About Me
Political conventions. International summits. The United Nations. Protest marches. Art auctions. Movie premieres. I’ve covered a wide range of stories—from breaking news to long creative features—over twenty years in journalism. First — writing for a national news magazine in Mumbai, then working in New York as a television news producer and on-camera reporter for a major international news agency and a huge Indian television news network. This granted me the amazing privilege of watching pivotal moments up close.
I remember standing barely twenty feet away from the podium on which Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African American president of the United States. It was an exceptionally cold day in Washington D.C. A lot of us journalists, out in the cold since 3 a.m. because of long security procedures, frantically rubbed hand warmers between frozen fingers, as Obama addressed the nation. I remember the apocalyptic sight of a darkened Manhattan skyline as my crew and I drove down the FDR Highway on our way to Wall Street to cover clogged water being pumped out of downtown streets after Hurricane Sandy.
So many memories and moments—coughing desperately while covering a group pillow fight in Union Square when goose feathers lodged in my throat; barely sleeping on the 16-hour-flight to India on the White House Press Corps plane that followed Air Force One as it carried Obama to India for his first state visit to the country; reporting live from the Oscars red carpet when Slumdog Millionaire swept the award ceremony. More recently, learning as much about electoral trends from informal chats with Philadelphia cab drivers as through interviewing analysts, while covering the 2024 U.S. presidential elections.
I love being a witness, interviewing people, getting into their heads, putting together stories and perspectives. But news moves quickly. It’s no longer a 24-hour-cyle. More like a minute with social media, maybe less. There have been weeks during which I’d lose track of what I’d covered the day before because I had moved between an average of four to five different television stories in a single day, crisscrossing New York, the United States, and occasional international travel on assignment to Morocco, Mexico, Canada, India, and the Carribbean.
I enjoyed the news conferences, press junkets, events, the opportunity to learn from so many minds, from the likes of Mick Jagger, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Angelina Jolie, to Richard Branson and Charles Darwin’s great-great grandson Randal Keynes—to name just a few.
But after years of quick turnarounds, fast-paced live shots and pressing deadlines, I craved the opportunity to dig deeper, to leave something that lasted longer, breathed deeper, tasted of sea, and delved into universal themes that had fascinated me for years—healing, wellness, ancient wisdom, and the undercurrents that shape will and destiny.
Hence, a dialing down of my journalism pace, and a deep dive into the writing life and the world of Monsoon Gods, my first novel.
Who Am I?
Huge fan of little joys. Investigator of small moments. Nature lover. Always dancing. My mantra is to try and not weigh myself down in heavy seriousness, especially after having overcome my share of challenges over the years. I’m a cancer graduate (prefer that phrase to cancer survivor) and a bionic woman with a part-prosthetic leg.
Other labels acquired over the years: Two Master’s degrees. New York University (NYU) alum. Ford Foundation fellow. Magazine journalist. International television producer. On-camera news reporter. Speaker. And finally, the descriptor that’s required the most resilience, blood, sweat, and tears: author. I finally finished my first novel, MONSOON GODS, after a gazillion drafts in 2024. It blends and blurs genres—mystery, mythology, mysticism and magical realism, woven into a coming of age tale.
“Alien of extraordinary ability.” Yes, that’s actually a thing! That’s what I officially was for a while in the United States, before becoming a citizen. Loved living in New York City. Midtown, Harlem, Brooklyn—loved and lived in them all. Now, live just outside the city in Westchester. Grew up in India as an army brat. Studied in eight schools and three universities. Spent my childhood spying on birds and trees in charming cantonments across the vast expanse of that stunning subcontinent. Love books, words, psychologys, mysticism, and people who lead with their heart but handle themselves with their head. Forever nomad. Star Wars fan. Favorite animal: Cheetah. Favorite bird: Little Swift. Favorite song: Just an Illusion by Imagination, the lyrics of which serve up my life credo perfectly:
