IAS Nidhi Chaudhary leads at NGMA Mumbai. The session was inside the National Gallery of Modern Art, built 1911, UNESCO Grade I heritage. Gandhi once spoke from within those walls. She did not begin with a speech. She asked students to introduce themselves. Not where they were from. Something real.
Her background:
- 14 years IAS. Previously at RBI and CAG. Currently Director NGMA Mumbai. Paints.
- First poem in Rajasthan Patrika at age 10 (father submitted it)
- UPSC: caesarean 2 April, exam 23 April, interview around son’s first birthday, results on her birthday
- Sister: Inspector General of Police, Ahmedabad, Brother helped her and that’s when she got campus placement Airbus.
- All 3 siblings cleared UPSC first attempt. Government schools, pursued in Hindi medium without any coaching.
- From rural Rajasthan where child marriage was common. She has pursued creative writing course without any guidance!
- Second girl in college history to contest student union election. She won and 4 boys from her caste put forward against her.
On managing time: does not eat after sunset. Does not attend social events (or leaves in 20 minutes). Few friends, stated as fact. Audiobooks to read while doing other things. Less sleep than average. Writes or paints in the morning window. Missed almost every school event her sons had. During COVID: coordinating oxygen tankers across Maharashtra. She is trying to miss fewer now.
A student from Zimbabwe was in the room (law exchange). A KBC finalist from computer science asked about general knowledge. A student doing computer applications, writing fiction since 7th standard, asked about being ruthless with yourself vs finding balance.
On criticism: I cry a lot. I eat a lot. The hardest part: being judged as someone you are not. In college, she wrote about sex education for Rajasthan Patrika in a conservative town. Someone cut the article out and pinned copies on every notice board. People gathered and pulled it apart. She felt sick. She does not think writing it was wrong.
On not giving up: JK Rowling rejected repeatedly. KFC founder found success in his 70s. If we give up in between, probably we are giving up on a shining star that was about to come. For being a writer, there is no clock.
“Pain is inevitable if you want to be a writer. Feel it. Do not push through it too quickly.”
On timelessness: Hampi, overflowing with precious stones, destroyed 1565, mostly forgotten. Film stars with blood-soaked handkerchief notes from fans, names slowly disappearing. Her conclusion: be honest, be authentic, do the work. Whether it lasts is not your department.
UPSC advice: limit to 2-3 serious attempts. Treat the syllabus as learning the country. Even those who do not pass come out more developed.
Student feedback: her honest thoughts on mistakes, self-doubt, risk-taking, and authenticity encouraged us to start without waiting for perfection. Students who are actively searching for journalistic possibilities after 12th, pursue BA in Journalism & Communication program from Parul University and get to work for the top media & publishing companies of India!
Dr Ujwala Chakradeo at SNDT Women's University
Dr Ujwala Chakradeo from SNDT: first and largest women’s university in South Asia. VC since 2021. PhD from VNIT. 11 PhDs guided. Most influential women in Indian education 2024. Nearly four decades in architecture and education.
At the students’ age, she had no idea what she wanted. She knew she did not want medicine. Father drove her to a medical college in Kolhapur. On the way back, silence. Then: if you force me, I will go somewhere else.
Her timeline – Married at 22, MTech in evening classes, PhD from same institution, spent 37 years at one institution and left a pensionable government job for lower salary. People might say she was not dynamic. Her priority was family. She did not want to go away from her children.
At her VC felicitation, she realised: she was always an educator of women. The field was architecture but the deeper calling was the women. The college has 500 students, the organisation has 5,000, and SNDT serves over 1 lakh students across India.
On burnout: conflict between what you do and what you want. Not the work. She posts a 300-word blog (Varanasi ghat that morning) before reaching office. Whatever difficulty arrives comes to someone who has already made their morning good.
On stillness: count 5 breaths. That is all. After years of training, she still fails. Her mind goes elsewhere. The practice of attempting is itself the thing. On feminism she loudly said: Indian feminism differs from Western waves. The family is deeply evolved. The mother is often the actual head. Individualism from frustration concerns her. If you want to break away, know what it costs. What calls you? What makes you internally happy?
Student feedback: the session highlighted women’s education, the balance required in feminism, and the need for clarity and purpose in life choices. If you too believe that your voice can be the next big face in the world of journalism, pursue MA in Mass Communication and Journalism from Parul University!
Vikram Poddar: Naruto, AI as Editor, Mind Mapping, Three Layers, and 19 Months Without a Show
Vikram Poddar is the Founder, Code Humor Comedy. Clients: HDFC, Nomura, Unilever, Vodafone, Accenture, WPP, PwC, Standard Chartered. None shortlisted him when he was trying to break into standup. He is the proud author of Funny Control (Economic Times, Mint). His biggest fear is quite shocking: people laughing at his poetry and crying at his comedy.
His definition of writing comes from expansion and compression. A stone into a web series. A web series into a stone. Harry Potter in one line: an orphan boy discovers he is really a wizard. Change discovers to believes. Story becomes delusion. Places him in a mental institution. He rides a broom in the courtyard. He breaks out. He finds an audience. He becomes Joker.
