Experiential learning is the best form of learning. It is also the toughest.

These are some words my father said to me during my early foundation years. Words that I remember fondly from my past. I often wondered if he stole it from a movie or thought about it during his JNU years, perhaps over endless cups of chai in those iconic campus canteens where ideas were born and revolutions were planned. Either way, these are words that stuck with me and got me through my toughest days. Words that bring out the true meaning of my life. They've become a lens through which I view every challenge, every failure, and every small victory that has shaped who I am today.

I was born in India and raised in various parts of the world. This included various regions of India, a bit of Africa, and the Middle East, which added zing. My upbringing was mostly influenced by the fact that I was raised without a screen in my hand. Instead, that screen was replaced with a new musical instrument every year. Probably one of the greatest decisions my parents made, among others.

Looking back, this nomadic childhood was both a blessing and a challenge. Every few years meant new schools, new friends, new languages, and new ways of seeing the world. While other kids were building lifelong friendships, I was learning to adapt, to observe, and to find patterns in human behavior across cultures. I didn't realize it then, but this constant state of being an outsider-insider was training me to be a storyteller, a data analyst, and eventually, an entrepreneur who could see connections others missed.

Another one of those wonders was my foundation in English. It was developed by my mother with Wren and Martin from the 4th grade itself. I had scorned nightmares when I was a kid, thinking about that book. I remember hating it so much that I would voluntarily practice playing the piano with sheet music, and anyone who's tried to decipher musical notation knows that's saying something. But now that I look back, Wren & Martin to this day remains my go-to bible. That grammatical foundation became the bedrock of everything I would later do—from crafting social media campaigns to writing data narratives that could move boardrooms, from pitching investors to articulating the vision for my ventures.

During my university years, I pursued a bachelor's in computer science. Not because I wanted an IT job. I just wanted to make games. And I was deeply infatuated with the Unity Engine. There was something magical about creating entire worlds from code, about building experiences that could make people laugh, cry, or think differently. During these excursions into game development, I found a charm in two things that led to my current being.

First, the art of articulating a story. Games taught me that the best stories aren't just told… they're experienced. They're interactive journeys where the audience becomes the protagonist. This realization would later transform how I approached everything from data presentations to marketing campaigns.

Second, how not to crunch data like an idiot. Game development is essentially applied mathematics—physics engines, AI pathfinding, and procedural generation. This is also how I was first introduced to the wonders of data science, though I didn't know the term back then. I was just trying to make NPCs behave realistically and optimize frame rates.

So, like any other Indian, I did an MBA in data science. It seemed like the logical next step. A way to formalize the skills I'd been developing intuitively and to understand the business side of technology. Little did I know that this decision would open doors I hadn't even known existed.

I started my career with an NGO in public sanitation as a graphic designer and moved up to be head of social media. It might seem like an unusual starting point, but working in public sanitation taught me something invaluable: how to communicate about uncomfortable topics with dignity and impact. Among the various perks I enjoyed there, my most momentous were when our team worked with the Prime Minister's Office on national campaigns. Because of this, I had the greatest honor of having a chai with Modi: a surreal moment for someone who'd grown up moving from place to place, never quite feeling rooted anywhere.

Following this brief but intense experience, I worked as a data analyst under the mentorship of some of the leading minds in the Indian insurance industry. Insurance might not sound glamorous, but it's where data science truly comes alive. Every policy, every claim, every risk assessment is a story told in numbers. I learned to read those stories to find the patterns that could save companies millions or help families get the coverage they deserved. This was succeeded by a four-year journey aimed solely at elevating my storytelling experience across various roles and industries, each one adding another layer to my understanding of how data, narrative, and human psychology intersect.

After seven years of learning and hating the job struggles and stressful days, I decided to take a gander at entrepreneurship. Sadly, now I have sleepless nights along with stressful days. But there's a difference: the sleepless nights are now filled with possibility rather than dread, with creative problem-solving rather than corporate politics. The stress is mine to own, mine to navigate, and mine to transform into something meaningful.

This trajectory, strange to say the least, has had its perks and charms. For one, I have developed a rather keen interest in understanding human behavior and speech. Oratory, to be specific. There's something fascinating about how the same words, delivered differently, can inspire or alienate, can clarify or confuse. I haven't been much of an orator myself. That is what I am working on in my free time: standing in front of mirrors, recording myself, and studying the greats from Churchill to Obama to stand-up comedians who can hold a room with nothing but their voice and timing.

Either that or sitting beside a guitar, spinning tales with music, trying to make sense of the noise around. Music was my first language, before code, before data, before entrepreneurship. It's where I return when everything else gets too loud, too complicated, or too overwhelming. Or daydreaming about the next piece I am going to write. Because at the end of the day, whether I'm analyzing datasets, pitching investors, or debugging code, I'm still just a storyteller trying to make sense of this chaotic, beautiful world.

My father was right. Experiential learning is the best form of learning. And it is the toughest. But it's also the most rewarding, the most transformative, and the most human way to grow.