about me
My earliest memory of being captivated by stories was when my aunt read me "The Lord of the Rings". I was very young, about three, and probably understood very little, but the bits I did understand had me hooked. The rest, as they say, is history. What followed was an insatiable hunger for books. Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, The Hobbit, the Jim Corbett series, James Herriot, and a whole host of others.
At the age of 11, inspired by 'Malory Towers', I convinced my parents to send me to a small, offbeat boarding school. This experimental school was out in the wilds of the Nilgiri forests. With no running water and no electricity, I had an opportunity to immerse myself in what I loved most, a steady diet of stories, surrounded by nature and animals in many shapes and sizes. I found that I loved the jungle and all things reptilian and spent the bulk of my remaining school holidays volunteering at a crocodile conservation park.
I graduated with a Bachelor's in Sociology and thought about getting a job as a writer for a magazine. Instead, I found myself in a research agency, learning and eventually specializing in consumer research and culture studies. Here I discovered my third love, the human mind, and spent many years studying what makes people tick.
Today I live in Mumbai with my husband (an intrepid explorer, who has helped me overcome a weird fear of flying). He's dragged me on numerous adventures across the world.
My elder son (at age five) is already pondering the universe, infinity and where souls go when you die. My younger son, at two, has declared himself a 'bad guy for life' and spends his days emulating Darth Vader.
My family also includes two rescue cats - one of whom can be mistaken for an overfed rabbit, the other for a homicidal ankle-biter - and my very, very old rescue dog. I'm not joking; he's ancient!
My dream is to be a traditionally published middle-grade and childrens picture book writer. This is what I have wanted to do for more than a decade, and I have finally been able to organize my life to enable me to do so. I want to write, write, write !! I also illustrate but for my own pleasure and for my own work.
I've written and illustrated one picture book that's now available in stores. I'm also working on a middle-grade manuscript and am in the early stages of developing my second picture book.
PLUVIOPHILE
CHAI LADY
