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Episode 10: A Woman on a Mission - Feeding Clean Food to the World

Priyanka Lugani is a serial entrepreneur who has a deep fascination for the collective. She is the founder of Alma Deli, a plant-based food brand based in London, which is pushing the boundaries on connecting the ancient wisdom of the world with food, travel, art, spirit, and science. In this episode of The Nine Oh Six, Priyanka shares her journey of self-discovery after dropping out of college. She explains why nature is the greatest healer, and reflects on how a major illness inspired her to challenge all of us to help our families be more in tune with what we eat.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Priyanka 0:00
What inspired me about setting up Alma was my own journey with my body because I, I've always had a deep fascination for the collective. Alma, it's an information platform, and it's centered around consciousness. The main skepticism doesn't come from an individual as much as it does from society.

Meha 0:24
Priyanka Lugani is a serial entrepreneur with a deep fascination for the collective. She is a founder of Alma Deli, a plant-based food brand based in London, which is pushing the boundaries on connecting the ancient wisdoms of the world with food travel, art, spirit and science. In this episode of The Nine Oh Six, Priyanka shares her journey of self-discovery after dropping out of college, she explains why nature is the greatest healer and reflects on how a major illness inspired her to challenge all of us to help our families be more in tune with what we eat.

Meha 0:59
Welcome to The Nine Oh Six. I'm Meha Chiraya.

Archita 1:03
I am Archita Fritz.

Meha 1:06
We are your hosts for The Nine Oh Six - a podcast where we elevate the stories of extraordinary women in our communities.

Priyanka 1:20
Our body is our vehicle in this reality. So like being in tune with it is essential to how to live like a balanced life. And you know, any type of imbalance immediately affects your body. And then in turn, it affects your thoughts and your emotions and then also your energy.

Priyanka 1:41
See, I believe that we live in sort of three planes, which is the physical, the mental, emotional, and then the metaphysical, which is the energy in the soul. And yeah, what inspired me about setting up Alma was my own journey with my body because I got ill a few years ago, and I had an immunity imbalance. So suddenly I started to have terrible intolerances towards many foods, and just symptoms of extreme tiredness. And yeah, and low energy levels where and where I just couldn't function or be as active as I've always been. And then I realized that how can I repair this and elevate the situation. And that was really through healing with food, as well as naturopathy, acupuncture. And so it's been like quite a long journey through that.

Archita 2:37
You went down this path of discovery, and in this path of discovery, you essentially found a calling. A lot of times when you're ill, and you go into the journey of healing yourself and making yourself healthy again, you stop there, you don't take it to that next step, but you chose to take it to the next step with using that as an opportunity to engage others to help them in their journey. So what inspired you to take it to that next step?

Priyanka 3:11
I've always had a deep fascination for the collective. And I've always wondered what can connect each human. In a way, we're all interlinked. And we're interconnected. I don't think that we're here on this earth, just to live for ourselves and our immediate family. I believe that we all have a choice to contribute something to the world. And so when I when I when I had this, this experience with my health, I was like, Okay, this, this happened, this can happen to anybody. Very 21st century imbalance, something linked to your immunity. And it can happen really fast. You know, it can spiral out of control because there's so many factors that contribute to it, which is environment, the way we treat nature, we harvest food, how we treat the soil, how we prepare the food, and how the government orders us to, to store food to prepare it, none of it is in line with our natural state.

Priyanka 4:20
And I felt like this isn't something that begins and ends with me. It begins and ends with each and every one of us. This is really a sort of a service, creation of Alma. It's a service in the sense where we bring information that's out there that's written, for instance, in our ancient scriptures, in Ayurveda, and Chinese medicine as well as what has been researched in modern-day science. And all of it is not niche. It's not alternative. It's not pseudoscience. It's very real and I think we need to start taking responsibility because you know, there's so many autoimmune diseases.

Priyanka 5:01
I think nature is the greatest healer and the greatest point of balance for us. You know nowadays naturopathy is often disregarded and coming back to that point where many people find it very niche in nature and plants can find healing. So it was an accumulation of many different experiences and different research, like I went to Peru I spent some time there with the with the Incan shamans and they have a lot of plant medicine because there are medicine men and women. Then in India, exploring Ayurveda. In China, I explored Chinese medicine and one of the ways I found healing was through acupuncture and, and the lady who is my acupuncturist. She's also a neuroscientist, so she looks at cutting-edge science as well as acupuncture and this is really fascinating. This like bridging the modern-day with the with this ancient wisdom. You find so many answers in that and with my own journey of research and also trial and error with my health. It has been a very interesting journey.

