About this episode

We discuss another relevant topic with Dhana, Balancing work – both at home and at work. We discuss it over the next two episodes. In this part 1, we explore what does the term “balancing” mean to a woman, and the challenges she faces around that, especially when she is single.

True equality means both partners sharing not just work hours but also household duties equally. Work-life balance is often unfairly defined for women—focusing on home and children—while men experience it differently. Women are frequently denied recognition at work, with promotions seen as unnecessary since they're not the "breadwinners." Dhana reiterates that, to create a lasting change, gender roles must be challenged at home, starting with involving children equally in chores.

If you missed listening to those, please do check out and listen to them.

Happy listening.

If you would love to read more details on this episode, click here

About Season 1

In Season 1 of this new series, we talk to Dhanalaxmi (Dhana), who shares with us her journey as a single mom, who had to rebuild her family and career from scratch after separating from her husband many years into the marriage. In the first three episodes of this season, Dhana talked about her sudden transition from a happy married wife to a single mom with two kids. In the next two episodes, she shared in detail her experiences and challenges on parenting.

More about Dhana - Ms. Dhana, in her own words, is a woman of many identities: a mother of two humans and a dog, a single mom, a Chartered accountant, professional, career woman, entrepreneur, homemaker, gardener, race-car driver, cardiac attack survivor and so on… ! Currently she is working in the sales division of a leading multinational software firm.

About New Indian Woman

Welcome to the New Indian Woman podcast relaunch in 2025, in a new format. In this new series, we continue our discussions with successful and inspiring women and learn from their experiences in different areas of their life and work. We discuss specific topics with each one of them to know about the challenges she faced, the approach she took to overcome them, and the learnings and insights derived from her experience. The conversations are structured as a bunch of short episodes grouped into different seasons.

About this episode

In the first three episodes of this series, Dhana talked about her sudden transition from a happy married wife and homemaker to a single mom with two kids and nothing else in hand facing the challenge of rebuilding her family and career from scratch. She took us through the different phases of her life during that period - her confusions during the initial phase of her separation, followed by her relocating to a new city with the kids and taking up a new job, dealing with her health issues, seeking help when needed especially with respect to the children’s education and so on.

In the last episode which was the part 4 of this series, she shared her experience of parenting as a single mom, the joys and pains of it, the questions, confusions, and how she dealt with them.

In this episode, i.e. part 5 of this series, we are continuing with the discussion on parenting. Dhana explains how she went about discussing her marriage with her son, and how she dealt with her vulnerabilities in that context. She talks about her conversations with her son about the reasons behind life decisions and choices that one would have to make. She stresses on the importance of giving space to the children, getting out of their way when needed, making them capable to face the consequences of their decisions and so on. She also talks about the need to stay open before children, the importance of having an ability to listen to them, and allowing them to critique you.

Happy listening.

If you would love to read more details on this episode, click here

About New Indian Woman

Welcome to the New Indian Woman podcast relaunch in 2025, in a new format. In this new series, we will continue our discussions with successful and inspiring women and learn from their experiences in different areas of their life and work. We will discuss specific topics with each one of them to know about the challenges she faced, the approach she took to overcome them, and the learnings and insights derived from her experience. The conversations are structured as a series of short episodes grouped into different seasons.

About Season 1

In Season 1 of this new series, we talk to Dhanalaxmi (Dhana), who shares with us her journey as a single mom, who had to rebuild her family and career from scratch after separating from her husband many years into the marriage. She takes us through the experiences she had to go through in the most difficult phase of her life and shares the valuable lessons and insights she learnt from it. Each episode of this season will deal with a specific topic or part of her journey, and discuss in detail the various aspects of her experiences and learnings from there.

More about Dhana - Ms. Dhana, in her own words, is a woman of many identities: a mother of two humans and a dog, a single mom, a Chartered accountant, professional, career woman, entrepreneur, homemaker, gardener, race-car driver, cardiac attack survivor and so on… ! Currently she is working in the sales division of a leading multinational software firm.

About this episode

In the first three episodes of this series, Dhana talked about her sudden transition from a happy married wife and homemaker to a single mom with two kids and nothing else in hand facing the challenge of rebuilding her family and career from scratch. She took us through the different phases of her life during that period - her confusions during the initial phase of her separation, followed by her relocating to a new city with the kids and taking up a new job, dealing with her health issues, seeking help when needed especially with respect to the children’s education and so on.

In this episode which is the part 4 of this series, she shares her experience of parenting as a single mom, the joys and pains of it, the questions, confusions, and how she dealt with them. Can a single parent look at the situation as something that can have a positive impact? What does it take to bring up the children as independent thinkers who can take their own decisions? In a regular marriage, are both parents equally responsible for rearing the children? She stresses on the importance of having an open communication channel with the children, involving them in decision making, talking about issues openly etc.

Happy listening.

