Journalist and Artist

I paint Hindu deities in contemporary American settings, celebrating everyday people and showcasing moments when divine grace arrives quietly. My mother, with whom I spent countless days inside art museums around the world, and my grandmother, who read me Hindu scriptures with heartwarming innocence, taught me to join sentences with paint in emotionally intelligent ways so they could hold a person still long enough to feel something real. When my father struggled with alcohol, the tremendous power of affirmations, art and emotional intelligence transformed my healing journey and shaped me creatively.    

My other influences include growing up in a home designed by Corbusier in Chandigarh, India, who showed me space, light and form, thoughtfully held, can lift the human spirit. Ancient Roman ruins highlighted the ephemeral nature of human attachments, a theme I often explore in my work. I have also derived much joy all my life from The New Yorker, Alice Munro, Chekhov and Van Gogh, who gazed tenderly at the quiet dignity of everyday people and made it immortal. Each of these influences has helped me become a more compassionate writer and painter.

I channeled these influences into a journalism career for National Public Radio and The Indian Express, where my humanized narratives helped open alcohol and drug treatment centers. Today, they shape my corporate communications and change management career where I apply emotional intelligence to empower people in successfully navigating change.   

Guided by swaant sukhaya — Tulsidas ji’s devotion to Shri Rama and inner peace — my work reminds viewers with quiet certainty that abundance, resilience and divine grace are always near.