<![CDATA[The Nomadic Soul]]>905dfd5d-4fc1-573f-aa8b-018966cf8641Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:30:19 +0000Captivate.fmRiahttps://artwork.captivate.fm/3178a0ca-e6de-44c0-a30d-de33ec06ab9b/The-Nomadic-Soul-Podcast-3000-512.jpgThe Nomadic SoulRiaRiaWhat lights you up is not a distraction. It is the thread. The Nomadic Soul is a personal essay podcast hosted by Ria — exploring poetry, art, fashion, music, books, and the sacred ordinary. Each episode begins somewhere intimate: a memory, an observation, a question. Then it follows the thread into something larger about how we live and who we're becoming. This is a show about paying close attention — to a silhouette, a measure of music, a basil leaf sprouting — and discovering what it reveals. For women who read slowly, look closely, feel deeply, and follow the thread of what lights them up. Come as you are.https://thenomadicsouldiaries.substack.com/falseepisodicnopodcastThe Soul of BirdsThe Soul of BirdsA pigeon once flew into Ria's childhood living room and could not find its way out — flying frantically in circles around the room while the balcony window stood wide open the entire time.

It's one bird among many across a lifetime of encounters — a silent visitor perched on an almirah, peacocks strutting like royalty through a garden, a mynah trapped behind a balcony net, painted storks holding still against a vast Bharatpur sky. The ornithologist Salim Ali makes an appearance too — "a migratory bird himself." Each bird is different on the surface, but underneath, they share one thing: the ongoing choice and privilege to be free.


]]>A pigeon once flew into Ria's childhood living room and could not find its way out — flying frantically in circles around the room while the balcony window stood wide open the entire time.

It's one bird among many across a lifetime of encounters — a silent visitor perched on an almirah, peacocks strutting like royalty through a garden, a mynah trapped behind a balcony net, painted storks holding still against a vast Bharatpur sky. The ornithologist Salim Ali makes an appearance too — "a migratory bird himself." Each bird is different on the surface, but underneath, they share one thing: the ongoing choice and privilege to be free.


]]>f387878d-950d-4c36-a71b-9b75cc15e5daFri, 11 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +053015:27falsefull44The Soul on MusicThe Soul on MusicRia grew up alive to sound—a Casio keyboard's pre-recorded violin rendition of "Greensleeves," the family ritual of watching Chitrahaar on Doordarshan, the menacing tone of Ring a Ring o'Roses. Long before she had words for it, she was being shaped by everything she heard. This essay moves through the sounds of a childhood: a timeless Mohammed Rafi song, the roar of the Arabian Sea, the hymns sung at the school assembly, the vibration of a piano felt through a wooden stage on a birthday morning. This is an invitation to step into one girl's sonic landscape and feel the vibration of the original symphony.

"Likhe jo khat tujhe, jo teri yaad mein, hazaaron rang ke, nazaare ban gaye," lyrics by Neeraj, from "Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe," Kanyadaan (1968), music by Shankar-Jaikishan, sung by Mohammed Rafi.


]]>Ria grew up alive to sound—a Casio keyboard's pre-recorded violin rendition of "Greensleeves," the family ritual of watching Chitrahaar on Doordarshan, the menacing tone of Ring a Ring o'Roses. Long before she had words for it, she was being shaped by everything she heard. This essay moves through the sounds of a childhood: a timeless Mohammed Rafi song, the roar of the Arabian Sea, the hymns sung at the school assembly, the vibration of a piano felt through a wooden stage on a birthday morning. This is an invitation to step into one girl's sonic landscape and feel the vibration of the original symphony.

"Likhe jo khat tujhe, jo teri yaad mein, hazaaron rang ke, nazaare ban gaye," lyrics by Neeraj, from "Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe," Kanyadaan (1968), music by Shankar-Jaikishan, sung by Mohammed Rafi.


]]>4fb8b799-ce1c-4c01-9a8c-c4482cbe061dFri, 28 Aug 2026 15:00:00 +053013:18falsefull33Baby Steps in Balcony GardeningBaby Steps in Balcony GardeningRia had killed every plant she'd ever owned — marigolds, money plants, snake plants, succulents — and had accepted her ineptitude at growing things. Then her son asked how onions grow, setting in motion one family's first season of gardening: an onion propped up in a glass of water with mismatched forks, basil that dies and returns, an avocado that arrives bruised and speaks a deeper truth. This is a meditation on tending — to plants, to a child's curiosity, to yourself.

A Book Of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry

]]>Ria had killed every plant she'd ever owned — marigolds, money plants, snake plants, succulents — and had accepted her ineptitude at growing things. Then her son asked how onions grow, setting in motion one family's first season of gardening: an onion propped up in a glass of water with mismatched forks, basil that dies and returns, an avocado that arrives bruised and speaks a deeper truth. This is a meditation on tending — to plants, to a child's curiosity, to yourself.

A Book Of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry

]]>34bac4d8-3d33-4244-a61c-825b3ce20586Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:00:00 +053016:16falsefull22Fashion for the SoulFashion for the SoulEpisode 1: Fashion for the Soul — How the way we dress shapes who we become

For most of her life, Ria wore a uniform of some kind — school uniforms, corporate dress codes, and the informal codes of every season of life. Then, in her 40s, the uniform disappeared. For the first time, there was no dress code. The question that followed was harder than it looked: who am I, and what am I craving?

This episode follows one woman's journey back to herself through fabric, silhouette, and colour — from a childhood bracelet of jasmine flowers at India Gate to barrel-leg trousers that changed how she writes. Along the way, a quiet argument forms: that fashion is not frivolous. That what we wear shapes who we become. That dressing with intention might be one of the most honest things a woman can do.

"I want to unfold. I don't want to be folded anywhere, because where I am folded, there I am a lie." — Rainer Maria Rilke, from Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy (Riverhead Books, 1996)

Asta/Aastha

Tibi Style Class

Enclothed cognition study

Oziss

Unrush

Suta

Nicobar

Fab India

]]>Episode 1: Fashion for the Soul — How the way we dress shapes who we become

For most of her life, Ria wore a uniform of some kind — school uniforms, corporate dress codes, and the informal codes of every season of life. Then, in her 40s, the uniform disappeared. For the first time, there was no dress code. The question that followed was harder than it looked: who am I, and what am I craving?

This episode follows one woman's journey back to herself through fabric, silhouette, and colour — from a childhood bracelet of jasmine flowers at India Gate to barrel-leg trousers that changed how she writes. Along the way, a quiet argument forms: that fashion is not frivolous. That what we wear shapes who we become. That dressing with intention might be one of the most honest things a woman can do.

"I want to unfold. I don't want to be folded anywhere, because where I am folded, there I am a lie." — Rainer Maria Rilke, from Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy (Riverhead Books, 1996)

Asta/Aastha

Tibi Style Class

Enclothed cognition study

Oziss

Unrush

Suta

Nicobar

Fab India

]]>78d3d3c4-35a1-4c78-9b5e-7bec12debf2cWed, 29 Jul 2026 15:00:00 +053021:02falsefull11