The Mountain in Us- Beyond the Name & Up Close with Taran Singh

In this special episode, guest interviewer Diana flips the script, interviewing host Taran Singh to learn more about the person behind The Mountain in Us podcast and the poetry book Time and Knots. Growing up in the Himalayan mountains shaped how Taran sees the world, and he explains why he named his podcast after them: "The mountain is a place where we go through ups and downs. There is obscurity of vision, there is the thrill of life. There are so many emotions that one can tie up to a mountain that is so relevant to our lives." For his podcast, Taran looks for everyday people willing to share their real stories—the messy parts included—not just the highlight reel of their successes.

Taran opens up about how he writes poetry, sharing that his best ideas come from spending time in his garden and talking with different people. He reads a beautiful poem, "Lotus Lungs," from his upcoming book, Lotus Hue, which is coming out in spring 2026. When Diana asks about creative blocks, Taran keeps it real: "I don't force myself to write that much. If something comes to me, I would probably scribble it on a note. Things will come out when they need to come out." He also admits that early in his writing journey, he worried a lot about whether his work was good enough, but he's learned to be more patient with himself.

The conversation wraps up with Taran sharing what matters most to him—helping people slow down and reconnect with themselves in our noisy, fast-paced world. He wants readers to feel less affected by all the chaos around them by getting more in tune with who they really are. His advice? Focus on getting to know yourself better: "We are the secret ingredient to our own recipe. We can't change the world, but we can change our own frequency of tuning." Whether through his poetry or his podcast, Taran's message is simple: take a breath, look inward, and remember that everyone's journey is unique.

www.inkofsingh.com

Transcript

The Mountain in Us Podcast

Special Episode: Interview with Taran Singh

Host: Taran Singh
Guest Interviewer: Diana

Introduction

Taran Singh: Welcome to The Mountain in Us, a podcast where the journey gets its voice. I am Taran Singh, your host. Here we greet the thrills, jolts, ascents, and descents of our uncharted adventures.

Today's episode is a special episode because Diana gets to interview Taran Singh about him, so you can get to know him more—your guest, your podcast host, your author, Taran Singh.

Diana: Hello! Hey, good morning, Diana. Thank you. That was such a lovely introduction, and such a pleasure to have you come to my show and have me on the hot seat today.

Chapter 1: The Journey of Creative Evolution

Diana: I'm excited because we've known each other for several years now, even before you wrote Time and Knots, I believe—correct me if I'm wrong—and before you started The Mountain in Us. So this is exciting for me to be on your show interviewing you, so the rest of the world can get to know the person behind the mic and the person behind the pen writing these beautiful works.

Taran: Yeah, I mean, I think Time and Knots probably the first version was out, but you're right. As far as embracing that entity of being a writer, poet, and whatnot, I've probably come full circle. Part of it is knowing you has helped me a lot in taking some of those things that I would have never thought about in my life. Running a podcast and being here today has come through many hoops, but also through many blessings. And I count one of them you, near and dear. Thank you.

Diana: Thank you. Well, it's been a blessing to be on this journey with you and just to see your creative journey unfold—from your book Time and Knots and then this podcast.

Chapter 2: The Origin of "The Mountain in Us"

Diana: One of my first questions, which I'm sure some people are wondering as well, is about The Mountain in Us. What inspired you to start The Mountain in Us? And even more so, what is the meaning behind the name?

Taran: Being born and raised in the Himalayan mountains, every time I look at the world, I try to go back to my early life in the mountains and try to always connect to how I see the world in that aspect. So seeing that there is a mountain in all of us became a journey to me.

Earlier, I was thinking about calling it The Garden in Us because I'm a gardener too. But as I see it now, the mountain is a place where we go through ups and downs. There is obscurity of vision, there is the thrill of life. There are so many emotions that one can tie up to a mountain that is so relevant to our lives and the places we live. Even though today I live at sea level, I still can connect back to a mountain.

