S3E154: Anupama Jain: On Writing, the Gita, and Choosing a Life That Has No Name
Anupama Jain has written six books, co-founded a startup, and reinterpreted the Bhagavad Gita for modern readers. In this episode, Sangeeta speaks with AJ about voice, reinvention, and the choices women make when the world offers no template.
They cover what children's literature asks of the adult who writes it, the community she built for mothers no one was listening to, what startup life cost her as a woman, the unconventional portfolio she stopped apologising for, and the Gita's ancient wisdom on acting without fear.
For every woman who writes, leads, builds, and creates on her own terms.
For more detailed insights, read the full article on our website: https://aboutherbysangeeta.com/anupama-jain/
Chapters:
(0:00) 🎙️ Welcome: Sang introduces AJ and the many lives she has lived as a writer.
(2:40) ✍️ Writing for Children: What children's literature demands of an adult writer.
(4:45) 📰 The Column That Keeps Going: What a long-running column gives a writer that a book cannot.
(8:26) 🔥 The Feminist Label: On being listed among the top Indian women bloggers every feminist must follow.
(11:45) 💬 Claim Your Space: A direct message to the brilliant woman still waiting for permission.
(14:10) 📚 Story Over Lesson: Why a story reaches where a lesson plan cannot.
(18:05) 🤝 SeniorSchoolMoms: The community AJ built from a need no one else was addressing.
(23:00) 🕉️ Reinterpreting the Gita: Why she chose story and dialogue over commentary for a text millions hold sacred.
(27:32) 🌍 Arjuna Meets World Literature: The literary parallel that surprised her most while writing Decoding The Gita.
(31:14) 🌐 Writing for a Global Reader: How to make ancient Indian philosophy legible without making it lesser.
(34:42) 🚀 What the Startup Taught Her: The female founder's interior experience and what building something costs.
(37:53)💼 The Unconventional Portfolio: On stopping the apology for a life that defied a single job title.
(40:49) 👩 How Much of Padma Is AJ: The Padma series, the woman she invented, and the line between character and self.
(43:42) ⚡ The Rapid - Fire round.
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