I am a children’s book writer based in Pune, India. Overseas, I am represented by Philippa Perry from Show Me the Rabbit. I have been writing for a long time, and as of January 2025, I have five middle-grade books, four chapter books, four picture books, and two collections of short stories to my name, in addition to stories and poems in collections both online and in print.
My first major publication was in July 2010. An editor from Puffin wrote to me asking me if I was willing to write a sports story for an upcoming anthology, and I jumped at the idea. My story “The Nationals” was published as one of twelve in an anthology for children titled Let’s Play! The Puffin Book of Sports Stories. This book was reprinted and released with a new, swanky cover several years later.
In April 2012, Happy Squirrel (an imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd.) published a collection of my short stories titled The Story-Catcher, which went on to become the second runner-up for the Parents Kids Choice Awards 2014.
From about 2014 to 2018, I worked on two series of books on trains in India. This was a fun project I undertook in association with the National Rail Museum in New Delhi, learning about trains, about Bholu (the mascot of the Indian Railways) and about the way engines work.
In 2016, another collection of short stories, Dragonflies, Jigsaws and a Rainbow was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award.
It was published as Dragonflies, Jigsaws, and Seashells by Scholastic Asia in September 2018 and was a finalist at the Singapore Book Awards 2019 for the Best Middle-Grade/Young Adult Title. In 2020, it was published by Scholastic India.
In 2018, I was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award once more, this time for a middle-grade novel titled Red Eyes. It was judged the first runner-up for the award and was published by Scholastic Asia in 2022 and Scholastic India in 2024.
Outside of the railway project, my first middle-grade novel was The Prophecy of Rasphora, published by Mango Books in 2018. In 2020, Young Zubaan published my next middle-grade novel, Sisters at New Dawn, a school story that was part of the NLF Reading Challenge 2023.
Side by side, I also wrote four picture books, all published by Pratham Books: Today I Am, What Will Happen?, How I Feel, and How Big Is a Whale Shark?
My first chapter book, The Clockwala’s Clues, was released in December 2020 and went into its first reprint less than two months later. Published by Duckbill Books, an imprint of Penguin Randomhouse India, it was shortlisted for the Neev Book Award 2021.
Karadi Tales published my second chapter book, The Best Idea of All in September 2021. Nested between chapter books and middle-grade books is a 2023 publication from Puffin Books, Dhara’s Revolution.
In 2023, Duckbill Books published my first novel-in-verse, Uncontrollable. Fantasy in verse is quite an ambitious project! In 2024, Duckbill published my second verse novel too, Fishbowl. This is another middle-grade book, one which explores grief, healing and mental health.
Other publications include three poems with Oxford University Press One is part of an ICSE textbook; the other two are part of their Reading Portal: Making a Clone and Nail Tree. I have a story in Flipped – Mystery Stories and Sci-Fi Stories, published by Harper Collins, another in Dance, Nani, Dance, published by Speaking Tiger, and articles and poems in online and physical magazines.
My first publication of 2025 is an epistolary novel for ages nine and above, The Wall Friends Club, published by HarperCollins India.
In addition to all this, I am also a classical dancer and teacher. I completed my Master’s degree in English Literature from Jadavpur University Kolkata in 2009, winning two medals for Shakespeare studies.
I now work with schools and publishers to conduct teacher training programmes, especially for English Language Teaching, reading and creative writing. Since 2020, I have also been conducting online reading and writing programmes for children. You can take a look at my upcoming programmes here.
A Bharatanatyam dancer with over 30 years of training, I have performed in India and abroad under the banner of the Academy of Indian Dances. That’s why my blog is about so many things – books, travel, workshops and writing!
