When I was little, I found stories. Rather stories found me. I listened. I found happiness, comfort, wisdom, teaching and people who would be friends, even if you judged them. As I grew, as I learnt to speak, I discovered another thing — I could weave stories of my own. Give me a word, and I could weave a story around it. I was hooked.
To me the world and everything in it is a story. We are the stories we tell ourselves. Stories spin magic. I think they do for everyone, too. That is why the best way to connect to an infant or the CEO of a corporate conglomerate is through a story. Try it.
I learned to believe in magic, to believe and know that there are happy endings, to know how to save myself in the desert with only a shard of mirror and a flask of water, how to identify poisonous frogs, how to open a door with a hair pin, how to make friends with magical creatures, to see through a disguise and many more useful (and not-so-useful) things, through stories in books.
In the span of over 25 years I have over 30 published works. My stories are a part of CBSE and ISCE curriculum and a few of my books have won awards (Sera Learns to Fly, Katha, won the FICCI Best Children’s Book of the Year Award in 2019, Lost and Found in a Mumbai Koliwada, The People Places Project was shortlisted for many awards and Ammu and the Sparrows, Pratham Books, won the Neev Literature Award in the Picture Book Category, in 2021 and is part of the Parag Honour List) and that thrills me no end!
Off late I have been writing poetry and these have appeared in magazines and journals and after Once Upon a Story, Crossword Book that I co-authored, I have ventured into writing for non-children books. My first essay appeared in Yaari: An Anthology on Friendship by Women and Queer Folx and I’m on the brink of my next solo non-fiction book for non-children (if you know what I mean). Whooohoo! I’m also painting and feeling more and more confident in that space as well. It’s been an adventure.
When I am not writing, or reading or exploring spaces on foot, I am teaching and conducting workshops on storytelling and creative writing. Welcome to my world.
For invitations, speaking requests and inquiries: [email protected]