Sometimes we are the mountain for our own selves. From a very deep-rooted sense, being born and raised there and seeing what a mountain goes through in the churn of seasons—that shaped me, that has shaped me, and I think the outcome of some of my work. So somehow, The Mountain in Us just happened that way.

Chapter 3: Finding Guests and Building Community

Diana: What type of podcast guests do you usually look for to come on The Mountain in Us? What is it that you want your listeners to take away when they listen?

Taran: That was the hardest part of the puzzle. Who do you bring to have a conversation? Where do you find them? And how do you do some of the arm-twisting, especially in the first season when you don't have any power to say, "Hey, come to my podcast"?

The people I focused on in the first season and seasons beyond are people that have, in my opinion, the ability to talk about their journey in a very authentic, truthful, and vulnerable manner. They are talking about what they are doing and what they have done and the pathways they are taking.

Achievement and success can definitely be part of the journey, but it cannot be the only thing we talk about. We want to know the intricacies of certain things that you might have done to become transformative. For example, I had somebody who talks about facing fear and FOMO as a mother. I have never been a mother and I would never be a mother, but how do I enable myself to be able to think about it and be able to bring that journey?

My other goal has been to make sure that I am not going to places where I have already been, but I am going to places where I could never go as an author and try to bring that enrichment back to my own self and through the audience.

Diana: I love that. It's helping others that are listening go on the journey with that person. You want to go to paths and places that you've never been before, and in a sense, put yourself in that other person's shoes.

Chapter 4: Guest Discovery and Future Seasons

Diana: How are you finding people, or are you welcoming those that reach out to you with their story?

Taran: I think there are two ways. First of all, people that I've known—people that I know would not say no to me because of who I am and who they are. The first season has been people I know, and many times asking them again and again. A lot of times, my good friends recommended others, or colleagues came in and talked about things they said they would not have thought about until they came to this podcast.

The second aspect is that I'm asking my guests: "Hey, I'm going to bring you back here again from a different vantage point of your journey." Your life is multi-threaded. I don't want you to just take a piece of you and put that in. I want everybody who has come to my podcast to be able to come back again. That is my goal as I spread out with more episodes and more seasons.

Diana: I love that because seasons change, right? And everybody has different seasons and phases of life. It's a beautiful thing that you allow that opportunity for people to come back to your podcast—what season are they in now?

Taran: I have to acknowledge, I have to diversify a little bit here to get some men on the show. I've been unlucky that way. I've approached a few of them, but just getting on the calendar and timing hasn't worked out yet. But my goal is to get some other voices and get more representation.

For my second season, I want 60-40—60% of the people I want to make sure I have no connection with. They're coming through other references. So there is more acknowledgment of what exists, but there is a diversification. There are more bases in this mountain. You'll see more scenery, more seasons, more aspects, more views.

Diana: So are you accepting people? How can they contact you?

Taran: Just reach out to Ink of Singh through my website, InkofSingh.com, or through social media, or just email me—my email is on my website. In the next seasons ahead, people have the chance not only to talk about their journey, but they also have an opportunity to share what seasons I should cover, what kind of journeys I should cover. This is a collaboration. I'm not just the host. I'm just a medium to get these things out. The vision can also come from you.

Chapter 5: The Next Season - Lotus Hue

Diana: Speaking of next season, you started with Time and Knots and then now you have The Mountain in Us. What is the next season for you? What does that look like in your journey?

Taran: A lot of things are coming next season. We have the first book, the first season of the podcast is pretty much done. The second book is going to come out next year and the second season is going to come out next year. So we're going to go full throttle on two new things and maybe an event or two in the future.

It took a couple of years to get the second book ready, and now it's ready for primetime. One of the poems is actually going to be in a magazine coming out next week.

Diana: Can you talk about the book? Like, what's the title? Can you talk about those details?

Taran: The title is going to be Lotus Hue—Lotus as the flower and Hue as the color. The challenge I gave myself when I wanted to write another book was that I have to write something that is not going to be like Time and Knots. It is not going to be something that I've already written or a version of it.