Archita 6:11
These are like vastly different approaches to traditional medicine. How did you bring it together in the creation of Alma?

Priyanka 6:22
So I think one thing that all of them have in common is just this concept of energy. What is the source of life? It's its energy. So in Chinese chi, in, in Sanskrit, it's agni and, and so on and so on. A professor that I work with in Madrid, he's a cancer and autoimmune specialist, and he'll prescribe tonic- something that is a combination of chamomile, inulin and chicory root. And in Ayurveda, every medicine is through herbs and spices. Because they're full of minerals, antioxidants and nutrients, and in the Peruvian Incan tradition, it's the same. Everything boils down to like creating these herbs and tonics from natural from plants and from nature. And the same in Chinese medicine, you know, you have things like, let me come to the Chinese herb Dong Quai, you know. In India, we have this one called ashwagandha. And in in the Peruvian tradition, it's maca, and essentially all three have the same sort of journey, you know, they're there to assist our hormones. So it's beautiful to get to know this, this world of plants and herbs and and how each of them have a way of healing you.

Archita 7:50
You're taking this learning from these different traditional cultures, into your food, into schools, and engaging..elaborate for me more about what is Alma, what do you do?

Priyanka 8:04
Alma is an information platform, and it's centered around consciousness, What is consciousness essentially about? About awareness of ourselves, of our surroundings and to align with our natural state beyond the information platform, we present solutions of creating a holistic and conscious lifestyle for yourself and your children and in the world.

Priyanka 8:36
So we have three different channels. One is the Deli, Alma Deli. We deliver nursery meals that are plant-based. We create food meals for adults that are plant-based. And these are created with formulas. And these are formulas centered around balancing your gut because everything we eat, every food has an information and an energy that directly affects your digestive system, your energy, your thoughts and emotions. So this is what we do is we research this. And then based on our research, we create the food formulas - cater them to schools, to nurseries, and then to just homes and offices. So it's sort of a broad spectrum. And then we have the space, which is a kids space where we teach little kids through plant based cooking classes, we have yoga, then we have musical art, because art is a beautiful way of expressing ourselves and we enter the state of flow. And there's no right or wrong, you know, we go beyond that. Then we have dance classes, capoeira, the Tibetan singing bowls, which are very special because the Tibetan monks have a sound frequency and that sound frequency aligns us with our natural state. And this is what we do for the kids in in the classes. Have the research lab to really fully understand and inform ourselves and others about what's going on with our with our bodies with our absorption of food and how our energy affects it and and which foods affect our our mental health.

Priyanka 10:25
For instance, like processed foods have 1367 neurotoxins and and they affect our brain for anything from a headache to ADHD to Alzheimer's is directly linked to the foods we're eating. And then you have other toxic metals that are from from tap water from fish. The list is endless from the way we store our food. It's always stored in plastic or aluminum foil, plenty of toxins being released. So yeah it's about really creating a conscious shift.

Archita 11:03
That concerns me because I just thinking about it my dinner right now is packed in in aluminum foil, the lovely methi parathas. But there you go. Would you say that eating the way you're describing, the Alma way we call it, because how do people who don't have access to this information, how is the everyday man or woman able to live a cleaner through what they're eating?

Priyanka 11:30
Well, that's what we're trying to do with Alma, regardless of your socioeconomic background. The thing is, is like this should not be a choice just for someone who's privileged this should be a basic human right to have clean water, to have a clean soil, you know, without contaminations and and genetic modifications and manipulations that we as humans are creating. We harvest our foods with fertilizers. You know, that are full of poison and chemicals. And we have no idea. It's this lack of information. And whenever I go and speak to someone about it, they're like, Oh, yeah, what can you do? Can do something for your immediate surroundings, if you choose to inform people and to really believe that like, this is a necessity, then it and then it will shift but you can't just do it alone. You need a bunch of believers.

Archita 12:27
Who has been your biggest skeptic and that you faced as you've gone through this journey, educating yourself, educating those around you, getting customers for the whole Alma concept, then how did you bring them around?

Priyanka 12:42
The main skepticism doesn't come from an individual as much as it does from society. What is the representation of society it's a it's a school board, it's a parent. It's the head of the parents of parent body at school who are misinformed and narrow-minded in their approach because they believe that Oh yeah, my child needs processed foods and, and my child needs starch and my child needs an overconsumption of carbohydrates. And my child needs an overconsumption of protein. And the best way of him or her eating is by having a meal that is a combination of carbohydrates, protein and starch. At birth, you're you're not going to be digesting anything except like totally confused combination of foods. Because the body primarily needs minerals, antioxidants and nutrients and where do you find them? You find them in whole foods. That means like in a fruit, in a vegetable, in grains and legumes that you do not going to find it in pasta or a sandwich.

Priyanka 13:58
You're not building your immunity. Because remember the gut 80% of our immunity is in our intestine. And we sort of build that immunity from the moment we are born. And so anything we feed our children as well as ourselves, is either making or breaking our...this is basic science. This is all proven. So the school meals, the nursery meals we've been delivering, we've had the feedback of parents saying are just too healthy. Like it's too healthy, like give my child vegan pasta, but I don't want but the thing is, is we are not here to serve processed meals to continue this this spiral of imbalances. It may sound extreme, because it's different, but it's not extreme. It comes from a point of, of information and care, and not from a radical point of view.

Archita 14:57
Biggest skeptics are the society that make is that is made up of different groups of people from what I'm hearing you say is that is continuing to bring them around. It's a constant journey there as well.

Priyanka 15:13
It can be quite disheartening at times because we've been going for a while, and anyone who is trying to create a change that is unknown, right, like, out of their comfort zone, and resistance is part of the journey. But yeah, it can definitely be disheartening, but I'm not going to give up.

Archita Fritz 15:33
What has been your biggest failure, and what did you learn from it?

Priyanka 15:38
Failure is a great teacher, because it makes you reflect. It challenges you to elevate yourself, to evolve yourself. And yeah, and it teaches you humility and willpower. Because like with Alma, it's not been an easy journey. I think my first business Amaya was very different. It was a it's a jewelry business it was in fashion was ahead of trend. So it did quite well. Yeah, it was smooth sailing. Whereas with Alma it has not been easy because, yeah, vegan food is trendy. But then I don't think I'm a chef. I'm an entrepreneur and I've created recipes and cook them myself for my own healing and then they happen to be quite tasty. And so it's worked out and you just follow the steps but then do I want to stand in the kitchen every day cooking these meals? No, I don't. Do I want to get the volumes out? Yes, I do. Do I want to follow the government's storage instructions? No, I don't because I don't want to store my food in plastic and that's the law. And then the food gets really good responses on some days and then go to a new place to showcase it and it doesn't.

Priyanka 16:59
Getting that break into society hasn't been easy at all because it's not just food. It's beyond food. So me standing in a dark kitchen and delivering the food and delivering Uber Eats, it did not fulfill me. And I wanted to go beyond that, because there's so much information and education behind it. We've written up an entire curriculum for schools, in addition to the food stuff, and then we have all this lab stuff. So and and there's so much to share. The reception hasn't been easy, and then the whole path with the school. Schools hasn't been easy. We did it in Germany, where we presented it to a school. They first said yes. And just before we were about to start, they said no. That was a failure. Then we we went to a hospital in Germany, we showcased the food. It's an anti-inflammatory diet. So anyone in a hospital, a patient would benefit from a plant-based meal that is free of processes. But that's something totally alien to most patients and most people, again, you have resistance from the patients because they'd rather have a deep frozen meal that's just been like warmed up in the microwave. Rather than opting for freshly cooked plant based meal. And watching it that was hard.

Archita 18:22
The reasons why you chose to be an entrepreneur shows the self-expression and freedom.

Priyanka 18:28
Yeah, it's it's, I think that self expression is one of the the core pillars of being an entrepreneur, to believe in the vision and to express it, to believe in your vision, and to be able to express it and freedom, the freedom of choice.

Priyanka 18:45
We all have that freedom of choice. But as an entrepreneur, you're constantly choosing and you have to consciously -today I'm waking up, what am I going to do? You have the option and the freedom of saying I'm just going to lie in bed or I'm going to go get up and create this today you know or transform this today, then that choice is also expression of self.

Archita 19:07
Do you see your expression of self having evolved, as you have transitioned from jewelry, fashion, focus to the focus on Alma, harnessing the energy in nature to help heal our bodies?

Priyanka 19:26
My expression of self has become so much more clear. When I was doing the jewelry, I always had an intuition to do something beyond just myself. And I think also the freedom of following your intuition is key to an entrepreneur. As a jewelry designer, my path was again, going to Paris to Fashion Week, four times a year, going to Milan twice a year, you know, and I'm going to sell this amount, but it was nothing beyond that. And I've always felt to create something beyond a group of people or for trends.

Archita 20:07
You told me recently that you never graduated college. How did that come about? And how did that lead you to successful businesses?

Priyanka 20:14
Yeah, so I was in uni and I was extremely bored. I changed universities twice and I just didn't feel I was I was like, inspired or driven by anything I was hearing and university. So by chance I started like a little fashion line. Yes, I did a little fashion line and I got a few orders and just followed like this little path that I was on. And then I just dropped out of uni because I didn't. I was very busy. With Amaya like going to meetings and it was just very exciting. Because you're creating a brand you're selling to shops and you know, otherwise you're sitting in this like gray room. Staring at a blackboard, there was no inspiration. There was no light there was no nature like, I don't want to sound like a dreamer but just wasn't inspired and I guess I was lucky enough to set in support selling. And also my parents - not super casual, but also not super strict about it.

Priyanka 21:21
That word, okay, it's your journey. And yeah, and I love self study. I do a lot of self studying. So I've studied philosophy, history of art. I'm constantly studying something new. Right now I'm studying quantum and and then I'm reading a book on the meridian points and then another one on plants like healing with plants. So there's a lot in, in self study and also in exchanging with people that are actually in that field. You learn so much more

Archita 21:57
Have you come up against any bias because of the fact that you didn't graduate from university at any point in time or, you know, has that worked to your advantage as you've kind of grown and developed your brands?

Priyanka 22:11
I don't think I've ever had like, any type of negative feedback. I think actually, personally, it's made me much more flexible compared to a lot of my friends and family who have graduated from university I think you you come out and you're very good at theory and like, you have an image of how how life should work out and which path to follow. Whereas with without this university degree, I was able to really explore and follow my inner compass and, and I've also made plenty of mistakes. I've made them very happily.

Archita 22:49
That made me smile, you've made mistakes happily, that's a really great outlook Priyanka. You've been really fortunate to have this emotional and financial support of your family in your work. How have they contributed to your success? And if you didn't have their support, would things have had look differently?

Priyanka 23:07
Yeah, definitely. I think a support system is so important. Yeah, first of all, I wouldn't have been so relaxed about making mistakes. Yeah. And I wouldn't have had the freedom of taking risks, I think I would have had to be much more careful. And perhaps like, I would have had a lot more anxiety about the choices I'm making and where I'm going, it can be very scary. Yeah, the support has been essential because it's also supported my, my confidence, right and in my vision, and in what I'm trying to create, so I'm very, very thankful for that. And also, like my mother is like, very, very supportive, but my father is very, very critical. So it creates a happy balance.

Archita 23:59
Where do you draw on for your inspiration?

Priyanka 24:03
I think it's two things. One is like this, this deeper calling to really create something to create a consciousness shift. This is something I've had for a long time. It's a deep conviction. And I am reminded of it every day through my own health and through the health of people around me. So I think Yeah, health, my own health and the health of other people. That is a constant reminder to inspires me to, to work harder and harder every day on this. And the se cond one is I think nature.

Priyanka 24:39
Nature is everything. We come from nature, we're not separate from nature. We are nature. And when you're in it, like when I'm in a forest or I'm by the sea or on a mountain like standing on a mountaintop, I just feel it. Wow. And I feel so much closer to my soul, my natural state. And without it life wouldn't have wouldn't have this beauty.

Priyanka 25:06
And the third one would be wisdom. I had this deep fascination to learn and discover and absorb all this beautiful ancient wisdom that we have on this earth. And that just inspires me further.

Archita 25:25
Kind of curious as I listened to a lot of things you have shared, I mean, what is your favorite quote?

Priyanka 25:30
My favorite quote, was funny when I was in coming back to Peru, I was walking with a shaman on Machu Picchu. He told me don't quote others. Quote yourself. And from that onward, I stopped quoting other people. Yeah, and it goes back to self expression.

Archita 25:52
For people who are not really in tune or have had that opportunity to kind of go through that journey. Where would you encourage them to begin to reconnect to nature? Or with nature?

Priyanka 26:10
It doesn't have to be as sort of extravagant. That I just picked up and went to Peru on a whim. It's a very privileged thing to be able to do. Starting with listening to your heart. Because that's really what it's about. I think its nature is also a reflection of our natural state and our natural state, for me, the source of that is our heart. So it's about connecting with your heart. And then wherever you are, if you're in a city or in the jungle, you're you're in peace, and you're content and you're in balance. So it's Yeah, it's starting a dialogue with our heart and becoming one with it.

Archita 26:55
So when did you know you had that the right idea to begin the Alma journey?

Priyanka 27:03
I think that resonance came, came back from Peru, I had a feeling that I couldn't continue on with the jewelry. And I followed this feeling and I I moved to France, to Paris. And I just started to write for one year I just was writing all my experiences. Like down like everything I've experienced in India that year, everything that I experienced in Peru and and some other experiences throughout this time.

Priyanka 27:33
And once I documented all of this as like, okay, now I'm ready to create, to manifest something physical, and it was through food. Like it was really a long journey until I figured it out and connected all the dots.

Archita 27:51
What I'm hearing you say is the opportunity you had to go on these journeys and multiple countries. You know, spend that whole year reflecting, that was a long time of reflection, right? And for a lot of people, they don't have that.

Priyanka 28:08
Once I was done reflecting, that's when overnight my health just like it just hit me the sudden onset of weakness of fever, totally losing myself, like, you know, totally disconnecting with my body, my soul in my body were completely out of tune, you know? And that's what it was. So it really shattered me because I was like, okay, I've reflected now and now I'm ready to act. But then I couldn't, I was paralyzed. My body just gave up on me. And it took me three years to rebuild my strength and the connection between my soul and my body. And that whole process of creation, reflecting and then breaking...breaking and then rebuilding, that's been the whole Alma journey.

Archita 29:03
I didn't know it was three years long wherein you were struggling to figure out what was going on with your body. You were in Paris, you're writing this book, you just completed all of this reflection. You said that you know, you were you felt paralyzed, like you could not kind of act on all these ideas you had. You know, what was that like? Who helped you kind of get out of that funk? And then how did you move forward? Don't have anybody around them don't know how to reach out to people don't know how to step out of whatever that thing is that is paralyzing them, right?

Priyanka 29:38
Yeah, it wasn't so much an emotional paralysis, as it was a physical paralysis. It was a physical paralysis, where suddenly there was a fever. The fever found no end. As soon as I got out of the fever, I suddenly couldn't eat the foods I was always eating. I couldn't swallow bread. I couldn't digest dairy. I couldn't touch a piece of cake. I couldn't eat anything processed. And I was barely like, eating I was having soup, you know, and that was it, if anything, and then I was trying to heal it just with herbs myself, but then eventually I met my mentor and also doctorin Paris who is a acupuncturist and a neuroscientist.

Priyanka 30:24
And, and that was a whole journey because I suddenly went plant-based. And I went through a very extreme detox, to drain out all these toxins in my body. And this was not something...this can happen to anybody. We all have these toxins in our body, and at some point, our immunity is just going to shut down. And then we're there with this fever and these intolerances and allergies, and it's a total shock to the system because remember, we all have memory, we have muscle memory and we also have memory of a flavors like right, when I think of the pizza reminds me of my childhood. When I when I think of eating like I don't know, like fish and chips with my brothers, it reminds me of my childhood. And these are all things I can't eat now. So it also takes a lot of willpower to overcome that like, Okay, I'm going to sit in a restaurant now at I don't know, in Dusseldorf at Pinocchio, and we're all going eat pizza, but I have, I'm going to eat the ministrone, you know, ministrone because not that I don't want to eat it as the only thing I can eat but I'm actually going to embrace this am I going to be wounded? By by these changes, but I'd rather see them like an elevation.

Archita 31:37
Right we a lot of what we eat is related to memories we have right as kids as young adults. And for your family. That must have been a huge change and a shift. How did they embrace that?

Priyanka 31:51
My mom, she was like shocked but then you know she started like learning how to like make roti with quinoa flour and then coconut yogurt instead of normal yogurt. Make like vegan brownies that are sugar free and without any processes it it, you know, so she's been amazing with it. My dad was skeptical but now he's also embracing it. And my brothers, you know, there they go in a yo-yo with it, but like yeah, they don't like to go to lunch with me anymore, let's put it that way.

Archita 32:23
Yeah. Because I mean my sister is very much about clean eating and you know how she eats and we give her grief all the time. After this interview, I am going to have to share with her how you kind of look at it. But you were at one point eating all of these.

