World Book Day 2022

Nadir Pop and Peter Pop both enjoy reading books a lot and have spoken to multiple authors on the podcast over the past couple years.

This Saturday, the 23rd is World Book and copyright day Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. 

Last year, the Pop duo recommended a few books, this year they did an entire episode on books. Here are their recommendations for this year.

Nadir Pops’s 3 recommendations are :-

THE GENDER SWAPPED FAIRY TALES by KARRIE FRANSMAN & JONATHAN PLACKETT
Who knew tech would make it’s way into fairy tales, but it has, and here is a book that stands testimony to it. Jonathan who is a creative technologist, built an algorithm that swapped all the genders and viola, we have this book. A wonderful rendition of what a boy/man would look like in the character of a girl/woman. Gives the reader a very interesting perspective. Highly recommend that you read this to your kids.

HUMANKIND: A HOPEFUL HISTORY by RUTGER BERGMAN
My consumption of non-fiction books have gone up tremendously over the years. There is something about learning of true life events and experiences that shapes me as a human being. One of my recent favourites that talks about how humans are not demons and that we are pre-aligned to do good, what changes the story is the media and role that they play. Bergman introduces a number of experiments and events that truly shocks and surprises you. He also talks about kids, education and the importance of PLAY.

HAVE YOU MET THE PARSIS by ANASTASIA DAMANI
What a cute little book. I was so thrilled to find this book (thanks to The Parag Honours List) simply because of my long time connections with the Parsis. A short 50 pager that gives you a quick tour of who the Parsis are and their wonderful history, culture, tradition and legacy. I don’t think there could be a better introduction to the Parsis, especially for your kids

Peter Pop’s 3 recommendations are :-

Gullu – Menstrupedia

A Comic book about a boy going through puberty. A much required book since puberty is something that is not conversation. It that kids learn from a reliable source.

Skill it, Kill It – Ronnie Screwala

A handbook on “soft skills”, or life lessons. The stuff that one is not taught in school. The chapters range from topics like communication, storytelling to empathy and even seeking guidance. There are inputs from well known business people like Vani Khola, Vijay Shekhar Sharma. A must read for the life long learner

When Adil Speaks, Words Dance – Lavanya Karthik

The book is described as “ a sensitive and wonderful story on inclusion and friendship, portraying empathy beautifully” and it is that and much more.  Adil communicates through sign language, which is perceived by his friends as dancing words and music within him which enables. The book does not glorify Adil but portrays him as a child who cannot hear but is able to communicate in a way that is different from other children around him. e illustrations play an enhancing role.

Do share this informational episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

Keep an eye on social media below for updates from the Pop duo.

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Episode 119 – Dr. Swati Popat Vats & Dr. Wilona Annunciation – Explaining Conflict and War to kids

Conflict and war are a difficult topic to discuss especially with children. Nadir Pop and Peter Pop are joined by 2 guests on this informative episode to better understand how to explain the topic of conflict and war to children, pre-schoolers as well as teenagers. Dr. Swati Popat Vats and Dr. Wilona Annunciation share with the Pop duo their experiences as an educator and psychiatrist respectively.

Dr. Swati Popat Vats, President of Podar Education Network, is a global educator with over 32 years of experience and holds many important positions in the field of early childhood education, currently she is the President of the Early Childhood Association of India.
Dr. Wilona Annunciation is a practicing psychiatrist who has worked with kids and geriatrics alike.

Highlights from the chat are :-

  • Children’s understanding of War through education and schools
  • The right age to speak to children about the topic of war
  • The Impact of social media on pre teen and teenagers and how to sensitize them
  • The role of video games
  • How to create a safe space for children at home

Do share this informational episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

Keep an eye on social media below for updates from the Pop duo.

Episode 118 – Back to School

An episode that Nadir Pop and Peter Pop were not sure would happen when they recorded Welcome to 2022 a few months ago. Their kids attended school in person. The Pop duo discuss expectations before school started, the initial days of school and also how their kids are now.

Highlights from the chat are :-

  • The Pop duo feeling anxious about their kids starting school again
  • The logistics of the kids attending classes in person
  • The kids going to school and their feedback
  • Nadir monitoring his daughter’s journey to school via an App
  • Sports Day at Peter’s son’s school

Every parent will relate to this episode.

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Episode 117 – Buying second-hand for kids – The Share Bear – Freyan Bhujwala & Kanika Vasudeva

One of the realizations that Nadir Pop & Peter Pop had on the previous episode To Buy or Not to Buy – Pre school edition was that their kids have too much stuff.

This week the Pop Duo speak to Freyan Bhujwala & Kanika Vasudeva from The Share Bear http://www.thesharebear.in on sustainable living, mindful parenting and promoting a circular economy, in an easy and convenient manner. Their vision is to normalise the buying and selling of pre-loved items

This episode is a must listen for all parents.

Kanika has a post-graduate degree in Social Communications and Media from Sophia’s Polytechnic, Mumbai. She has been part of the PR and Marketing team at Sony Pictures, has worked with Idream Productions and UTV and spent nine years at Fox Star Studios as VP International, Sales and Distribution.

Freyan has a post-graduate degree in Marketing and Advertising from St. Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai. She worked with JWT Advertising, was part of the marketing team at Fox Star Studios, and went on to become Head of Marketing at Maddock Films.

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Episode 116 – To Buy or Not to Buy – Pre school edition

One of the earliest episode of the podcast was To Buy or Not to Buy, where Nadir Pop and Peter Pop discussed things they had bought for their newborns. Now that their children are in pre school, the Pop duo discuss the expected & unexpected expenses and also learnings that they have had so far. 

