People tried to make me something that I wasn't at the beginning of my career.

When you lose your mother at 20 and then your father soon after, melancholia is part of your life.

When you are 25 or even 30, you can just do things. When you get to 35, things are different. Time is more precious to me now. I've got my priorities.

Fortunately, I grew up in a traditional family where questioning was encouraged, particularly by my pandit grandfather. We are all voracious readers, seeking knowledge. I learn a lot from discussions with my wife, siblings and parents.

What a difficult time that must have been for my mother, only twenty-four years old, grieving for her mother, giving birth to her own daughter.

I was so interested in makeup, but I was pressured to follow what my family and friends wanted me to do.

I feel I'm able to get rid of any demons lurking in my psyche through my writing, which leaves me free to create all of this and to enjoy our family life, stepping away from all the fictional traumas and the dramas. If I write about family in crisis, then I won't have to live through it, I guess.