As a child growing up in small-town India, I was surrounded by people who had been on the move for the last two or three generations in search of work. From the old desert country to faraway hills, coal mines and even the savannahs. While the men were at work, I was raised in a bustling family home by fierce and hardy women, the bearers of an invaluable oral tradition and tellers of fantastic tales. My longing for uncommon words, foreign places and stories started during girlhood at the knees of these women. And in no small measure, it was amplified by watching my father read every single night, in a language he taught himself in college, mirroring his own father. My grandfather, a prolific reader and letter-writer, in turn was mirroring his mother, who went to school in a horse-drawn carriage, had eleven babies and wrote in a script that I can’t even read. I unearthed these patterns when I put together my first book – a private history of my family going back 150 years.

This mish-mash of languages, geographies and economics continues to live through me. 21 homes, 13 cities, 6 countries, 3 college degrees (did I mention Harvard?) (cough), 2 kids, 1 marvelous partner, I read every day and write whenever I can. I’m bilingual and to paraphrase a line from a beloved poet, Agha Shahid Ali, Hindustani is my mother tongue and English is my first language. Reading fiction while growing up helped me escape my small-town life. Reading non-fiction as an adult helps me make sense of my expanding and confusing world.

My work draws inspiration from living in diverse cultures and literary traditions, and my travels around the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US. As the founder of Tashi Press, I thrive on helping people own their profound stories and write books that enlarge our world view.

At the moment I live in Singapore, am writing my second book, winging the parenting game and learning how to pronounce tteokbokki.

~
SHRADHA BIYANI
Founder, Tashi Press