New Jersey Dad’s Ad-Free Podcast Hits 5 Million Streams Worldwide
India-West Staff Reporter
PARSIPPANY, NJ – What began as a personal project during the COVID-19 lockdown has evolved into a global platform for Tamil moral storytelling, driven by Parsippany resident Bhargav Kesavan.
Kesavan, started recording simple Tamil moral stories for his nephew from his home working table to share lessons he grew up with in Chennai.
This effort grew into KadhaiNeram (Storytime), a free, ad-free Tamil kids’ podcast that now boasts over 730 episodes, five million streams, and more than 29,000 followers worldwide. The podcast aims to nurture values like kindness, honesty, and compassion in children at an early age.
To balance production with family life, Kesavan began utilizing the small studio at the Parsippany Library for his weekly recordings. He called the library’s support a “wonderful example of how local community spaces can help immigrant creators do something meaningful.”
The project has also become intergenerational, with Kesavan’s father narrating stories during the weekends. According to Kesavan, this father-son collaboration is one of the most meaningful aspects of the podcast, demonstrating how stories can connect generations.
KadhaiNeram has become a recognized name among Tamil families globally, with listeners spanning from the US and India to Singapore and the UAE, helping parents and children reconnect with their cultural roots through timeless moral tales.
To hear the stories: https://kadhaineram.com.
