There is something quietly ridiculous about having a blog for fourteen years.
Not impressive. Not glamorous. Just… mildly absurd.
When I started this blog in 2012, I was a teenager with WiFi, annoying opinions, and absolutely no long-term plan except to become a “published” writer and maybe own a dramatic number of notebooks (because what’s a writer without a ridiculous stack of beautiful, unused journals, right)?
Now I’m 32. I’ve published six books, gotten married, created two more humans, made some strong progress in my life and finally got agented after more than a decade of facing rejections…..
And somehow this strange little corner of the internet has survived longer than several tech startups, at least three hair phases, and one extremely questionable fringe experiment that I can still hear my family collectively sighing about.
Some of you reading this have been here since the beginning.
Which means you have witnessed:
- my dramatic teenage ambitions that spilled over pages with more passion than focus
- my overly emotional early-twenties essays laced with existential crises and an abundance of italics
- my irregular blogging era, 2018 to 2023, we do not discuss, but let’s just say I took a sabbatical that could rival the best of them.
And now… this version of me.
So here is the official life update.
The Bengaluru Chapter
I now live in Bangalore.
Bengaluru has taken a very close place in my heart. The city feels like the perfect backdrop for someone who spends her day thinking about stories, romance novels, filter coffee, marketing, startups, books, and occasionally whether she’s left the pressure cooker on (the struggle is real).
Life here has settled into a delightful rhythm I genuinely enjoy (like a favourite song that plays on repeat).
I work from home as a Content Head at a UK-based company, which might just be the nicest corporate situation I could have stumbled into. The work life balance is amazing and I love the fact that I can work from anywhere.
I have creative freedom to dream up ideas that might just shift the universe slightly off its axis. My team trusts my visions and, on most days, I get to do what I enjoy the most anyway… which is write!
(Not bad for someone who once started this blog by pouring out dramatic diary entries about wanting to become a writer and grappling with the complexity of teenage angst).
My Marriage So Far
I married my college sweetheart.
Yes, Tanuj. That guy. (If we’re friends or family, you MAY have heard me drop his name now and then back in 2015 lol)
This means our household is a fascinating mix of sambhar, parathas, sarcasm, and multilingual arguments about which cricket team deserves the utmost loyalty (not that there’s any debate; the answer is always the one my darling husband supports cuz I don’t watch cricket).
I was warned extensively about marriage.
People shared horror stories, relationship cautionary tales, and grim statistics that made love sound like a tug-of-war.
But the truth is…..my experience with marriage has been far less dramatic than I anticipated.
It’s actually (friggin) awesome, I’m not even exaggerating.
I love being married.
My husband is still my best friend. He goes to office once a week and also travels a lot each year…..which means whenever he’s in Bengaluru we also share the same home office!
We work together. We walk together. We go to the gym together (yes, we’re that couple). We eat most of our meals together, crafting our own little culinary adventures (or misadventures), depending on how things go in the kitchen when the cook isn’t there.
After six years of marriage, I sometimes feel like we’ve become slightly ridiculous extensions of each other….like a human centipede, but, you know, a much more glamorous version of it.
And honestly… I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Children Plot Twist (x2)
After being married in 2020, Tanuj and I thought we’ll be in our honeymoon phase forever, like any other delusionally happy newlywed couple.
But then, came the ultimate plot twist I’ve ever experienced in my life: motherhood.
Two children.
In two years!!!!!!!
Daughter, in 2020. And a son, in 2022.
If you’re doing the math, yes. That was… intense.
But motherhood has been unexpectedly joyful.
(Not the pregnancy part, I absolutely hated being pregnant. I lost a lot of weight both times cuz of Hyperemesis and preeclampsia, but I loved the journey after giving birth.)
Also, let’s acknowledge the real MVPs of our household:
Our nanny: who deserves a gold medal for her superhero-like capabilities,
Our cook: whose can somehow manage both my rasam saadham and poriyal cravings as well as my husband’s aloo paratha cravings with such sharp expertise….
Our maid: who helps maintain some semblance of order in this delightful chaos.
My biggest flex in my life is that so far, when I’m at home, I feel like an absolute princess who gets to cuddle my babies, work a job I love, and write when everyone sleeps and all the while having someone cook for me, do the dishes for me and take care of my kids!
Without the people helping me around in my home, this blog post would currently be titled “Help. Drowning in Adulthood. Send Snacks.”
Parenthood is chaotic, loud, hilariously unpredictable, and occasionally sticky (thank you, children, for your unwavering love of jams and jellies).
But it is also full of those small, strange moments that make your heart melt at random times in the afternoon, like when they laugh for no apparent reason, come running to me when I open the door after going on a long walk, just pure joy bursting forth.
