Dr Taruna Chakravorty PhD – A Life Without Borders | Episode 11

Описание: In this episode of Manthan with Saraswathi, we feature the inspiring journey of Ms. Taruna Chakravorty, wife of the Indian Ambassador to Indonesia.

Born in Pune and raised across India and the world—from Nigeria to Spain, Lima to New York—Taruna calls herself a woman with branches, not roots.

Her life is a story of courage and constant reinvention. She has worn many hats—therapist, business executive, teacher, entrepreneur, interpreter, homemaker—and embraced every twist with grit and grace.
Even as a new mother of twins, she earned a gold-medal master’s degree, later completing a PhD in Spanish Literature across three continents.

Today, as a life coach, Taruna helps others find happiness and self-belief, proving that the ordinary can be extraordinary when you dare to step out of your comfort zone.

Don’t miss this episode—her story will leave you inspired to chase your dreams, no matter where life takes you.

Do watch, like, share and subscribe to her channel and watch other episodes 🙏🏻👍
The beautiful sari that Taruna ji is wearing is a Tulis batik sari made in Indonesia by Monica Mahendroo. A beautiful blend of India and Indonesian traditional print.
Taruna ji memoir :
Sharing My Story / A Journey Called Life / Lessons from Life
It has never been easy for me to answer that most innocuous of questions, “Where are you from?” My family is from undivided Bihar, but I have never lived there. I was born in Pune, studied in Gujarat, Nigeria, Ranchi, Lucknow, Delhi, Spain, Dhaka, Lima and New York. Moving so frequently, I have not been able to put down roots anywhere, so instead, I have grown branches, taking in lessons and experiences wherever and whenever I could. Just as fluid as my movements, have been my education and professional callings. Like many, I have had no clear trajectory or pathway in life, and have had my fair share of misstarts, failures, frustrations and disappointments. I have been a therapist, a business executive, a travel agent, an entrepreneur, an interpreter, a teacher, and a homemaker, and committed to all the other social roles having a family implies. My life has been many things, but what it hasn’t been is a smooth journey on a clear road, with a well defined destination. What has kept me going, pushing boundaries and taking myself out of my comfort zone is the belief that even if things don’t work out, I will at least have no regrets about never having tried. And either way, I will have learnt something.
In this, my self-confidence, self esteem and the determination to not be overwhelmed by adversity have helped immensely. With time, I learnt to look at issues objectively, and am now seldom perturbed by things that can become hurdles in everyday living. An example would be my decision to go back to university for my master’s degree soon after becoming a mother to twin girls.
In spite of being the only student with substantially greater responsibilities than the others, I graduated top of my class and won a gold medal. I then took up teaching at Delhi University while managing my domestic responsibilities and professional commitments. Then, no longer content with just a master’s degree, I plunged into a doctoral programme. But life is always throwing spanners into wheels, and from the moment I registered for my PhD until I obtained the degree, I moved to three continents. As you can imagine, this severely complicated my studies and research. But I kept at it and completed my PhD in a foreign language on a feminist topic in a very contemporary genre in Spanish Literature. I did all this despite my multiple responsibilities as the spouse of a diplomat, and severely constraining social commitments.
Getting past this series of seemingly endless speedbumps set me thinking—I overcame so many challenges but there are many who do not, or cannot. They are overwhelmed by the thought of taking risks, and do not step out of their comfort zone. These thoughts convinced me that rather than taking on a career as a teacher, which I have loved doing in the past, I would follow my heart and take up a course of study that would help me help others. I felt like I would be more useful to society and my community if I could share my experiences and learnings, which have more often than not, been taught by life. To that end, I completed a course on life coaching while I was in New York, and here I am today, by giving talks and conducting sessions to help people lead their happiest lives. Even the ordinary can become extraordinary with self belief, inner conviction, a sense of service and the pursuit of happiness. I have begun this new journey in the hope that others will travel with me. People’s lives could be happier and so much more fulfilled with just a little bit of guidance.
The best part of this is, you don’t need to pack, and I have a map.