K. D. Lang sings that love makes sweet and sad the same. What’s true for love is also true for India.
It was the hardest and most incredible trip I’ve ever taken. India pushed me to my edge at almost every moment. I had the chance to experience the full range of my emotions, sometimes all at once.
I would catch glimpses of ordinary, every day living like playing cards and sharing tea, only to turn and see that I was bearing witness to deeply powerful events: a woman in deep prayer at a temple and the first day of a newly married couple’s life together. I wept and then laughed out loud. I had profound insights with a deep sense of peaceful knowing, followed my massive amounts of confusion that made me question everything. India was nothing like what I expected it to be – it was more and it was less, in equal amounts.
I’m unpacking my journal and my pictures. The 8 days I spent there may have given me a lifetime of writing material. So much of it still needs sorting, tending, and reflection. I struggled with the idea of how I might make everything I experienced available through these daily posts and determined I couldn’t. India needs more from me.
As part of my advanced yoga teacher training at ISHTA, I have to complete a research project. I considered a half dozen different ideas until I realized that I was being handed the perfect opportunity for research and reflection upon my yoga teaching and my personal yoga practice – India. Just as yoga was born out of India, the country and her people gave me a new lease on life. And that’s worthy of extensive exploration.
By the end of July, I need to complete my research project and I am going to put together an interactive experience with writings, photos, and video footage that uses my time in India as a lens to re-examine my yoga. Pieces of this project will be published on this blog along the way and once it’s complete, I’ll publish the link to the full work. It’s the only way that I think of to really honor my time in India for all that it is worth.
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
Delighted you’re back and writing about India, Christa. I spent about a month in Mumbai a few years back (while living in China), and it was a life/soul-changing journey. Looking forward to reading more.
Like you, Christa, I was deeply affected/moved by India. Probably the most enlightening/bewildering/heart-growing/heartbreaking place I’ve ever been. I still think about it almost every day. I’ve yet to write a “formal” piece about it, but wrote a number of blog entries while there. I’ll look them up and send you the links. Very much looking forward to returning.
great post, Christa!
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Thanks, Liv!
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Delighted you’re back and writing about India, Christa. I spent about a month in Mumbai a few years back (while living in China), and it was a life/soul-changing journey. Looking forward to reading more.
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Oh wow!! Do you have any writings from your time living in India. I’d love to read them.
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Like you, Christa, I was deeply affected/moved by India. Probably the most enlightening/bewildering/heart-growing/heartbreaking place I’ve ever been. I still think about it almost every day. I’ve yet to write a “formal” piece about it, but wrote a number of blog entries while there. I’ll look them up and send you the links. Very much looking forward to returning.
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Kristin, I hope you do write about your time in India. I’d love to compare notes!
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There will be more writings to come!
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