Since my early years, I have been fascinated and inspired by the versatility of the 16th century ‘Renaissance Man’. All thanks to the exposure of my brilliant and talented friends at school, my interests too have been versatile. I reveled in delving deep into the mysteries of a myriad domains, like sport, art, theatre, literature, dance, film, and so on. Also, early on, my family passed on to me the value of serving others.

I was born to loving parents who struggled to give me a good education. The early years were tough. But wasn’t it for most of us? Thin, scrawny and morbidly shy, I avoided social occasions like the plague. Hockey kept me and my friends from straying over the edge. It was thin line. Then came the panic attacks, anxiety, loss of faith, a black Kafkaesque period. Depressed, directionless, jobless, my friends and I lurked comfortably in the shadows, emerging only after dark. We walked the empty streets at night. Discussing matters of consequence, or so we thought.

Like the emerging light of dawn that gradually lifts the veil of darkness, it was grace that gradually lifted me and some of my friends from the worst.

Thanks to my dad, talented friends and neighbors, sport became a passion and a savior. Hockey in particular. Fit and agile, my friends and I were tipped to play for the country by the best coaches. I captained the school and college team, and played at the University and State level. Sadly, I couldn’t sustain my interest. Later I got myself certified as state level coach endorsed by the erstwhile Indian National Hockey Federation - IHF. I trained and coached several teams. During this time, I was also initiated into Mental training for Sport by a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Syracuse University. Thereafter, I continued my learning and training of athletes & sportspersons in mental sports.

In writing I began as an art critic for a local newspaper, then a copywriter. Finally ended up as a Creative Director in India’s No 1 advertising agency. It was a hectic adrenalin run. I later transitioned into an entrepreneur running a creative boutique agency. Wrote, strategized and co-created over 200 ad films for national and local brands. Totally spent over thirty years in advertising. Lots of learning. Great fun. Won quite a few awards. Trained, coached and mentored many interns, senior internal teams, writers, art directors & clients.

Simultaneously, I was a guest Voice Over Artist with AIR (India’s National Radio Station), anchoring the National Science Programme, National hockey commentary, and did gigs as a professional Voice Over artist in the corporate and studio circuit. This too led to training and coaching many young voices.