Becoming a mother has a way to unleash many hidden talents and emotions. Things like functioning without sleep; not showering for days and thinking nothing of it; eating your child’s half chewed food because honestly you spent too much time, energy, and money to make it.
For me, it also unleashed this amazing drive to be creative and pursue a dream that honestly would have never existed without my kids.
Hello Namaste! Books were born from a simple determination to make sure that my kids had fun Hindi books that they would reach for naturally, just like their other ABC and first word books. Not workbooks or educational books. But colorful and whimsical books that encouraged them to be playful even when I wasn’t around to insist that they learn Hindi.

After a year of hand illustrating pictures and thinking of the best way to make a pronunciation key that sounded natural yet easy, I finally had created exactly what I had in my mind.
I was so nervous when I showed the first drafts to my kids. My little humans, who were all under five at the time; who did’t have the capacity yet to lie about liking or disliking something. They were my first true critics and I hoped to please them more than anyone else in the world!
I don’t think I will ever forget the feeling when I casually left the books around and they seemed to gravitate towards it and asked me to read it to them. Then they started using those words when asking for a drink of water, or when they saw the neighbor’s cat. Alas, it was better than what I had imagined.
Motherhood has inspired me to be bold, to be creative, and to no longer wait around for others to solve a problem that I so clearly see. I dedicate my labor of love to my real and literal labor of loves – Asha, Arjun, and Ajay!
And thank YOU for sharing into my dream and giving it wings!
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