“I was born and raised in Dubai, a city that gave me everything, structure, comfort, and opportunity. But every summer, when I’d visit Chennai to spend time with family and friends, something about this place made me feel at peace. The city’s simplicity, its people, their warmth, it was all so different from the fast-paced life I knew in Dubai. It felt like Chennai was calling me home, even before I truly lived here.
Cooking was my first love. With my parents at work and my brother away at college, I spent most of my days alone, finding joy in experimenting with recipes and watching cooking shows. My father dreamt of me entering healthcare, and I realised that nutrition was where his dream and my passion could meet.
Back then, no university in the UAE offered a degree in nutrition. So, without my parents’ knowledge, I applied to colleges in Chennai. When I got accepted, I made the hardest decision of my life, to move to another country, all alone, against my parents’ wishes. They were worried, of course. But I knew Chennai was where I was meant to be.
College here changed everything. I studied nutrition at one of the city’s top medical institutions, made friends across healthcare disciplines, and found mentors who shaped me deeply. I stayed on for my master’s, not as an NRI student anymore, but as someone who belonged here. Over time, my brother too left Dubai to pursue his own dreams, and together we began building our lives in this city.
After graduation, I chose learning over a stable job. I interned under leading dietitians, earned certifications, and worked across clinical nutrition, sports nutrition, and fitness spaces. I wanted to understand every layer of the profession before calling myself a professional. Those years taught me confidence, patience, and purpose.
Two years into freelancing, everything came full circle. My two best friends from college, both with master’s degrees in Strength and Conditioning from the UK, returned to Chennai. We’d worked together online during lockdowns; they trained clients while I managed nutrition. When they came back, we decided to create something of our own, a space where health is personal, habits matter more than quick fixes, and science meets compassion.
That’s how LivStack was born, our dream space, where fitness, nutrition, and performance come together. In July 2024, after months of hard work, we finally opened our doors. A place built not just with science, but with heart. A space that helps people stack small habits to create big, lasting changes.
Looking back, I’m just grateful, for the city that welcomed me, for the people it gave me, and for the version of myself I discovered here. Chennai isn’t just where I live now. It’s home. The city that I once chose, but more importantly, the one that chose me back.”