If you would love to read on this episode, click here - https://www.thenewindianwoman.com/post/parenting-when-you-have-to-do-it-as-a-single-parent

About New Indian Woman

Welcome to the New Indian Woman podcast relaunch in 2025, in a new format. In this new series, we will continue our discussions with successful and inspiring women and learn from their experiences in different areas of their life and work. We will discuss specific topics with each one of them to know about the challenges she faced, the approach she took to overcome them, and the learnings and insights derived from her experience. The conversations are structured as a series of short episodes grouped into different seasons.

About Season 1

In Season 1 of this new series, we talk to Dhanalaxmi (Dhana), who shares with us her journey as a single mom, who had to rebuild her family and career from scratch after separating from her husband many years into the marriage. She takes us through the experiences she had to go through in the most difficult phase of her life and shares the valuable lessons and insights she learnt from it. Each episode of this season will deal with a specific topic or part of her journey, and discuss in detail the various aspects of her experiences and learnings from there.

More about Dhana - Ms. Dhana, in her own words, is a woman of many identities: a mother of two humans and a dog, a single mom, a Chartered accountant, professional, career woman, entrepreneur, homemaker, gardener, race-car driver, cardiac attack survivor and so on… ! Currently she is working in the sales division of a leading multinational software firm.

About New Indian Woman

Welcome to the New Indian Woman podcast relaunch in 2025, in a new format. In this new series, we will continue our discussions with successful and inspiring women and learn from their experiences in different areas of their life and work. We will discuss specific topics with each one of them to know about the challenges she faced, the approach she took to overcome them, and the learnings and insights derived from her experience. The conversations are structured as a series of short episodes grouped into different seasons.

About Season 1

In Season 1 of this new series, we talk to Dhanalaxmi (Dhana), who shares with us her journey as a single mom, who had to rebuild her family and career from scratch after separating from her husband many years into the marriage. She takes us through the experiences she had to go through in the most difficult phase of her life and shares the valuable lessons and insights she learnt from it. Each episode of this season will deal with a specific topic or part of her journey, and discuss in detail the various aspects of her experiences and learnings from there.

More about Dhana - Ms. Dhana, in her own words, is a woman of many identities: a mother of two humans and a dog, a single mom, a Chartered accountant, professional, career woman, entrepreneur, homemaker, gardener, race-car driver, cardiac attack survivor and so on… ! Currently she is working in the sales division of a leading multinational software firm.

About this episode

In the first episode of this series, Dhana talked about her sudden transition from a happy married wife and homemaker to a single mom with two kids and nothing else in hand facing the challenge of rebuilding her family and career from scratch. At the end of that episode, she said that she was confident about being able to raise her children despite the challenges in her career.

In the next episode - part 2 of this series, she took us through the next phase of her life in Pune where she took up a new job, and the challenges she faced there!

In this episode which is the part 3 of this series, Dhana shares her experience of rearing her children alone and dealing with her health. She also shares her feelings about how she has shaped her life, and how her spiritual guru guided her in that journey!

Happy listening.

If you would love to read more details on this episode, click here

About New Indian Woman

Welcome to the New Indian Woman podcast relaunch in 2025, in a new format. In this new series, we will continue our discussions with successful and inspiring women and learn from their experiences in different areas of their life and work. We will discuss specific topics with each one of them to know about the challenges she faced, the approach she took to overcome them, and the learnings and insights derived from her experience. The conversations are structured as a series of short episodes grouped into different seasons.

About Season 1

In Season 1 of this new series, we talk to Dhanalaxmi (Dhana), who shares with us her journey as a single mom, who had to rebuild her family and career from scratch after separating from her husband many years into the marriage. She takes us through the experiences she had to go through in the most difficult phase of her life and shares the valuable lessons and insights she learnt from it. Each episode of this season will deal with a specific topic or part of her journey, and discuss in detail the various aspects of her experiences and learnings from there.

More about Dhana - Ms. Dhana, in her own words, is a woman of many identities: a mother of two humans and a dog, a single mom, a Chartered accountant, professional, career woman, entrepreneur, homemaker, gardener, race-car driver, cardiac attack survivor and so on… ! Currently she is working in the sales division of a leading multinational software firm.

About this episode

In the previous episode which was the part 1 of this series, Dhana talked about her sudden transition from a happy married wife and homemaker to a single mom with two kids and nothing else in hand facing the challenge of rebuilding her family and career from scratch. At the end of that episode, she said that she was confident about being able to raise her children despite the challenges in her career.

In this episode which is the part 2 of this series, she continues her story by explaining how she had arrived at the decision to separate after deliberating for more than two years and talks about being alone, feeling insecure, scared, helpless and finally seeking help! She takes us through the next phase of her life in Pune where she takes up a new job, and the challenges that await her there!

Happy listening.

If you would love to read more details on this episode , click here -

https://www.thenewindianwoman.com/post/journey-of-a-single-mom-a-conversation-with-dhana-continues