“Ever woken up to a baseless social media post, using your name and picture to propagate a particular opinion? Well, this funny yet stirring incident has been a reality and subsequently, a major turning point too, in my life. Seeing my photo, alongside a fake rumor claiming that I was hospitalized after landing in an accident and that, that’s the deserved consequence for anyone getting into inter-religion marriages, shocked me in every sense of the word and I went inactive for a few weeks.

Nevertheless, when my mind cleared up, I disclosed my views in the form of a Tamil article, elaborating on 25 social media problems and quick solutions for the same. Penned rather sarcastically, the piece went viral and took me in a new direction! After 16 years in a secured job at the Railways, I started getting work as a freelance writer in my late thirties!

And the journey from thereon enabled me to revisit all my passions from childhood, checking off even my smallest dreams, one after the other! Today, I’m the author of five books, a history enthusiast, a budding archeologist, and of course a mother, juggling her interests beautifully whilst raising an ever-encouraging family!

Now, if you’d asked me about my life goals at twenty, my answer would’ve been much different. As a young girl from Ambasamudiram, on a railway scholarship to Chennai, and eventually, a secured government job- the focus was always on ticking the expectations, whilst taking things by the day. Dreams were infinite, but there was an equal amount of pressure to conform, fears, and a lot more factors pertaining to the times then!

I guess, sometimes, unanticipated occurrences do work out for the better! At least, for me, this new path took me into areas less explored by women, ultimately amplifying my creative voice. There were, of course, a ton of naysayers throughout but every ‘no’ has only helped me get out of my comfort zone and set a new milestone in the specific field. Going forward, I want to use my work to spread awareness on the lesser known areas of Tamil history whilst also tapping into some inspiring stories of the women of our lands!”