Podcast

Our guest this week is Swati Bhattacharya, the first woman to become the Chief Creative Officer of a major advertising firm in India. She has fought throughout her career against advertising stereotypes, particularly around the traditional roles of women in India, whether as mothers, daughters, wives or widows. What makes her different from many of her male colleagues she says, is that, ‘Whatever project I work on I put my heart into it, I have never looked at my audience as product users, they are human beings.’ Her ground-breaking approach has won her company accolades and scores of international awards. Swati has never been afraid to speak her mind, and a strong focus of her work has been campaigns to battle the widespread discrimination and stigma against transgender children and adults in India and around the world. In her opinion, most people have been battered and bruised in some way or another, but transgender particularly suffer -from homelessness, from sexual violence and from mental illness. She recalls that transgender women are up to 40% more likely to be HIV positive. But if advertising is traditionally a means of increasing a company’s bottom line, how do you persuade a client like the Times of India to take on such controversial themes as a means of expanding business? And what has been the wider impact of Swati’s groundbreaking work? Swati’s on Twitter: @techyswati

This week we’re talking to adventurer, traveller, former ballet dancer and above all – walker – Jonatan Montoya. Jon has set out on a staggering journey – to go around the world on foot, visiting each of the world’s 7 Modern Wonders, a massive journey of over 80,000 kilometres. The sheer ambition is enough to take your breath away. We catch up with Jon 2,000 miles into his journey. Despite sore feet and having to learn camping skills rapidly, Jon had made it to the first wonder of the world, the Temple of Chichen Itza in Mexico. It’s been a sharp learning curve, but Jon has loved the people he’s come across: ‘’People are so kind, I have fallen in love so many times along the way.” His ‘Against the Odds’ moments in his life include his mother’s well-meaning but misguided childhood health tips, surviving a near-miss car crash while selling bootleg records on the street, avoiding becoming a professional ballet dancer, and his own mental health struggles as he grew up. Jon’s motivation for his mega walk is to raise awareness and understanding of HIV. He reflects on his own fear of being infected with the disease as a teenager, a fear that grew to the point that he became celibate. We discuss the cultural barriers to improving the HIV infection rates in Mexico. “We are taught that heterosexuality is the normal and correct way to be, and when you have this inner dialogue, it’s hard to talk about HIV.” Since recording this episode, Jon has put his walk on hold and is looking for different ways to promote AIDS awareness. In case you were wondering... The Seven Wonders of the Modern World are: the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, the Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Petra, and the Great Wall of China. To find out more, you can contact Jon: buenviajemyfriend@gmail.com