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Episode 122: From Good Girl to Goddess. Reclaiming Culture, Faith & Self with The Hindu Grandma

In this heartfelt and intergenerational episode, host Dr. Payal Patel Ghayal sits down with Ranjani Saigal, the creator of the viral platform @thehindugrandma, to explore how South Asian women can rediscover spiritual depth beyond cultural conditioning.

Together they unpack what it means to pass down Hindu wisdom to the next generation without passing down guilt, perfectionism, or pressure. They reflect on how tradition, feminism, and identity can coexist—and how women can finally release the “good girl” expectations to embrace joy, freedom, and self-love.

This episode blends laughter, storytelling, and truth bombs—reminding listeners that honoring our roots and honoring ourselves can, and must, go hand in hand.

Ranjani Saigal is the founder of @thehindugrandma, a social media platform with over 200K followers dedicated to sharing Hindu wisdom with the next generation.

Raised in a deeply religious family and trained in Sanskrit and the Gayatri Pariwar lineage as a qualified Purohita, she has conducted Hindu weddings and authored the children’s book My First Om.
As Executive Director of the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation USA, she leads efforts supporting over 100,000 rural schools serving 2.8 million children across India and pioneered Ekal on Wheels mobile computer labs.

An IIT Bombay graduate and lifelong arts advocate, Ranjani has been honored by multiple governors and the Commonwealth’s Asian American Commission with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Connect with Ranjani:

If this episode reminded you of your own cultural tug-of-war, share it with another woman reclaiming her story. Subscribe, leave a review, and join the Brown and Happy community at payalghayal.com .