Absolutely Write with Aditi Surana

In the very last episode of the Absolutely write podcast, Aditi shares her top 5 lessons she learnt in her 2 years as a podcast host.  The Absolutely write podcast will be back next week with a brand new name and vibe. The conversations will be in 'Hinglish' and will stay real, authentic and based on high performance.  For the one last time, Happy Writing! Tune in

The very last episode of Absolutely write podcast wouldn't have been complete without our producer, Rasshi Ganeriwal and 2 phenomenal listeners and friends of the podcast, Anupama Mandloi & Arshdeep Kaur. Tune into the last episode of the podcast in this current avatar and learn some never heard before secrets about how the Absolutely write podcast came into being. Aditi shares some behind the scenes trivia and some hacks for new & upcoming podcasters.

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Ashutosh Kumar - Founder of Jagriti. Ashutosh is an entrepreneur at heart with 10+ years of experience of building communities and brands focused on the next billion. He joined the founding team of Jagriti Yatra - a crazy unique idea well ahead of its time - to empower the ‘next billion’ young entrepreneurs in 2008. A logistical mammoth, Jagriti Yatra is designed as a 15-day, 8000-km entrepreneurship train journey. It brings the best of design thinking, experiential education, and entrepreneurship together.   He is now building a community of 5500+ ‘next billion’ youth; 28% of them with their own startups.   Aditi analyses Ashutosh's handwriting and talks some interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him such a good and keen listener & leader. Ashutosh shares his love for rural India and all the work his team and him have been doing to create a social impact and empower people from all over our country.

You can make more money if you do good to the world. Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Pratik Gauri.  Pratik is a serial Indian social entrepreneur, investor, public speaker and writer widely known as the Creator of the 5th Industrial Revolution. He has been championing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and helping transition the world from a for-profit economy to a for-benefit economy for more than a decade. As the Founder & CEO of 5ire.org ( pronounced FIRE ), Pratik believes that the service of humanity and social good can work hand-in-hand with business. Pratik has founded 8 companies prior to founding 5ire, which is a blockchain ecosystem that brings forward Sustainability, Technology & Innovation to build the 5th industrial revolution. Aditi analyses Pratik's handwriting and talks some interesting aspects of his leadership & personality including what makes him a keen listener, observer & analytical entrepreneur. She talks about his passion to do the unfathomable and stay hungry to create more impact.  Pratik shares his story of what made a successful entrepreneur at the age of 16 and some tips and hacks to how sustainability can lead to profitability. Keep a notepad handy for this fabulous episode. 

You can't get better at something you don't start! Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Bijay Goutaum . Bijay is the Co-founder of WYN Studio, a creative content studio specializing in audio storytelling and podcasts. He hosts one of the top podcasts in India- The Inspiring Talk reaching over a million people. On this podcast, he chats with top entrepreneurs, best-selling Authors, Thought leaders, and celebrities about their journey. His podcast has gained wider accolades from his listeners and media and was a finalist for Asia’s Best Podcast Award 2019. Before all this began, Bijay was working as a Research Scientist in a leading Pharmaceutical Company. He was clearly losing motivation and drive in his life and that's when he started The Inspiring Talk. Within 15 months of starting his podcast, he quit his job to follow his passion for podcasting and inspiring people through his podcast. Aditi analyses Bijay's handwriting and talks some interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him a unique and go-getter entrepreneur and what makes him step into the uncomfortable, ever so often. Bijay shares how people can they become more of their authentic self as a content creator.  Which is your favourite lesson and why? Share in the comments section. 