Lotus Hue is grounded more in the now—grounded with what is happening around us and what happens to us. The lotus means that we are here in this journey of now to bloom, and hue is that we all bloom in our own colors. There is no one specific color required to bloom, no one specific journey or ways or means. This concept has, over the years, come together.

It's going to be a poetry book. And hopefully years from now, my goal is to also work towards short stories and pieces. I've been putting some energy into putting some longer pieces out on Substack lately.

Diana: You have a Substack! What's it called?

Taran: It's called Ink of Singh Again, and the link is going to be on my website. I've started putting some of those bigger blogs and things that I think are easier to digest than poems. Bigger pieces help me express things in a more clear form.

Diana: When can people expect Lotus Hue to come out?

Taran: If all things work the way they are working right now—we are working on designing the cover, my designers are helping me with what the book is going to look like—my goal is that it will bloom early spring.

I've given myself time to do it, but considering there are always some hiccups when you're doing these things, I have a great team. My designers, book cover designer, and copy editors are already on these projects.

One goal I have for Lotus Hue is to get at least a few people to come and look at the book ahead of time and write a blurb about the book—people that I do not know. Ordinary people. I want to make sure that the book becomes as ordinary as possible.

Chapter 6: A Poem from Lotus Hue

Diana: Is it possible that you can share a poem, or is there a favorite poem that you have identified so far?

Taran: I love the book a lot myself because it surprised me. There are sections in the book that I have more of an inkling towards. One of the poems that I really like is called "Lotus Lungs." Just the name made me—the name of the title of the poem was, in many ways, something that I feel. Our breath is also lotus. We inhale and exhale. Even though we don't think about it as a bloom, every breath in and out is a bloom.

It's a shorter poem. I'll put it out there for my audience.

"Lotus Lungs"

In my burial world,
murky depths and streams of grace
revive my free will.
Inhaling until lungs collapse,
perils bloom, diminishing die.

Diana: Oh, that's beautiful! Oh my gosh. So now it makes me very curious, Taran—how do you get your inspiration to write these poems, such as "Lotus Lungs"? Can you walk us through this process?

One of the things that we connect on that we can relate to with each other is that we have a very linear side of us in our day jobs and whatnot, and then there's the creative side. How do you go from linear to non-linear? How do you get inspired to do these amazing, just so in-depth, wise, beautiful poems?

Chapter 7: The Creative Process

Taran: Sometimes I'm surprised too at how my work unfolds, but the secret recipe is no secret, to be frank. I try to spend time with two things that push my curiosity up.

One is, of course, my garden and outdoors. That space, nature, just helps me disconnect from the linear world that we inhabit and pushes me to subconsciously think about the wonders that exist beyond our own perception. Some of these poems just happen that way.

The second thing is people—people in my life that I try to encourage myself to find pathways where I am going to meet people in their spaces and their walks of life that can help give me a peek into who I am. The funny thing is, we can with our eyes see the world, but to see ourselves, sometimes we need somebody else's eyes.

Coupled with that, time is also something that I utilize for my own creative process. I am not in a hurry sometimes to get to where I need to get to. The bloom can happen on its own time. And that's where the surprise comes in.

For example, "Lotus Lungs" was not the first title for that poem. But over the years when it was baking, one day I was like, "Oh, I should call it Lotus Lungs because that's what our breath is—it's nothing more than a flower that is in bloom." We just don't see it that way.

A lot of these poems go through those processes. The beauty of the creative process is that sometimes the source is unknown, and you have to acknowledge that. And that unknown in the universe exists in many forms. Once you get any blessing from that, I just take it and say, "Okay, I'm going to go run with it and let's see what happens afterwards."

I don't always know what that is going to look like, but I write it and then come to figure out what it would look like. It's a reminder that creativity is about flowing. It's not about correcting or editing right away, or filtering. It's just to let it flow as it is.

Diana: And I think, you know, luckily I don't have to write for an audience like Saturday Night Live where I have to put a script out that's going to be funny. I have the luxury sometimes to be able to surprise my own self. How can I create simple things and make them full of life, or take a simple thing?

