In a quest to find meaning to my life, I went on to chase my old hobby of storytelling because what we often hear holds true—as adults, we are the manifestations of all our childhood hobbies, dreams, and fears.

I began weaving a story at the same time when I welcomed motherhood into my life, and quite naturally my stories revolve around emotions and women-centric themes. What emerged, after five years of nurturing a daughter and bringing into the world another, was my debut novel, Songs of the Reed.

Songs of the Reed is a lavishly narrated saga, sewn with the intricacies of love and emotions. It takes the reader to the tragic time in the valley of Kashmir and its aftermath on people who survived the war. Atmospheric as only a book can be, it lets one breathe in the chaos and energy of New Delhi and sing with the melodious rivers and romantic forts of Spain, all at once.  The story is inspired by the poem of the same name by Rumi, the very legendary Persian poet of all time.

I believe in the invincible power of stories and their impact not only on the hearts of people but also on their potential to drive the collective emotions of the world at large.  People are known to attach themselves more keenly to stories in comparison to plain facts, and stories—if they find them compelling—stay with them for much longer, sometimes even a lifetime. Stories help us to transcend our boundaries of culture, faith, class, and tradition and even break the biases we hold for others distinct from us. 

With fiction, seated on a cozy couch, one can feel both the joy and pain—or suffering even—of someone battling to survive in a distraught refugee camp in a faraway continent, all this without ever meeting them in person.