Our love for textiles and art forms and a strong will to empower very talented and deserving artisans made us quit and take a big step towards our dream. The magic of thread drew us like a magnet. Our guests on this week's Absolutely write episode are Sujata & Taniya Biswas.  The sisters take pride in complementing each other’s skill sets while having the same vision. Sujata says that she is the brain and Taniya confesses to being the heart. Together, the beautiful symphony of their energies plays out perfectly to become Suta. An alumnus of IIFT Delhi, Sujata always felt something was missing in her job. She was with Essar, Jindal & IIT before SUTA. Whenever she went back to visit her parents, she came across a lot of traditional weavers with whom she used to end up chatting and they used to pour their hearts out about lack of work and menial wages. Taniya, an engineer and IIM Lucknow graduate, worked for almost three years with the Tata group and IBM. She calls herself an observer and loves to watch how everything in life is so beautifully intertwined with nature and the world around us. This kindled the creative streak in her to paint and to take photographs. After quitting her cushy corporate jobs, she grappled with many ideas, even tried her hands at product photo-shoots, before realizing that her true potential was not in the pictures but in the products itself. “I had designed a few clothes and had posted them, but instead of getting requests for shoot we were asked about the products.” Together they run this organisation that supports & empowers over 16000 weavers across India.  Aditi analyses their handwriting and talks about some of their some unique & opposite aspects of their personality including what makes them such different leaders and what makes them such a good solid team. Sujata & Taniya share some stories, lessons and takeaways that can be implemented starting today. Which is your favourite lesson from today's episode and why? Share in the comments section.   

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Rishabh Sharma. Rishabh leads the Global Twitter Next team in India, and is managing South-East Asia, and Australia operations in the interim. With over 14 years in the media industry, and cross-geographical experience in APAC, MENA & U.S, Rishabh is a seasoned brand strategist and digital marketing professional. The Global Twitter Next team’s purpose is to create human-centric ideas worth talking about and enable Twitter’s largest advertisers to drive significant impact during moments that matter. Rishabh and his team also act as drivers for creative, media and marketing agencies across India as they collaborate within the ecosystem to craft marketing solutions that deeply resonate with the Twitter audience whilst aligning with the business objectives of organizations or brands. Aditi analyses Rishabh's handwriting and talks some interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him an end result oriented leader and why one must constantly renew the contract. Rishabh shares his love for creativity in everything he does, music and why we must lead by serving. He shares his love for Football and compares the sport to some aspects of leadership. Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

Stories have power.  Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Souniya Khurana. Souniya is the Co-founder & CEO of WYN Studio, a new age media venture and the best-branded podcast studio, and audio agency. She is a REX Karamveer Chakra awardee, a globetrotting entrepreneur, a communications professional, a professional speaker, an IIM A graduate who failed her 6th grade only to do it twice and then failed at her first entrepreneurial stint and since then, has had quite a love-hate relationship with failure. And as she says  - In my failure, I found my story and new beliefs. Over the last decade, she has fallen in love with stories and compelling narratives and thus building brand narratives & amplifying brand voice is what excites her. She enables brands to leverage the power of audio and has produced over 15 chart-topping and award-winning podcasts. Aditi analyses Souniya's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of her personality including what makes her curious & interested leader. Souniya shares her love for podcasting and why she chose a to pursue her career in the difficult space of podcasting.  Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

The key to success is investing in yourself. - Warren Buffet Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Abhinav Aggarwal. Abhinav is the CEO & Co-Founder of Fluid AI. He is Fortune 40 under 40, On the cover of Forbes, works in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science, TedX speaker, and has worked with Warren Buffett. He started his company along with his brother Raghav who is COO, when he was just 17 and Raghav was 21. Abhinav dropped out of MBA at ISB Hyderabad (Ranked number 12 in the world) to found the company while Raghav dropped out of IIM Ahmedabad (Ranked No.1 in India). Being finance guys, Abhinav's a Chartered Accountant and Raghav's a CFA. Both of them are self-taught coders. They were also winners at one of the world’s biggest 24 hour coding competitions, the TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon in New York. Aditi analyses Abhinav's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of his personality including what keeps him forever on his pursuit of excellence.  Abhinav shares his love for AI, technology & books. He shares his experience of working with the legendary Warren Buffet & Steve Wozniak.  Keep a notepad handy to make notes.  Tune in to this engaging episode on Apple podcast, Spotify, JioSaavn, Amazon Music or any other major audio platform across the globe.

