By Abha Sharma
When I arrived at Aavya, I believed I was joining the team for guest relations. In just one day, it became very clear to me that guest relations was not the best use of my skills or patience levels. So yes, I felt unsure, wondered if I had made the right decision by coming here. And just when I thought I should quietly plan my exit, Ashish called me for a chat, and that conversation changed how I looked at this place and my role here.
The People I’ve Met
Aavya is full of personalities that grow on you slowly, and sometimes unexpectedly.
It’s a planet, spinning at its own frequency.
People don’t “work” here, they dissolve into the experience.
Somebody is painting.
Somebody is chanting.
Somebody is doing headstands.
Somebody is crying (healing, release, onion cutting, hard to know).
Somebody is starting a podcast.
And nobody thinks any of this is strange.
Ashish(The man whose vision gave birth to Aavya): The man who says, “We’ll sit for 10 minutes,” and it turns into two hours—part therapy, part strategy, part philosophy, part stand-up comedy. What starts as a simple discussion often flows into a raag or two.
Shalini: She joined around the same time as I did. We work differently, we think differently, yet somehow we’ve built a friendship here, the kind that forms simply by having tea together and figuring things out day by day. Will I cry enough in 20 days to convince her to stay two more months? We will find out in Season 2.
The Movement Rings:
I did not expect these to be part of my personality.
But now sometimes I catch myself monkeying up there and thinking: “Look at me, overcoming upper body weakness and emotional baggage at the same time.”
The Food: If comfort had a kitchen, it would look exactly like this. Chandana Bhaiya, who fills the kitchen with bhajans every single day, greets me with the warmest smile and “Radhey Radhey.” He cooks meals that feel like home, simple, comforting, and made with so much love.
Work:
Ah yes, the work—the thing I came here to do.
What I’ve learned at Aavya is that work melts into life.
Some days you’re planning events.
Some days you’re managing guests.
Some days you’re handling websites, fixing tiny glitches that somehow feel like victories.
Some days you’re brainstorming on podcasts and dreaming up new ideas.
Some days you’re meeting the coolest people who quietly change you.
And some days you’re just standing on the terrace, questioning your choices while the mountains laugh softly in the distance.
Here, work doesn’t feel like performance.
It feels like participation—singing my heart out, showing up as I am, and being part of something that feels beautifully alive.
A Typical Day (Which Never Really Looks Typical)
Some mornings I join the movement class, and some days I just watch others move with a confidence I’m still learning to claim. Some afternoons I sit in our open studios, soaking in the sun, letting warmth do what words can’t. I’ve spent time on the rings too, partially for fitness, mostly because it’s strangely motivating to surprise yourself.
Work happens in between: answering messages, helping guests, planning small things, understanding big things. It’s structured enough to make sense, flexible enough to breathe. And that’s what I love about it. Here, my inner kid feels alive, I jump, dance, sing songs with the girls after work.
It’s in these in-between moments that life quietly reminds me: you are allowed to feel light again.
The Journey (So Far)
I do not know how long I have been here.
Days blur into movement classes, conversations, chai breaks, content ideas that may or may not become reality, and sunsets that make you forget what you were worrying about 17 minutes ago.
Have I changed?
Maybe.
Have I healed?
Possibly.
Have I become more myself?
Almost definitely.
But here’s what I can say:
Aavya is not a place you stay, it’s a place that stays with you.
And this blog isn’t an ending.
It’s the beginning of something I haven’t named yet.