lens, I, Shwetha Ravishankar, sit down with incredible South Asian women to spill the tea on everything from immigrant stories to sustainability, entrepreneurship to conscious living,...
How often does Chai Break release new episodes?
Chai Break has 46 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Chai Break?
You can listen to Chai Break on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Chai Break?
Chai Break is created and hosted by Shwetha Ravishankar.
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