There is something else I want to say….because none of the things I just described happened in a vacuum.
Not the books. Not the house. Not the children. Not even this blog.
Behind every calm photograph of family life, there are always several people quietly holding the entire structure together. (IT REALLY DOES TAKE A VILLAGE!)
First, our parents.
Both my parents and Tanuj’s parents have given us the kind of love that feels steady and generous and deeply grounding. They are the grandparents every child deserves: curious, active, affectionate, and endlessly invested in their grandchildren’s lives.
Our kids are growing up surrounded by stories, advice, snacks, and an alarming amount of grandparent-level pampering.
And for that I feel incredibly lucky.
But if I’m being completely honest about the LOGISTICS of raising two tiny humans while juggling careers and writing ambitions… the real heavy lifting has often come from two other people.
My brother, Sibi. And Tanuj’s sister, Komal.
They have been absolute angels in this parenting chapter.
The kind of siblings who step in without ceremony, expect no formality, take full control of our ship on days our energies are low…..show up when things get chaotic, entertain children when the adults are collapsing, and somehow manage to make the whole experience lighter.
If raising children really does take a village, these two have been the backbone of ours.
I don’t think we say this enough out loud.
So here it is, permanently written on the internet:
We love you both deeply. Our kids adore you. And we would not have survived the early years of parenting with nearly as much sanity without you.
My Writing Career Situation
My writing career has been… wild.
In the best way.
I have now published four novels.
Which still feels surreal to say out loud, and a bit like an imposter putting on a crown one size too big.
Last year, something even stranger happened. The universe gifted me a plot twist.
At Book Bazaar 2024, my story was selected as the top winner in the Book-to-Box-Office pitch fest! Which means one of my books has been optioned for a film adaptation.
There is a non-zero chance that something I wrote alone in my room might turn into a movie in the next couple of years, starring who-knows-who, which is both thrilling and terrifying.
I am also now an agented author, now!
Yes, my work is now represented by Red Ink Literary Agency.
We’re currently preparing my next book for submission to our dream list of publishers, which is the publishing equivalent of preparing a child for their first day of school exciting, terrifying, slightly nauseating (but mostly exciting!).
I’m also a registered member of SWA now.
Although if I’m being honest, gives me quite the imposter syndrome as I keep telling myself that I am NOT qualified enough to write….but I’m working through it….
Adult Milestone I’m Most Proud Of
In 2023, Tanuj and I bought our first home.
And I don’t think I was emotionally prepared for how thrilling that experience would be, as we did it when I was just a few months post partum having given birth to our son…..it didn’t sink it. It just felt like week after week of endless paperwork.
But then, the day of the registration came…..and that was the moment it hit me. Signing the papers was akin to entering an uncharted territory of adulthood.
Walking into the house for the first time after registering it, embracing the vast potential of space, I stood in the living room thinking:
“Wait… this is now ours?”
It felt like the kind of milestone that younger me used to imagine from a distance, like a daydream crafted from fairy tales and hope.
Travel and Other Small Plans
So far I’ve travelled to three countries.
This year, I’m set on adding two more destinations to the list.
Because the older I get, the more I realize how much stories improve when you occasionally leave your own city….like spices that develop depth when allowed to marinate.
The Future of This Blog
Now here’s the part that matters.
I want to come back to blogging. Properly.
This blog has quietly existed for twelve years, a digital time capsule of my growth and evolution.
And the truth is, writing here has always felt like writing letters to people who know me.
Which you are.
Friends. Family. Old classmates. People I’ve worked with, laughed with and cried with….people who have watched different versions of me unfold through scrolling paragraphs and whispered thoughts.
So here are my goals for this year:
- Blog regularly again, unfurling my thoughts like a flag in the wind
- Build digital products for writers and business owners (products forged from the lessons learned in my chaotic journey
- Hopefully, land a Big Five publishing deal for my next book, because why not aim for the stars?
- Grow this blog from 3,000 to 5,000 subscribers (a little optimistic but hey, dreams are meant to be bold)!
And most importantly…
I want to write more honestly again.
Because the internet has now become very loud, filled with cliffhanger headlines and attention-grabbing hooks and AI antics. I am not doing this for high growth, I am not doing this for traffic…I guess I’m doing this for legacy now.
I want my grandchildren to be able to visit this domain address and see and learn more about my life, my stories and my dreams.
I want to keep this blog like a quiet, sacred corner where we can talk like actual humans, free from the noise.
So if you’re still here after twelve years, reading the musings of your mildly absurd but insanely lucky friend…
Thank you for reading.
And welcome to the next chapter ❤
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