A few pointers from the episode

  • The importance of planning for expense for children
  • The expected expenses for children at that age of 5
  • The unexpected expenses and how to deal with them
  • Learnings that Nadir Pop and Peter Pop had in the past few years.

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Episode 115 – Aparna Acharekar – coto by Eve World: A Web3 platform for Women –

Last year on Women’s Day, Nadir Pop and Peter Pop spoke to Priya Krishnan, Chief Client & Experience Officer, Bright Horizons about Women in the Workforce.  This year the Pop duo are joined by Aparna Acharekar, co-founder of coto by Eve World, a Web3 platform for women. 

Aparna spoke to the Pops about the insight behind the platform, the Eve World creator program, the importance of a community and how it can be leveraged through Web3 and also the roadmap for the platform to include others in the coming months.  

Highlights from the chat are :-

  • The insights from the research done with women across India
  • The advantages of Web3 for the community development
  • The different types of communities that will be available on the Eve World platform
  • The Eve World Creator Program
  • Future plans for the platform

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Episode 114 – Entrepreneur Parents – Varun Duggirala and Pooja Jauhari.

Nadir Pop and Peter Pop recorded the podcast for the first time in a studio last month. They were joined by power couple Varun Duggirala and Pooja Jauhari.

Varun Duggirala is co-founder and content chief, and Pooja Jauhari is CEO of, The Glitch, India’s leading full-service creative agency. Varun also hosts 3 podcasts, and is the author of Everything Is Out of Syllabus – an instruction manual on optimising life for happiness and high performance. Pooja is also the founder of Seat At The Table – an unbiased investment and advisory initiative. Varun and Pooja are parents to Leia, their daughter.

Varun and Pooja spoke to the Pop duo about how not letting work and home overlap has worked for them as a couple that works together, meeting each other halfway, progressing and growing in life together, their parenting styles being different from their own parents, and parenting in a pandemic.

Highlights from the chat are :-

  • The first time Varun and Pooja met
  • Working together at The Glitch
  • The impact being parents has had on their relationship
  • The balance they maintain between running a business and parenting
  • Their daughter’s entrepreneurial ventures

Thanks to the teams at Shure and MaedinIndia for making this episode happen at the Island City studio, Mumbai.

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, the Pops would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Episode 113 – The Importance of Children’s literature in India

Last week Nadir Pop and Peter Pop spoke to Amrita Patwardhan, head of education portfolio at Tata Trusts. One of the topics they spoke about was the 6th edition of the Big Little Book Awards (BLBA) instituted by the Parag initiative of Tata Trusts.

This week they are joined by one of the winners of the award, writer, illustrator and educationist, Deepa Balsavar. Deepa has award-winning books to her name such as ‘The Seed’ and ‘The Lonely King and Queen’.


Deepa shared with the Pop duo the importance of children’s literature, the changes in Indian literature in the past 2 decades, introducing kids to Indian authors, insights into some of her books and much more.

Highlights from the chat are :-

  • Thoughts on winning at the Big Little Book Awards (BLBA)
  • Changes and developments in the past 2 decades in illustration in children’s books
  • Introducing kids to India authors
  • Impact of digital screens on the reading habits
  • Recommendations of some of her work

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, we would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

Keep an eye on social media below for updates from a very special episode from the Pop duo

Episode 112 – Children’s Literature and Education in 2022 – Amrita Patwardhan (Tata Trusts)

Nadir Pop & Peter Pop are back again talking about one of their favourite subjects, education. They are joined by Amrita Patwardhan, head of education portfolio at Tata Trusts. 

The Pop duo spoke to Amrita Patwardhan about the recently announced 6th Big Little Book Awards (BLBA), organised by the Parag initiative of Tata Trust, the proposed hybrid model of learning at schools, implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and more. 

Amrita Patwardhan has been with the Trusts since 2003, instrumental in, working on and spearheading several impactful initiatives in the education sector across the remotest areas of the country.

Highlights from the chat are :-

  • The 6th Big Little Book Awards (BLBA)
  • Introducing children to Indian literature
  • Changes in the Indian education sector in past 2 decades
  • Impact of online learning across India
  • Feasibility of the proposed hybrid school learning system
  • Initiatives from Tata Trusts

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, we would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Episode 111 – Finding Love In The Pandemic – Anurag Tagat & Jaanam Dewan

In the past couple years, Nadir Pop and Peter Pop attended a few parties and even weddings via Zoom because of restrictions due to Covid-19. Recently they spoke to a couple who not only got married during this pandemic but met and fell in love during it. 

Meet Anurag Tagat and Jaanam Dewan. The Pop duo speak to them about the unconventional story across the country that originated through a social media platform. Tune in to find out more. 

Anurag Tagat is a Bangalore-based music journalist. He is Assistant Editor at Rolling Stone India. He also contributes to The Hindu, Vogue India and News9 Live regularly.

Jaanam Dewan is a media professional born in Mumbai and now based in Bangalore, with expertise in digital marketing, podcasting and writing. Side hustles include pet-sitting (beyond her super sweet cat Bambi) and cooking up a storm.

Highlights from the chat are :-

Do share this episode with your friends, families, colleagues or anyone you think who would enjoy listening to POPS IN A POD.

Please share your thoughts on the episode, we would love to hear your feedback on this episodes on popsinapod(at)gmail(dot)com.

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