Are you able to feel your toes? This 1 statement from Rishi will change the way you work. Curious to know what it means, tune into today's episode.  Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar is a technologist who likes to work at the intersection of design and technology and can help you take your ideas to tangible outcomes. He is Forbes 30 under 30 Asia, Intel Software Innovator, Author, Habit Hacker &  25 under 25 Science & Tech.  When he is not tinkering with technology and storytelling, he loves simplifying the complexities of science, tech and human emotions, in an attempt to teach kids (and adults) how to build the innovation muscle. Most recently he is trying to exercise emapthy in his personal life through a variety of projects and in his role at Atlan, where he leads Product Discovery and all things human insight. Aditi analyses Rishi's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him such a curious & interested innovator. Rishi shares his love for storytelling, empathy and some simple yet powerful takeaways & lessons that would change your perspective on how you work. Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Savio D'souza, Director at Adidas. Savio D’Souza leads Adidas India’s direct-to-consumer programme and is a part of its’ Senior Leadership team. Savio is responsible for defining and delivering Adidas India’s consumer strategy across its own website, app, omnichannel and direct-to-consumer marketplaces. He also oversees Adidas India’s omnichannel customer service and omnichannel consumer membership programme. Prior to Adidas, Savio has launched and scaled various key initiatives across Amazon India. He was a part of the founding team of Amazon Business and led their online to offline push across key categories such as Medical Devices and Wireless Mobility. Savio comes in with 18 + years of experience of which the first decade was spent globally across EMEA and APAC in leading and scaling large, multinational teams across Retail and Wholesale. Aditi analyses Savio's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him a successful professional & leader.  Savio shares some great takeaways and shares a story of how an incident at a young age changed the way he looked at life.  Keep a notepad handy to make notes.   

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Daisy Tanwani, Founder, CEO and Creative Head of Pinklay. Being an avid traveller, Daisy realized that the best Indian handicrafts were being exported, and not easily available to Indians. With a mission to revive the unparalleled aesthetic of the Indian artisanal work, and make it accessible to Indians, Daisy decided to pursue her dream of starting Pinklay in December 2015.  Her passion for creating and building, her love for animals, and her grit to acknowledge her strengths as a woman leader, resonates with her brand. She believes, as a woman, one is wired differently. But different doesn’t mean inadequate. Through Pinklay, she wants to urge women to stay connected with their gender and lead. Daisy's mantra for an impact-making life is “To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people, and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; this is to have succeeded.” Daisy believes that one must trust oneself with their dreams, for castles are not built overnight. Aditi analyses Daisy's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of her personality including what makes her a successful entrepreneur. Daisy shares some behind-the-scenes stories of her life and what makes her a fierce and independent leader. She shares some brilliant takeaways and learnings which would change your perspective on funding and taking risks. Keep a notepad handy to make notes.  Tune in to this engaging episode on Apple podcast, Spotify, JioSaavn, Amazon Music or any other major audio platform across the globe.

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Priya Thuvassery, an independent documentary filmmaker and television producer. Priya’s body of work is focused on women and gender, her stories window into myriad experiences of the body, the environment, the community, mapped from gender and feminist perspective. Priya has been directing, producing and editing documentary films & television programmes for New Delhi Television, Fox Traveller, CNA, National Human Rights Commission of India, Films Division of India, Public Service Broadcasting Trust & Khabar Lahariya for over a decade now.  Priya is currently a Director at Chambal Media.  Her independent films include Khanabadosh (2009), My Sacred Glass Bowl (2013), Survey Number zero (2016), Coral Woman (2019), City Girls (2021). Her films have been recognised with participation, mentions and best film awards in many international and national film festivals.  Aditi analyses Priya's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of her personality including what makes her a successful filmmaker who is highly driven to make an impact in the rural development of our country. Priya shares some behind-the-scenes stories of rural & Adivasi women being empowered and taking on journalist roles in small villages in India. She even shares a story of how a phone call from a 50-year-old woman changed her perspective in life.  Keep a notepad handy to make notes.  Tune in to this engaging episode on Apple podcast, Spotify, JioSaavn, Amazon Music or any other major audio platform across the globe.

Challenge yourself out of your comfort zone as that is where the real growth lies! Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Priyal Keni, International Rifle shooter, Chartered Accountant and founder of a non-profit initiative - Play & Shine Foundation. In an international rifle shooting career spanning 13 years, Priyal has won more than 117 medals & broken 3 national records, she Consistently ranked #1 in +40 matches during her 7-year stint with the Indian shooting team, Priyal was conferred the Shiv Chatrapati Award in 2015 (highest honour for sport in Maharashtra) A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Priyal was the sole Indian spokesperson at the Global Woman in Consulting event organized by Deloitte Netherlands. Her 2018 founded non-profit initiative, “Play & Shine Foundation”, has actively worked with +500 volunteers across 10 states pan India & touched lives of 4,000+ children from underserved communities.  Aditi analyses Priyal's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of her personality including what makes her a successful multi-passionate person. Priyal talks about how she balances her academic side & love for sports along with running a non-profit. They also bust some myths that may change the way you look at things. Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

