A recently published author with 19 years of journalism and editing experience, Aradhna continues to be an enthusiastic writer and communicator. Juggling her multiple roles, she has the zest for life – and a lot to share.
Switzerland – home sweet home
Shortly after getting married to Anil Sethi, I moved to Switzerland in 2001. Since the very start, Switzerland presented itself to me as a land of adventure. There was so much to learn… language and culture, systems and the concept of punctuality and honesty.
Like most of you, I, too, had my fair share of teething troubles while settling into a culture so different from my own. I gave it my best shot and loved every bit of it. Switzerland spelt a new start of life, complete with marriage, career progression, new language and culture to tune into – followed by motherhood, entrepreneurship, and stepping into my dream role of being an author.
New continent, new life
I invested the first three months in learning the ropes of living in the Alps – and more importantly, learning the language basics. Before the completion of my intensive language course, I landed a job that took me from general journalism (I had been working with the Times of India – Femina- until my move to Switzerland) to financial journalism; print to online; English to a smattering of German. But within a few months, I chanced upon ‘Swiss News’, which until 2011, was the only English tabloid here. I moved back to the print media and lead the newspaper as Chief Editor for four years – before trading it for motherhood.
Along with motherhood, I became a freelance journalist for radio and print. In addition, I turned out to be an entrepreneur’s wife as the start-up bug bit my husband. This, over the next few years, led me to work part-time and simultaneously towards developing my own business by first freelancing in the area of public relations and communication and then launching my own content and communication service called English Kommunikation.
By now, my husband had become an entrepreneur – and I had collected enough material through this journey to turn towards authorship. The tale of this entrepreneur’s wife is captured with doses of good humour, pointers on survival and a twist that reflects unchained emotion in my first book ‘The Entrepreneur’s Wife – A Survival Guide’. This was followed by ‘The Swan that laid Golden Eggs’ for children – illustrated, reviewed and rated by my children aged 10 and 12 at the time. Needless to say, there’s more to come…
Namaste Switzerland
This was a dream come true. Mainstream journalism had given way to editorship and proofreading, content management and much more; but I always wanted to be a founder and a contributor towards a magazine that touched the lives of people, served as a springboard, or offered an emotional connect. Just as I was about to let go of that dream – I met this beautiful group of professional individuals – all of whom shared this dream. Together, we set out to launch ‘Namaste Switzerland’. So far – the ride has been a pleasant and interesting one. And the motivation to do more comes from my family and this set of co-founders who bring in so much value to the endeavour.
A MESSAGE TO OUR READERS
I thank you for all your visits and clicks on the site and our social media. You have no idea how encouraging you are – and how each of you is proving to be a motivator to each one of us on the team.
Please read on and spread the word. Connect. Inform. Integrate – and stay tuned to ‘Namaste Switzerland’.
