Spend a little time in a foreign land and your personality starts speaking of the local culture and environment. Such was the feeling when I went through Journalist Siobhan Heanue’s Instagram posts. A South Asia correspondent for ABC News Australia, the stories Siobhan has covered in Asia are on @abcnews_au website, but her Instagram is a beautiful collection of her personal reflections and snippets of those conversations.

Scrolling through, I saw beautiful portraits of women, men, and children, and intriguing captures of rather mundane nooks and corners of various cities of India, Pakistan, Nepal, and other Asian countries. Take a look at this post –

Training as a rickshaw mechanic or working as a VJ? At least the air temperature was slightly cooler down here. #justgettheshot #lowangle #videojournalist #rajasthan #rickshaw #womenwhoshoot #gopro #tvnews

112 Likes, 7 Comments – Siobhan Heanue (@siobhan_heanue) on Instagram: “Training as a rickshaw mechanic or working as a VJ? At least the air temperature was slightly…”

A woman of wit and wisdom, in one of her posts Siobhan shared, “Filming on the smoggy streets of New Delhi. I never realized how much of a shock the sight of a woman with a camera could be until I started working here. Sometimes it completely shatters the naturalness of the scene I’m trying to capture and the cause is lost before I even begin, other times it’s such a surprise and novelty that people open up and let me into their lives in a way they usually wouldn’t. I never can predict which it’s going to be. Either way, it keeps me on my toes!”

A woman in the shoes of a journalist, add to that from “pardes”, she had to get a taste of this sooner or later. Sigh.

Scroll below to read about three of the many women whom Siobhan has met so far:

First is the story of Sailja Joshi, a 72-year-old woman, who wants to become a Hindu priest in a place where, usually, only men of the highest caste are considered eligible to be religious leaders. Siobhan met her in Pune, and in her introduction, she wrote, “how could a face like this not have a wonderful story behind it? It involves a career change and challenging social traditions – at 71. Because if you can’t rail against tradition at 71, what’s the point of getting that far?”

At 72, Sailja Joshi has found her calling rather late in life. After a lifetime spent caring for others at home, this grandmother wants to join the workforce. She is one of a handful of women studying to become a Hindu priest in a place where, usually, only men of the highest caste are considered eligible to be religious leaders. Story on @abcnews_au. #womenwhowork #womanhood #girlpower #spiritual #priest #religion #scholar #portrait #facesofindia

64 Likes, 1 Comments – Siobhan Heanue (@siobhan_heanue) on Instagram: “At 72, Sailja Joshi has found her calling rather late in life. After a lifetime spent caring for…”

Priyanka belongs to a community where brides are expected to submit to a virginity test, at the behest of an all-male, unelected caste council. When Siobhan met Priyanka, she was about to get married, “She is dreading her wedding night. In her community, Priyanka, along with a group of young people from her community, are campaigning for the traditional practice to be rejected. They’ve started a WhatsApp group and are appearing in local media in a bid to have their voices heard.”

Priyanka is dreading her wedding night. In her community, brides are expected to submit to a virginity test, at the behest of an all-male, unelected caste council. Priyanka, along with a group of young people from her community, are campaigning for the traditional practice to be rejected 🙅🏻🙅🏻‍♂️ They’ve started a WhatsApp group and are appearing in local media in a bid to have their voices heard. You can read their story, and about the virginity testing ritual, on the @abcnews_au website. #india #portrait #tradition #modernity #women #womanhood #girlhood #marriage #wedding #videojournalism

82 Likes, 15 Comments – Siobhan Heanue (@siobhan_heanue) on Instagram: “Priyanka is dreading her wedding night. In her community, brides are expected to submit to a…”

And the third story here is of two women from Pakistan whom Siobhan met on International Women’s Day this year. Wishing her Insta fam, she wrote, “Happy International Women’s Day #iwd2018 from Pakistan, where I got to hang out with a bunch of amazing women who have nerves of steel. These awesome ladies are Veeru Kohli (L), a former bonded labourer who is running for election later this year despite death threats and fending off bribery attempts. And in the middle is Krishna Kumari, who has just become the first lower-caste Hindu female to be elected to the Pakistani Senate.”

Happy International Women’s Day #iwd2018 from Pakistan, where I got to hang out with a bunch of amazing women who have nerves of steel. These awesome ladies are Veeru Kohli (L), a former bonded labourer who is running for election later this year despite death threats and fending off bribery attempts. And in the middle is Krishna Kumari, who has just become the first lower-caste Hindu female to be elected to the Pakistani Senate. You can hear their stories this weekend on @abcnews_au. #pakistan #womenempowerment #badbeti #feminist #strongwomen #toughasnails #tvnews

92 Likes, 4 Comments – Siobhan Heanue (@siobhan_heanue) on Instagram: “Happy International Women’s Day #iwd2018 from Pakistan, where I got to hang out with a bunch of…”

For more such stories, follow Siobhan here.