Like, I have a poem on cockroaches in my next collection. And one of the lines is "give them honor." I'm trying to put myself in a perspective that I might not even think about. That's what creativity does to your own self. It is a crucible. Once you give to that crucible, you also transform.

Chapter 8: Overcoming Creative Blocks and Doubt

Diana: Do you ever come across what they call creative blocks, or even doubts—questioning, "Is this good enough?" or "Is this poem ready?"

Taran: Early on in my life, yes, of course. I did have that syndrome of "Is it good enough?" And that's why I spent so much time and energy on Time and Knots so that it looks and feels the best I could do.

But as I've taken the journey, I know if it is not good enough now, it will become good enough when it needs to become good enough.

Blocks—of course, we all go through blocks. Some days or some period of time, I might not even put pen to paper. But I don't use that as a block period. I just say I'm absorbing things. Things will come out when they need to come out. I don't force myself to write that much, to be frank. I'm not telling myself, "Let me write X, Y, Z today." If something comes to me, I would probably scribble it on a note and put it out there.

Having a day job and whatnot, sometimes I carry a lot in my heart that I have to write. And then as soon as an opportunity comes or a downtime, I'm surprised how much I can fill on a page.

Diana: I think you made a good point too, because creativity can't be forced. Creativity is about flow, and that's the flow of energy. That's where creativity comes from. So you can't force it. You just have to let it come to you. But that's the importance of being present—to allow that space for creativity.

Taran: One thing I've realized is that affirmation from others can actually be a damper to your creativity sometimes. Especially when you're trying to publish things, there is a sense of frustration. There is a sense of like, "Man, what else do I need to do?"

For my books and poems, not that I care much about it, but just to, you know, part of me had to juggle myself or give myself a slap. "Hey, that is okay. What you get out of it is what you get out of it."

But there are frustrations and weaknesses that I might not express on social media or in my own terms. But I don't think that they are just a ripple in that journey. You just have to keep walking where you need to get to.

Diana: Just one foot in front of the other.

Taran: Yeah. Because if you tie yourself, you can't go anywhere. You keep falling on your own self.

Chapter 9: Legacy and Impact

Diana: If you were to imagine your work five years from now, what impact or legacy would you like to have created?

Taran: Oh man, that's a tough one. I think the only impact that I would love to create, if I could create it, is to bind the world—the physical, the natural world, the world that we live in—to have a better relationship with it. If you think about it, there is no dating app to go out and date with nature. But we spend all our life here. This is a relationship that we can't just forego.

And then also the relationship inside us—the experience of knowing your own self and enjoying that experience. If my poems can be even a minuscule reflected mirror for an individual and give them the pause they need in the anxiousness of where we inhabit, that's the legacy I will take with me when I'm done, when the earth is done with me, let's put it that way.

Diana: No, and it's so important—the pause. We so need it in this world, especially in this day and age with all the noise and digital noise. We're just inundated all the time. I think what your work is doing is helping people remember themselves and becoming grounded again and recentered on what's important.

Taran: And, you know, in the world we live in, there is so much polarization of what we think. And that thinking sometimes is not even our own thinking. That thinking is something that has been enforced on us under the mechanics of the world we live in.

But creativity frees us from that mechanics. You can see the world from a higher elevation where everything, all of these superficial bumps don't matter. And the world is much more grand and much more beautiful than we see it.

Chapter 10: Getting to Know Taran

Diana: Just a couple questions before we wrap up, just to get to know you a little bit more. What is one thing that most people don't know about you that you wish they did?

Taran: I think most people think I'm serious, but I actually have a great sense of humor. I'm working on a piece where I'm hoping that I can get my sense of humor out. Even though I write from my depths, I enjoy cracking a joke or having a little bit of fun. That's something that you won't get with the seriousness that I show up with for my job and other respects.

I like to cook. I like to cook in a way that I can have a relationship with—I think food brings connection. If I were to say, what is the best way to get connection with the world we live in? Food. There's a bounty that we have to consume every day. Why not use it to build a relationship with the world we live in?

