My Story Thus Far

Mine has been quite the DREAM COME TRUE life! I’ve always been a BIG dreamer & quite the Drama Queen through my growing up years, but that was only at home; non-stop chatterbox at home and a shy, coy girl outside, that was me almost until the late teens. A straight A+ student, a State Level Medal winning Athlete, house prefect in school, good at extracurricular activities like dance & drama, just a handful of really good friends, those were my growing up years. College happened to be the place where I really started opening up and thanks to the fact that I was studying at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay the opportunities for growth were enormous.

My professional life started up pretty early in fact, I acted in an AIDS Awareness Docu-Drama telecast on Doordarshan (National TV channel) called “ROSHNI” and played the part of the protagonist Roshni while I was still in my 2nd year of degree college, St Xavier’s College. From there on, there was no looking back! Radio and theatre beckoned and I paid heed to my calling. Even before I graduated I had cleared my auditions and would start my career as a Radio Jockey with 107.1 FM, the Original FM Station in September, 1998. Almost soon after that in early 1999 I got my first professional break in English Theatre, and I was off! That was followed by Marathi & Hindi Theatre, performances at the prestigious PRITHVI THEATRE in Bombay & the works.

I’ve had the opportunity to wear many hats in these past 20+ years of my Professional Life. As mentioned, I’ve been a Radio Jockey for 6+ years with 107.1FM in the City of Dreams – MUMBAI. I’ve done World Space Radio & Internet Radio as well and hence I understand the Power of great content & engagement. I’ve been a Content Provider & Compere for two decades, starting 1999. I’ve had the privilege of working on all kinds of shows & with some of the Finest & Biggest Brands globally & in India; from Bollywood to Corporate to Fashion, Cultural, Social Events to Sports Events, I’ve done it all! I consider myself BLESSED, as I’ve done events with the who’s who, including 2 Indian Prime Ministers, many many Heads of State, Business Biggies, Game Changers of this World, Bollywood Stars, World Class Sports people, Guinness World Record Holders & more!!

My TV stint was very exciting indeed. ESPN-STAR SPORTS chose me during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, held in South Africa-Kenya-Zimbabwe, to be an anchor-cum-correspondent. What an AMAZING opportunity that was! I learned from the Cricketing Giants namely Harsha Bhogle, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Wilkins and many more in person; truly INVALUABLE!

ZEE TRENDZ in 2004 went on to choose me as their Content Provider cum Anchor and I covered The Milan Fashion Week 2004 in Italy. Alongside Milan Fashion Week, I also shot for a sort of Fashion Travalogue, that helped showcase fashion as a whole in Italy, the MECCA for Fashion Aficionados. The experience… GORGEOUS!

I had in fact been with the ZEE Network from 2000 as an Anchor on their channel ZEE MUSIC, hosting a show called “ARTIST OF THE FORTNIGHT”; that’s what helped me have an in depth understanding & respect for the private & public lives of the greatest singing sensations of India. I truly understood what SINGLE-MINDEDNESS OF FOCUS, PERSEVERANCE & DREAMING BIG meant in the Real World.

My career as a Media Professional progressed and with that my desire to share my varied experiences with aspiring youngsters like myself grew deeper. I took the first step towards realising my dream of being MAD – Making A Difference in the lives of people around me. I started teaching at the well-known XAVIER’S Institute of Communication (XIC), Mumbai. Since I had worked in all mediums of expression namely, Radio, TV & Stage, I taught them a Workshop (12 sessions) called ABCD (Announcing, Broadcasting, Compering & Dubbing) for Radio, TV & Stage. It was an amazing Experience!

Then something more MAGICAL happened. I was approached by a channel that was running the MISS MUMBAI PAGEANT, to Groom & Train their 20 finalists; that was a first and obviously I was over the moon. The Tabloid Afternoon Despatch and Courier was covering the event and they decided to do a one page feature on me and my Grooming Techniques for the pageant contestants.

The pageant of course was a huge success but something life altering came out of the Feature for me. Soon after the write-up I got a call from one of the Brains behind the very sought after S P JAIN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH, senior Mr. Jain! The next thing I knew I was sitting in his office & Mr. & Mrs. Jain were speaking to me about being a Visiting Faculty at their sons new B-School in Dubai. My next meet was with Mr. Nitish Jain, President and Director of S P Jain School of Global Management, where I shared some of my Training and Workshop Modules with him. Here’s the twist in the story, I don’t have an MBA Degree and I hadn’t taught in a B-School ever before; what’s more most of my Modules were Workshop Based, but then I was invited to teach the students Business Communication (Oral & Written) and Soft Skills so I guess it worked fine. DNA covered this in an interesting article.

In the summer of 2004 I started visiting the SP Jain School of Global Management in Dubai & by 2006 I was also teaching at their Singapore campus; Business Communication & Soft Skills it was… something a lot of people MISS out on, on their way up the Corporate Ladder. I’m glad I could help the younger lot Make a Difference!

Another feather in the cap so to speak, has been my participation in the Mrs. India Pageant. Though I did it just for fun it worked out pretty nicely for me, 1st runner up Gladrags Mrs India 2006 & Best Model!! But boy it wasn’t an easy ask, months of eating clean and super healthy food, workouts, taking care of my skin & hair, fittings, gruelling ramp walk sessions in stilettos 4 inches tall or more, etiquette sessions, diction sessions, reading up on different stuff, and you thought it was all about starving oneself and looking good!! Hahaha…

I love training people in such a way that THEY NEVER REMAIN THE SAME!! The possibility of TRANSFORMING LIVES FOREVER by helping them work on their mind-set, is very close to my heart. I went on to be the Personality Coach of the contestants participating in the ‘Channel V’ Super Singers and then decided it was indeed time to Raise the Bar Higher. Starting 2007, my husband Bimal Raj and I decided we wanted to help budding entrepreneurs like ourselves understand the dynamics of building a business, building teams, building markets, taking on leadership roles and of course the sales & closures involved. This step broadened our horizon like nothing else had, while side by side allowing us to build our business globally. Being an Entrepreneur is the ultimate expression of Creativity and Human Understanding for me, extremely grateful I started the journey without any baggage

I continued growing with my media and training careers side by side. I became a mother in 2009 and I decided to focus all my attention on my bundle of joy. However, the career woman in me was nudging me to get back to my passion. We had shifted our base and the market was totally new to me, but I knew I had the attitude, skills and knowledge (A.S.K) to excel in any part of the world. Though I’d been an active entrepreneur, I restarted as an Emcee in a new market only in 2017. Thanks to my A.S.K, awards started pouring in as early as 2018. This reinstated my firm belief that if one acquires the right A.S.K, success is inevitable if you are willing to put in the hard work.

A Brand New chapter of my life started up with my company OrangeTalks that I co-founded with my husband Retd Cdr Bimal Raj. Our mission is to equip and mentor individuals and businesses for the right mind-set and equip them with skills to work together efficiently, thus enabling them to perform to their full potential.

My aim in life continues to be that no matter what I do, I touch lives in a way that people never remain the same!! I thank God, for this is a GIFT that not many are BLESSED with. 20 years, 5000+ events nationally & internationally, 4 Awards, and numerous happy clients, event companies & people later, I finally decided it’s time I do my bit to assist many budding emcees & aspiring hosts to unleash their True Unlimited Potential as Emcees. If you are one of them, come to mamma PWR I say!! Connect with me to know more.

My Dream today is BIGGER than ever before, to reach out to & help a Billion people all over the World, live empowered, happy, abundant & spiritual lives, doing what they absolutely love!

Loads to be done & I’m sure the Universe is listening… The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep…