Episode #90: Sonali Gupta
Sonali Gupta is a writer from New Jersey based in Mumbai. She graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Economics and Spanish. She's been published in Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Vogue India and other lifestyle/news publications. Sonali's work includes essays on her health and her life in India as well as research-based pieces. She is currently working on a book proposal for a memoir about her journey to India through her health.
After Sonali Gupta was diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy in 2008, she went with her dad on a trip to India to explore options for healing. As a recent NYU graduate, Sonali had been looking towards a career in the music industry, but she found a health journey in India instead. She now lives in Mumbai, and is writing a memoir about this experience. On today’s episode, Sonali and I talk about what that trip with her dad was like, and how she’s gained perspective on what it must have been like for him, as a parent and physician, to feel desperate to help his daughter. We also talk about what her symptoms are like now, and how being aware of her limitations and making accommodations for them (like live-in help) actually gives her more independence in other ways. Finally, we talk about the book Sonali is writing, her work as a freelance writer, and the interesting ways she’s grappling with her identity as a writer who also has a health condition.
“I don’t think that I would be living in India had I not gotten that diagnosis.”
Here are some of the things Sonali and I chatted about:
The symptoms she experienced leading up to her diagnosis of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy
Broaching the topic with her parents, which led to taking part in a genetic counseling study
Her relief to have a diagnosis, and what it meant to get the diagnosis as a senior in college
The journey she took to India with her dad, and how there was a sense of “just going with it”
What Ayurveda is, and how it addresses what’s going on in the body is a more elemental way
The trust that she placed in her dad as he, as a parent, operated from a sense of helplessness
The overall muscle weakness she experiences, and how that creates limitations day-to-day
What managing her symptoms looks like now, including staying aware of her surroundings
The abundance of medical supply stores in South Florida, and the equipment she found there
Her choice to have live-in help, and why, despite not being open to it at first, she appreciates it
Striking the balance between asking for help and knowing when she’s able to do something
How in Mumbai, while places may not be structurally accessible, people are willing to help
Having a sense of curiosity about her own health journey, and how it led her to writing
Figuring out her identity as a writer, and her desire to express all her interests when writing
“The journey that I took with my dad was really interesting. And it was more based out of faith and some desperation and also sort of just going with it, honestly.”
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