Flow past obstructions like a mountain stream

Stories of Role Models

Read Riddhi's #agilityStory if you are beset by obstructions.

Debate, Dance, Drama - I tried all these in school. I experimented to find what I wanted to do later. 

I found I was happy, energetic and had good people skills. 

It did not tell me what I could do, so I continued to explore.

I moved from the small pond of my school to big-ocean Delhi University - to do my masters. I am actually the master of doing masters - have already tucked 3 of them under my belt. 

My first masters was in print journalism. 

While in college, we launched ‘DU Beat’ - the first campus newspaper. I was the first editor cum akhbar-wali. I went around distributing the papers by hand.

I learnt I wanted to do something in journalism. Maybe, be the next Barakha Dutt. 

Opportunities were scarce, so I took up my 2nd masters - this time in English Literature. Along with, I did side hustles. Yes! Side hustles are not a post-covid invention :)

I found work, from the likes of M J Akbar and Arvind Kejriwal. They recommended me to others too. Opportunity seemed to invite.

Then, I got married, and came to Mumbai. The move from Delhi to Dombivli put me in the middle of a conservative family, where the girls did not venture out just like that.

I take my inspiration from a mountain stream flowing swiftly down. It always finds a way around obstructions. Ever joyously it flows, giving nourish to those along the way. 

My 3rd masters - this time again in English Literature - became my gate pass to move out and experience Mumbai, the city - in its full local-train glory.

I continued to write and look for work. Writing came easily to me. Soon I enjoyed marketing too. Social media marketing made my world more exciting.

I learnt it is not enough to spin pretty words. You have to care for your audience and add value to them.

Empathy opened doors for me. When I put myself in other’s shoes, I could persuade better.

My mother-in-law who once was not supportive of the idea of a ‘working woman’ now coaxed her own son to help me with a few chores, as my work and responsibilities grew larger. 

I continued to write and in 2015, when I delivered my first kid, I founded ‘Thought in a Dot’ - a digital marketing agency. I became an entrepreneur.

Next year, I also began to teach mass communication in a college nearby.

Today my day job is managing a 12 member content marketing agency where we help thought leaders and companies with their content. 

My latest passion project is a support group and resource centre for women entrepreneurs -  projectsakhi.in. 

What works best for me? I 👂 first listen, then speak. I speak as an equal  - 🙏 always with respect.

I look back and see that I had to struggle a lot in my early career. Yet, I always found ways around them. Think, ‘Mountain Stream!’

In my writing, I try to show the way to early career professionals, with what I have learnt.

I  🚩 show them, what worked for me.