'It is completely unfiltered', says Navya Naveli Nanda about her new podcast

Weve been curious about Navya Naveli Nandarsquos journey for a while moreso because she carries the weight of two illustrious families the Nandas and Bachchans While enjoying the many gifts of this legacy it often also gives someone like her little legroom to choose a career thatrsquos unusual The easier path in this case would be to go with something familiar mostly because of accessmdashwhat is now being infamously labelled as ldquonepotismrdquoNavya 24 seems a bit different She has a LinkedIn account for starters where she describes herself as cofounder of Aara Health and the founder of the nonprofit Project Naveli Yet her privilege is not lost on her ldquoI was brought up being told that with privilege comes responsibility I think thatrsquos something I have always tried to followrdquo she says when we meet her at IVM Studios in Khar West on a weekday afternoon Navya is dressed in a simple tee and black trousers sans makeup Nothing about her gives you an impression that she is trying too hardNavya says that the podcast allowed her mum nani and her to speak ldquomore authentically and candidlyrdquo about issues that concern womenAs a young entrepreneur she has been leading from the front working with women and for women especially the disadvantaged Now in a first she has decided to put herself out there with the podcast What The Hell Navya where she will be joined by her writerentrepreneur mother Shweta Nanda and grandmother veteran actor and parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan Created by IVM Podcasts the 10episode show will see Navya who plays host and engage with the duo over a host of issues again concerning womenmdashfrom female friendships to financial independence love parenting and womenrsquos health Navya says what helped is that Shweta was already a big podcast listener ldquoMy nani too is a big sport and is always excited about trying and doing anything new She did not need a lot of convincingrdquoKavita Rajwade cofounder IVM Podcasts who has joined us briefly describes it as a ldquopangenerational showrdquo ldquoLike any 24yearold Navya has a story to tellrdquo says Rajwade ldquoWhile Navya has her own interesting journeymdashand she uses her social media to talk about itmdashI think she was really keen on doing something with the two women in her life It was interesting to explore what conversations she wanted to haverdquoFor Navya the podcast was an extension of what she did at home every day ldquoMy nani mom and I sit and talk every evening We did this a lot during the lockdown when we spent more time togetherrdquo she recalls ldquoI thought it would be interesting to put this outmdashhow three different generations look at the same issue What made it exciting is that we all have differing opinions and while we havenrsquot always agreed on things we respect the otherrsquos opinion which I think is important Itrsquos always great to learn from other peoplersquos perspectives and thatrsquos what we are trying to do here as wellrdquo She adds that through the show she also wanted to urge ldquoother girls my age to sit down with their mums and grandmums and talk to them about things that they are curious aboutrdquoWhile the Bachchans are a private family Navya feels this podcast allowed them to speak ldquomore authentically and candidlyrdquo ldquoItrsquos completely unfiltered Wersquove not held back because when you are talking and in the flow of it a conversation you donrsquot think twice about what you are saying In terms of speaking about our lives and experiences we were able to communicate like we have never done before some of which involves personal anecdotes toordquoPodcasting was a happy accident just like her career in the social sector ldquoI donrsquot think an entrepreneur decides to become an entrepreneur There are a lot of problems that we can solve in the world but the second you find a solution is when you know that you can become onerdquo she says Growing up Navya says she was sure she didnrsquot want to pursue acting ldquoBut I didnrsquot imagine Irsquod be doing what I am doing todayrdquo It was during the lockdown that she met her now cofounders and ldquothatrsquos when we started talking about how difficult it was to get access to information about our bodies because a lot of these conversations are still stigmatised and we canrsquot openly talk about itrdquo ldquoWe wanted a platform that could do that And thatrsquos what Aara Health is about The goal was to create a safe space for women and allow them to talk about their bodiesrdquoHer nonprofit Project Naveli took off sometime later As part of the initiative the team along with Mukul Madhav Foundation has built period positive homes in Fasi Tola a tribal village in the Dhanora block of Gadchiroli district ldquoHere they follow a custom of banishing women outside the village when they are menstruating They are forced to stay in open fields with no roof over their heads and no bathrooms We built lsquoperiod positive homesrsquo where the women now stay during their menstrual cycle We have also built toilets and provided them with sanitary pads While our goal is to try and sensitise the community and discuss why such customs can be harmful we also know that we canrsquot change a mindset instantlyrdquo Apart from healthcare Project Naveli also works in the education sector and helps women achieve financial independence with EntrepreNaari Therersquos also a legal awareness programme in collaboration with Pink Legal called Nyayri where they provide pro bono legal counselling services for women ldquoAs a person of privilege I am grateful that I have these opportunities and resources But when we talk about womenrsquos empowerment and feminism it doesnrsquot mean the empowerment and progression of one woman Collective action is possible when people like me who have opportunities share It wouldnrsquot make sense if it was just me living my life and doing what I want to do with my careerrdquo