The arranged marriage tweet exercise: the biggest lie is you are a modern family with traditional values. Three layers: the stone (idea), the specific lie named, the deeper observation (hypocrisy). One tweet expands into articles, essays, op-eds and many more forms of content pieces.
He argued: WhatsApp messages, LinkedIn comments, PowerPoint presentations, resignation emails are all writing. Screenshot culture means casual writing carries real stakes. Humor spreads faster than outrage (referenced Richard Dawkins‘s meme definition).
Mind mapping exercise: built a character from the word college. Used Mohabbatein (Shah Rukh Khan) and Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen) as character references. Core lesson: characteristics come first, plot comes lastly and changed one character trait and the entire story flipped.
The journalism example: a water crisis can be data points and statistics, or it can be farmer Raju, 37, staring at a dry well. His wife offers the journalist a glass of water – possibly the last clean water in the household. The same news. One version makes the reader feel it differently.
Three layers in every piece of writing: the character (who you create), the writer (what perspective you bring), the person (who you actually are). His father from a small village where no one graduated, who taught himself English out of determination. That personal truth gives writing its texture.
Naruto framework for creative growth:
- Ninjutsu: environment and natural ability
- Genjutsu: navigating relationships and opportunities
- Taijutsu: relentless, repetitive practice
His Ramayana as an Investment Banker standup bit came from corporate insider knowledge. In 2009, only about 60 comedians existed in India. On TLDR moment and Substack: short content builds reach, long content builds relationships. On AI: write the piece yourself. Paste into AI. Ask how it sounds. Do not copy suggestions. Before speeches: ask AI what makes your writing obviously not written by a human. If everyone uses AI, AI writing is baseline, not differentiator.
19 consecutive months of cancelled shows, father in hospital, lost his voice. Each time he went back to the stage, he looked for one moment that almost worked. Not a laugh. Not a nod, he built from that kernel. On silence: not failure. Timing comes from the pause.
On cringe: it comes from trying to be someone you are not. On punching down: never felt the need. Finds humor in situations and contradictions (smoking joke about passive smokers getting harm without the joy). On a COVID-era mentor who passed: there was no next time. Where did I see myself 5 years ago and what did I do about it?
Student feedback: learning about mind maps, humor, and experimenting across formats inspired us to think creatively and push boundaries in our writing.
Saurabh Bajaj at Crossword and Diya Sen Gupta at Juhu Reads
Saurabh Bajaj (IIM Indore): physicist aspiration to marketer to author. Around 40, life shifts from achievement to contribution. At 45, the question paper of your life gets leaked. Before writing a book: build an audience, test ideas online, find your reader. Security is the biggest barrier to growth.
Student feedback: it encouraged strategic thinking, self-reflection, and long-term vision in creative and professional journeys.
Diya Sen Gupta (Juhu Reads): voluntary reading community inspired by Cubbon Reads. Weekly silent reading sessions. She likes screen-free space as she believes great writers begin as committed readers. Reading together is silent, but never lonely. Books connect strangers without a single conversation.
Student feedback: it reinforced that reading spaces offer a rare sense of presence in a screen-driven world.
- Screen-free reading helps build focus and attention span
- Shared silence can create strong community bonds
- Reading consistently shapes thinking and writing ability
- Books act as a bridge between strangers without interaction
BA Psychology at Parul University is designed for the students who wants to build a career in analytical, research, and interpersonal skills, preparing them for careers in counseling, healthcare, education, and organizational psychology.
- Focus on human behavior and cognitive understanding
- Builds strong research and analytical foundations
- Develops interpersonal and communication skills
- Opens pathways in counseling, HR, education, and healthcare sectors
Read more on Parul University Practical Exposure
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you have a creative career alongside IAS?
IAS Nidhi Chaudhry: 14 years IAS, previously RBI and CAG, poetry since age 10, Director NGMA, paints. Writes in the morning window. Extreme time management: no eating after sunset, no social events (20 min max), audiobooks, less sleep. The creative work fits in the margins.
How should writers use AI?
Vikram Poddar: write first yourself. Paste into AI, ask how it sounds. Do not copy. Before speeches: ask what makes this obviously not human. If everyone uses AI the same way, it is baseline not differentiator. Your experience and perspective set you apart.
What causes burnout in creative careers?
Dr Chakradeo (SNDT): conflict between what you do and what you want. Not the work. Solution: do something you love every morning before the professional day. She posts a 300-word blog before reaching office. Count 5 breaths. Even she fails after years of practice.
How do you keep going after repeated failure?
Vikram Poddar: 19 months cancelled shows. Father in hospital. Lost voice. Each time went back. Found one nod. Built from it. IAS Nidhi Chaudhry: JK Rowling rejected repeatedly. KFC founder succeeded in his 70s. If we give up, we may be giving up on a shining star about to come. For being a writer, there is no clock.
