A heart full of stories and a mind brimming with creativity- that’s me!
Hi there,
I am a writer, storyteller, artist, and dreamer, always looking for the beauty in the everyday and magic in the mundane.
I am also a singer, a techie, mom, wife, daughter, and South Asian Indian living in San Jose, California.
After a winding career in the tech industry, I’ve embarked on a new path as a writer and artist while nurturing my passion for singing.
I write personal essays blend with hand-lettered quotes, and art, that decode life’s experiences and forge a connection, stir your heart, and leave a touch of sunshine in your soul. ✨☕☀️
MY STORY
A little about me…
I was born and raised in the southern state of India (Kerala), and now live in San Jose, CA with my family and furbaby.
I have a Bachelor’s in Physics and a Master’s in Computer Applications from Bangalore, India. I love to nerd out on tech and learn new things.
Music has been a lifelong passion—I’m a classically trained singer and love performing at Indian music events in the Bay Area.
When I’m not singing, you’ll find me lost in a book (I never leave home without one), or capturing ordinary moments through photography. I also enjoy pencil sketching and hand-lettering quotes that I love.
I am a chai enthusiast, avid traveler and have a penchant for orange.
I’m an old soul who holds a deep love for all things vintage and seeks poetry in the mundane. I cherish a slow, unhurried life where depth and meaning matter more than speed and numbers. As I navigate the relentless pace of Silicon Valley, I seek and savor moments of stillness in a culture that glorifies the hustle.
When you slow down, you see that this world is, after all, full of wonder.
MY JOURNEY
From dreamer to writer…
I was a kid who wrote. I spun stories for myself and narrated them to the plants by my bedroom window. I loved sketching and scribbling in my journals, pouring my thoughts onto paper.
Though I was good at Math and Science, they were never my favorite. As a dreamer and artist, my true focus was decorating my science project books — filling them with detailed illustrations, cursive handwritten notes, and intricate patterns on the table of contents pages. The experiments and lessons were secondary to making my work visually beautiful.
The clues to my true passions were there, even then.
Like many South Asians, pursuing a career in art wasn’t an option. So, I followed the traditional path and got an undergraduate degree in Physics, followed by a Master’s in Computer Applications. Eventually, I moved to the United States, diving deeper into the tech world.
My tech journey began in 1998 as a Software Engineer at a large corporate company, where I built my first website using FrontPage and ASP on Geocities.
Over the years, I self-taught HTML/CSS, worked as a Front-end Developer, fell in love with WordPress while setting up a startup’s blog, ventured into WordPress development, contributed to the WordPress documentation team, and discovered my passion for technical writing and documentation.
But even as I navigated nearly two decades in tech, there was always an inner yearning to create. Writing and sketching became my escape, my sanity amid the tech madness. I secretly admired women who built creative brands, authored books, and shared their voices with the world.
For years, I made multiple blogging attempts, started half-finished side projects, and mocked up various brand ideas. But between,juggling a career, motherhood, and the challenge of having aging parents across the globe, I buried my dreams and creative calling.
the turning point…
Then, in 2024, as I approached a milestone birthday, I made a decision: it was time to honor my dream. I realized that writing and illustrating brought me immense joy, and I was ready to embrace this path wholeheartedly.
I began publishing illustrated essays on Substack, sharing them with a small group of friends. Their response and encouragement sparked a fire within me, and I finally embraced my true calling.
And thus began my creative journey. Now, I carve out time for my own creative projects. I write essays on Substack, tinker away at my art and illustrations, and embrace the ever-evolving twists and turns of my creative life.
-`♡´-
Sending you Sunshine from Bay Area!
