The Culture That Hurt Me Will Heal Me: Leaving London for Kerala

Healing Trauma with Ancient Indian Feminist Wisdom in Kerala Why am I leaving my safe London life, packing away my podcast awards and returning to the very culture that traumatised me? After 11 years in my beautiful canalside flat, I am giving away 70% of my belongings, shedding my "London Sangeeta" identity, and taking nothing with me but my mother’s burnt orange silk sari. I am going back to the lush green backwaters of Kerala. In this deeply vulnerable bridging episode, I am opening up about a mystical vision in a Kerala temple that changed the entire trajectory of my life. For years on Masala Podcast, we have talked about the cultural taboos that damage South Asian women. Now, we are entering a new era. Modern women are exhausted. We are burnt out by a misogynistic world that masquerades as progressive, constantly telling us we are never enough. To survive, we have to stop playing by their rules. Over the next six solo episodes, we are going to explore ancient Indian feminist wisdom to heal modern feminist issues. We will dive into the raw, unapologetic power of the fierce goddesses—and learn how to re-wild ourselves. The culture that hurt me is going to heal me. I want to be guided by the Goddess on this new path and I want to be your guide, if you’ll let me. In this episode, we explore: The emotional cost of decluttering and leaving my life in the UK. Why I rejected Kerala and the Malayalam language for 50 years. A profound spiritual vision of my grandmother that told me: "I am the temple." Escaping the traps of patriarchal brainwashing and capitalist wellness. What to expect in this brand new season of Masala Podcast. MY FREE 5-DAY "BAD DAUGHTER" COURSE! Resources & Links I've mentioned on this episode: ✨ My Substack piece on the power of female anger in the Serpent Temple: 📖 My inspiring memoir, Bad Daughter 🌿 Follow my journey moving to Kerala on Instagram: @SoulSutras Let me know what you think of this new direction! Email me at [email protected] or send me a DM on Instagram. ⏱️ Episode Chapters: 0:00 - The Burnt Orange Sari & Leaving London 01:30 - Decluttering 21 Years & Leaving My Trophies 03:15 - Why I Rejected Kerala For 50 Years 05:00 - A Mystical Vision in the Temple 07:30 - Shedding My "London Sangeeta" Identity 09:15 - Discovering Raw Goddess Energy 11:00 - Modern Feminist Issues & Patriarchal Brainwashing 12:45 - Re-wilding Ourselves with Ancient Wisdom 14:30 - What's Coming Next on Masala Podcast 15:30 - Taking My Mother Back to Kerala ABOUT MASALA PODCAST: Masala Podcast (winner of 6 British Podcast Awards, 1 Audio Product Award & Spotify SoundUp Award) is the UK's biggest South Asian feminist podcast. Created and hosted by Sangeeta Pillai, this is a highly respected podcast exploring intersectional feminist topics around culture, sex, sexuality, menopause, periods, trauma and fierce feminist rebellion. Sangeeta and Masala Podcast have been been featured extensively in the press from BBC Radio, Guardian, Metro, Cosmopolitan, Evening Standard, Stylist, Eastern Eye to Huffington Post. As well as on giant billboards in New York, London, Dublin, Cardiff & Glasgow.