Ms. Madhuri Gada On Work-Life Balance

Chatting With Ms Madhuri Gada

Famous Parenting brings a multi-faceted and creative professional who enjoys her motherhood as much as her work for last many years. Ms. Madhuri Gada, Content Head – Special Interests and Devotional Services at Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd.

She has been instrumental in producing & marketing lifestyle, devotional and educational video programs at Shemaroo for the past 10 years.

This is one of a series of interviews of famous Indian women.

She has award winning films ‘Chanakya Speaks’ and ‘Indian food wisdom’(Rujuta Diwekar).  Educational films for pre-schoolers, Shipla Shetty’s Yoga and Workouts with Bipasha Basu.  Plus International best-selling films like ‘The Secret’ and ‘You can heal your life’ to her credit.

A student of Vedanta with Chinmaya Mission, Ms Madhuri Gada aspires to bring simple Vedanta knowledge into education for children in schools so that the future generations have a strong spiritual foundation.

Dance, Drama and Spirituality

Her Childhood passion for dance and drama, always got her winning many inter-school and inter-college dance and drama competitions. She is currently pursuing Kathak Dance training with ‘Nrityanidhi’, a spiritual dance institute headed by Guru Shoma Kaikini.

Her Love for nature draws her to the mountains and trekking the peaks is one of her passions.

An MBA from IIM Lucknow, her motto of bringing meaningful success, health, wealth and happiness to billions reflects in all the projects she takes up.

Madhuri recently completed her spiritual journey to Kailash Mansarovar.

Here is a candid chat with this very busy yet stress free mom and professional, Ms Madhuri Gada.

Please connect the dots of your childhood that make you the person you are.

My mother and my maasi (Mom’s Sister) have been my biggest motivators since childhood which makes me what I am today.  As a child, they taught me to be honest with myself first in everything I do.

They encouraged me to explore my talents and work hard to do well at all my extracurricular activities.  This included studies which has helped me till this day.

Ms Madhuri Gada says its important to keep exploring yourself and working hard in whatever you take up.

Ms Madhuri Gada, how has your formal education shaped your life?

I had a convent education and the values taught by the nuns and missionaries have helped me shape my life.

Along with the subjects Maths, Science, English, Hindi, History, Geography etc. which are taught in every school there is more.  In this education system the stress on value education was so strong that it has deep impacts on my life even today.

“Technology can enable women to find their true voice. Technology, if used for self-growth, can offer avenues to women which were unavailable earlier”. 

Why just women….. I believe the right use of technology can help transform and grow all individuals.  Technology can open newer dimensions of growth …physical, mental and spiritual for everyone.

How has your motherhood contributed to you as an individual and as a woman who loves her work? 

Motherhood made me more aware of what LOVE and RESPONSIBILITY means. It has also helped me carry that same essence of love and responsibility back to my work, with my colleagues and subordinates.

Ms Madhuri Gada loves her work and says motherhood has helped her understand TIME MANAGEMENT.  This means being more productive and thus manage work and home to the best of my ability.

Ms Madhuri Gada tell us about your Professional Journey. What is the secret of establishing a much needed work life balance?

I work in the media and entertainment industry in a unique role of heading the content production of lifestyle, edutainment and devotional videos.  These are telecast on internet platforms like Youtube and the devotional videos on TV.

I love this role as it gives me creative expression and the opportunity to try out unique things.  Ms Madhuri Gada feels satisfeied that this content would be helping someone better their lives.

It has been a challenge to maintain the much needed work-life balance for me over these years. Honestly, till a few years back work had taken priority over family many times.

All I can say is that I am very fortunate to have a supportive family as my in-laws have stepped in to help.  They have been there to support me and taken on the house responsibilities, which enables me to focus more on work.

As for my children, I do try my level best to carve out quality time for them.   As a working mother I do question myself … is it enough?

There is one important thing I have always been strong about…. I have NEVER HAVE GUILT because I am a working mother that I don’t give enough time to the children.  I think this has helped my kids look up to me and respect me for what I do and for being as honest as I can be towards them.

Please share your Kailash Mansarovar experience with us.  How did you decide to take up this divine journey fraught with difficulties?

I have just visited Kailash & Mansarovar this August with Isha Foundation – my guru, Sadguru. The energy emitted by this place has given me so many subtle benefits, that they can be only felt by being there.

The hardships of the journey to reach the destination dissolve when you first catch sight of the mountain. After reaching it all I wanted to do was to embrace it and never leave.

Alas, we have to return to our mundane lives but I ensure to remember Kailash at least once a day to feel re-energised.  It refreshes me and makes me stronger and happier.

Talk about three people who have had the most profound influence on you.

I will take the liberty to make it four.

My Mother

Her push, encouragement and support in everything I wanted to do, inspite of monetary constraints is unforgettable.

There was always a YES in her dictionary for anything I wanted to do. Seeing her positivity in everything, has made me a POSITIVE person too.

My Husband

My friend, philosopher and guide. He is my mirror who has shown me my good side and bad side and has patiently helped me overcome my weaknesses.

My personality that I possess today, is an outcome of his ardent support and love that he has for me and I have for him.

Sadguru

It is believed that when the Shishya is ready, the guru arrives. Ms Madhuri Gada says that’s how she found her Guru.

Sadguru is the founder of Isha foundation and he initiated my husband and me into an ancient yogic practice called ‘Shambhavi Mahamudra’.  Taking my spiritual journey to a completely new level, this experience has changed the way I interact with the outside world completely. There is just so much joy within me and this joy is automatically spread around me and it is a blissful life.

Nidhi Chaitanya

Brahmacharini with Chinmaya Mission. I find myself fortunate to have the blessings of one more guru – in Nidhi ji.

She is my Vedanta Guru and has helped me to understand how to live spirituality with practicality. Also how to apply the teachings of Vedanta in a practical way in day to day life.

Your philosophy of life in a sentence.

Love, Love, Love – anyone and everyone, anything and everything that comes my way. Love is only language according to Ms Madhuri Gada.

Live life without judgment or expectations of anybody or anything.

Be instrumental in bringing meaningful success, health, wealth and happiness in the lives of everyone you connect with.

Tell us about your future plans Ms Madhuri Gada.

I will continue to work in my existing role but I want to give more of my time working in the education sector to train teachers. This is especially important in the communication space at School and College levels.

We need effective communication skills in teachers to deal with the complex nature of today’s child as well as all other stakeholders. It is a long term project but I intend to start small.  Over the next two to three years my plan is to build it slowly and steadily.

Moreover, I will give more time to my ‘Kathak dance learning’ and ‘running’ which are my childhood passions. The older I get… the fitter I get.

What would you like to convey to those moms who have dreams and ideas but feel bogged down by family and social responsibilities.

I actually started working full time once my elder daughter was around 3 years old. One of my biggest realisation was that if I did not start then it would be very difficult for me to get into any professional stream once I grew older.

I could foresee the emptiness I would feel in my life my kids cross 15 yrs of age as they are so independent already.  They definitely do not like their mother being around them all the time. I was very sure that I did not want to feel empty, once my kids charted their own course.

As my own individual self with dreams, desires and wants to achieve I wanted my daughters this so that they too could aspire to succeed in life.

Ms Madhuri Gada would like to convey to all moms… please don’t overdo it by being around your kids all the time.

If you truly enjoy your housewife role, Great! , But if you really have desires to explore your talents and do something additional which is dear to you and meaningful to you…. just take the courage to take the first step.

Everything else will fall into place. Going on a Guilt Trip is the biggest culprit which holds most moms back from following their dreams. Drop that and you can balance both worlds for sure.

We have more interviews for you to read here.