Priyanka 32:41
No, I mean, like I was always eating like I always loved eating vegetables, but I never thought that would be my primary source of nutrition and actually a very balanced way of of digesting and...

Archita 32:59
Yes you've had the shift because of you getting sick, but it must have taken time to shift to right from eating all of these foods to like suddenly not eating all of these foods. My problem is rice. I love rice way too much in the sense that I grew up eating it a lot. And to me, it's what you said about the fish and chips I associated with those memories. My journey with food is complicated.

Priyanka 33:27
I think it's complicated for all of us. That's the interesting part. It's like food is so essential. And it's a point of connection between every single person and it's also a point of complexity for every single person. Yeah, and I mean like rice, for instance, I totally get you and I'm also from India, like we love eating rice. But rice is also a big source of arsenic has a lot of arsenic in it, and has a lot of starch in it. And it doesn't really support your body. It's a great You keeps you full. But does it give you minerals, antioxidants and nutrients? No, it doesn't. It's a complex carb, or a carb, like a brown rice. It's a complex carb and white rice is just a car. And carbs are needed for energy. Right carbs. And I don't have to say right or wrong but the support

Archita 34:21
They give me a lot of food for thought no pun intended there to reflect and kind of like to share and see how I can make some small changes in my family to incorporate better eating and healthier eating for sure. So I'm sure you've done the same to all our listeners as well. Was there something your upbringing or a story from when you were a little kid that drew you to you know, all things philosophical and the soul and you know, a lot of your journey today?

Priyanka 34:54
Yeah, definitely. I think at home like we've always discussed many spiritual things. Many intellectual things. We'd always have visitors from from India like different monks, talking about about the soul, talking about things that are beyond our basic understanding. So for me, it's something very natural.

Priyanka 35:17
A little anecdote like we drive to school every day our dad would drive us every day. And he'd always put on this qawwalis which are Sufi songs. And they always talk about the soul. So every day we would have chat in the car you know, there's this discourse about like, what are what are they singing about in this qawwali? And it's very often about the soul and the soul the connection to the divine. And it's so beautiful and you can hear it in the songs and in the sound and the way they say it's incredible. It comes from the soul.

Archita 35:49
Yeah, no they are beautiful for sure. And that's amazing that your Dad used to play qawaali songs I mean my car we're playing the latest top 50 Billboard Music that make it keep singing so shame on me for that. I think right now his favorite song is higher love. He's obsessed with

Priyanka 36:12
Higher love.

Archita 36:20
So interesting that not only did y'all have conversations at home, but it was kind of a part of your daily even commute to school. You know, one of the questions we ask all our guests on the show is how do they define success? So what's your definition of success, Priyanka?

Priyanka 36:40
Well okay, what is my definition of success? I think it would an inner and outer joy. I think its abundance, its joy.

Archita 36:53
I like that you said the word joy. A lot of times people use the word happiness and they're so different.

Priyanka 36:59
Happiness is an emotion it's cheating. Whereas joy is a state of being.

Archita 37:04
What do you love the most about yourself?

Priyanka 37:08
It's a my sense of curiosity. And I think also, trust and belief.

Archita 37:14
Curiousity, trust and belief. So trust and believe in yourself. So I'm just realizing that you have bangles on or something. Yes, yes. Because I keep hearing this clinking sound and I finally realized what it is. It's your bangles.

Archita 37:29
So do you have a favorite piece of jewelry? I'm actually curious now. Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry?

Priyanka 37:35
I do. I do. I love these moon and Sun earrings. I designed them on my trip to Machu Picchu. Because we were doing all these like Sun and Moon songs and meditations. The ancient Incas, they were always they were somehow related with the solar system and the moon and like you see all these references to a sun compass and these moon temples all over the Sacred Valley and the Machu Picchu. So that prompted me to design the sun and moon earrings because it's also the balance. And similarly I was in Haridwar watching the Ganga Aarthi and the sun was shining and the moon was there. And so I wrote this little point and it's:

Priyanka 38:26
You are the sun. I am the moon. Between us there won't be a moment of darkness.

Priyanka 38:32
And yeah and then I had this reference again in Peru in another form and I designed these earrings and I love wearing them.

Meha 38:39
To learn more about our podcast, check us out at thenineohsix.com. The Nine Oh Six is produced by Meha Chiraya and Archita Fritz. Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to tune in and hear the stories that will elevate and inspire you.