“Every day you’ve learnt something is a day you haven’t wasted” Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Samit Malkani - Head of Brand & Creative Marketing, India & Southeast Asia at Google.  Samit began his career writing television commercials and print ads. Made the shift to digital because he thought brand engagement should last more than 30 seconds. Became one of India’s early digital marketing pioneers along the way. Moved client-side to build his favourite brand, Google from the inside-out. He has won multiple creative and effectiveness awards at domestic and international award shows. Aditi analyses Samit's handwriting and talks about some interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him a focused and hands-on leader. Samit talks about what we can learn from Star Wars. His personal interest in building a growth mindset and an interesting Twitter trend.   Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

Our guests Sanjana Chakraborty, Rohini Sivalingam & Dr Seema Bhosle talk about what passion means to them.  They also share their experience with graphology. Tune in to know what Aditi decoded about their personalities based on their handwriting. Aditi answers some pertinent questions in this podcast episode. 

"It's important to go beyond success & failure!" Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Harjeet Khanduja - Sr. Vice president at Reliance Jio. Harjeet is also an international speaker, writer, poet, visionary, influencer and alumnus of IIT Roorkee and INSEAD.  He has been conferred with the HR Leadership Award, Pride of the Nation Award, HR Personality of the Year, Top 100 HR Minds, Global Digital Ambassador and Global Learning Award. Harjeet has been a LinkedIn power profile, Chicken Soup Writer, TEDx Speaker, Guest Faculty at IIM Ahmedabad, FWA Board member and Co-Chair of Nasscom Diversity Committee. Aditi analyses Harjeet's handwriting and talks about some very interesting aspects of his personality including what makes him a brilliant multi-passionate professional. Harjeet talks about his interesting career transitions and recites a poem that gave our entire team goosebumps. Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

Sports is hard. If your best is not better than your opponents on that day, it all goes off in seconds or minutes. Sometimes you need to thank the people who say you can't do certain things! Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Neha Aggarwal Sharma, an Indian table tennis player who participated in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the only woman from India to feature in that discipline. At the age of 18, she was one of the youngest and the only woman player in Table Tennis. Neha is 4 times junior national champion.  In her current role as Head of Partnerships & Communication at Olympic Gold Quest, Neha looks after OGQ's entire fundraising efforts along with the entire communication on social media handles. She also manages table tennis and Para-Badminton players supported by OGQ. Aditi analyses Neha's handwriting and talks about some very interesting aspects of her personality. Neha talks about her love for sports, her life after retirement and shares some sports analogies that are great leadership lessons. Keep a notepad handy to make notes. 

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast is Preeti Vyas -  Chief Executive Officer and President at Amar Chitra Katha. At Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd, She looks after the following brands- Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, National Geographic Magazine and National Geographic Traveller. Throughout her 26-year-long career, she has been a retailer, publisher, editor, author, and entrepreneur. Preeti is a seasoned bibliophile who believes the solution to any problem in life can be found within the pages of a book somewhere. She believes passionately in the power of children’s books to shape the future of India and the world.   Aditi analyses Preeti's handwriting and signature and talks about some very interesting aspects of her extroverted behaviour & leadership personality. Preeti talks about her love for bullet journaling, some hacks for parents to get their kids to read and how they celebrate failures (In a big way) at her organisation. This episode is full of laughter and some amazing stories. Keep a notepad handy to make notes.   

Our guest this week on the Absolutely Write podcast, Mugdha Bavare - The lead sports psychologist for the Indian Women's cricket team & elite Olympians shares her expertise and experience with dealing with high-pressure situations.  Being an international swimmer par excellence, Mugdha has won over 500 gold medals at various competitions across different age groups. She took her love for sports to the next level by becoming one of the most elite sports psychologists in our country with over 23 years of experience.  Mugdha shares some fascinating tools and hacks to thrive in pressure. She narrates some stories of famous athletes and draws parallels to the role of being a successful leader. Keep a notepad handy to make notes.