A Step Towards Freedom

In this episode of Bennu, Ben Brink and Charline Baker-Friesen speak with Shivangi Dhakad about moving from India to the Netherlands, finding freedom, and learning what it means to build a life between cultures.

Shivangi shares how an unexpected opportunity brought her from India to Netherlands, and how her first experience of the Amsterdam city changed the way she thought about freedom, safety, and possibility. She also reflects on the harder parts of living abroad: missing family, food, language, rituals, and the sense of community she grew up with.

The conversation also explores how moving countries changed her relationship with work, ambition, and identity. Over time, she learned to slow down, make more space for life outside work, and accept that both India and the Netherlands can feel like home.

Shivangi also talks about the pressure to fit in, the value of staying open to a new culture without losing your own identity, and why belonging is less about labels and more about being able to be yourself.

Topics in this episode include:

• moving from India to the Netherlands
• freedom, safety, and cultural adjustment
• family, community, and belonging
• work, ambition, and slowing down
• identity and living between two homes
• fitting in without losing yourself
• trust, friendship, and building community

Bennu Community

A living archive of nonlinear journeys: migration, identity, work, and belonging.

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