I also like to go out to lunches with people. I have to beg people, "Hey, can you come to lunch with me?" Because I don't like to eat alone.

Diana: I mean, that's connection, and connection is so good for your soul.

Taran: Yeah.

Diana: Okay, so who is your favorite poet or writer? Do you have one, living or dead?

Taran: The funny thing is, when I read or write, I don't think I have a favorite person. I read things from every genre. I like to read stories. I try to read in multiple languages. I try to read in my native language, Punjabi, English of course, a little bit in Spanish if I can get ahold of it.

When I go to a bookstore, I pick up books at random. Now I'm going to pick up a manga book and try reading it because my son loves manga. His birthday is coming up, so I was at the bookstore like, "Okay, let me see which manga book he can read that is age-appropriate for him." I was reading manga in the bookstore.

I like to read a lot of nonfiction, even though I write a lot of poetry. Some of the prominent inspiration comes from that perspective. From a poetry perspective, Emily Dickinson—I've read her, I have her collection. I find her word choice is pretty what I call surprising. She can use two words of different composition and bring them together in a framework that I like a lot. That's something that inspires me when I look at writers—how do they bring words together to make a storyline or a punchline, whatever it is?

Any book is a good book for me. I like to read a lot.

Diana: I mean, getting just well-rounded inspiration and ideas from different genres and different authors. It's not just one thing. You have a library of different genres to pull from.

Taran: Yeah. And more and more, people that I don't think I should read, I've started reading them. If I don't align with their philosophy, I just want to read them a little bit and say, "I understand what is their point of perspective." Not that it's going to change my perspective on the world that much—or it might—but I want to be open to ideas.

One thing I've realized is that if you say "I am here" and you don't move, you become a stone. But if you're a piece of log and you say "I'm here," but you can flow here and there with the current, you can see the world better.

Diana: Oh, that's beautiful. See, I love—every time I talk to you, you always have—you should create a book of just your sayings, like quotes. That's beautiful.

Chapter 11: Final Words of Wisdom

Diana: What do you want to leave the audience with?

Taran: I think curiosity is the one thing that I would say—use that as something to anchor yourself. And self-curiosity, not the curiosity that ChatGPT can answer. Because we want answers, and no amount of answers can satiate your curiosity.

But the curiosity to know yourself and build that connection with nature and your own self—everybody is unique in that journey. There is no one recipe. My recipe doesn't apply to you. It may not even apply to you at all. You can take some learnings from here and there, but we have a unique footprint as humans. What applies to Diana is unique to Diana because I think the universe has given us that energy and the power to shape ourselves the way we want to shape ourselves. We are the secret ingredient to our own recipe.

And the more we do it, the more in tune we are with ourselves, the less we are impacted by the vibrations from outside. The reason we are getting impacted by other vibrations from outside is because we are out of tune with ourselves. A little bit of volatility from outside can amplify us more than what the disturbance is from outside.

And that is the world we live in. We can't change the world, but we can change our own frequency of tuning.

Diana: That's beautiful. That's a great reminder, especially in the days of protecting your energy.

Taran: Because that's the only thing you have.

Diana: Oh my gosh, Taran. It has been an honor to be a host this time on your podcast to interview you.

Taran: This is our podcast. It is our podcast. It has been blessed by so many journeys, so it is our podcast. I am just a medium here.

Diana: I mean, this was fun. I got to know you more, and I'm sure the audience got to know you more. So thank you for this special episode and thank you for having me.

Taran: I appreciate it. Thank you.

Closing

Taran: Thank you for joining us on the conversation trails of The Mountain in Us podcast. Each episode here is crafted with love, adventure, and reflection. We hope you have enjoyed this one, and we welcome your thoughts on it. And if you want to be on the show, feel free to reach out.

Connect with Taran Singh:

• Website: InkofSingh.com
• Substack: Ink of Singh
• Email: Available on website

Upcoming:

• Lotus Hue (poetry collection) - Spring 2026
• The Mountain in Us Podcast - Season 2