List-of-Contributors-My-India-My-Gods-Vol.-1

List of Contributors: My India, My Gods Vol. 1

MY INDIA, MY GODS is an anthology of creative nonfiction edited by Sahana Ahmed and illustrated by Akshaya Zachariah. We are delighted to introduce the contributors of Vol. 1.

Vinita Agrawal has authored six books of poetry. She is the recipient of the Jayanta Mahapatra National Award for Literature 2025, the Proverse Prize Hongkong 2021, the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2018, and the Gayatri GaMarsh Memorial Award for Literary Excellence, USA, 2015. She is on the Advisory Board of the Tagore Literary Prize. She is featured in a documentary, Deepest Uprising, made in Taiwan. She is a birder and a photographer.

Sahana Ahmed is the founder and CEO of Bare Bones Publishing. She is the author of Combat Skirts (2018) and the editor of Amity: peace poems (2022). For her work as the National President of the Rural Tourism Council of WICCI (Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and the India Country Chair of World Peace at G100, she received the Woman of the Decade award at the 2022 Women Economic Forum.

Dr Soumya Awasthi is a fellow at the Centre for Security, Strategy & Technology (CSST) at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Her work focuses on the intersection of technology and national security. She has authored the books A Compendium on Terrorist Groups (VIF, 2022), Tracing Journey of India’s Defence Budget and Its Future: An Analysis (Kalinga, 2015), and co-edited India’s Nuclear Titans: Biographical Tales (Vitasta, 2023). 

Ronita Chattopadhyay has travelled with words across successive avatars as a journalist and a process documentation and qualitative research consultant for not-for-profit organisations in India. Her poetry and prose  have appeared in The Hooghly Review, Roi Fainéant Press, Akéwì Magazine, Setu, RIC Journal, Porch Lit Magazine, Dreich, FemAsia, among others, and anthologies by Querencia Press and Sídhe Press. 

Sonia Dogra is a writer and poet from Shimla. Her writings have appeared in publications such as Setu, The Hooghly Review, Usawa Literary Magazine, The Mean Journal, Kitaab International, The Kali Project, Amity: peace poems, Write in Power, among others. An ex-educator and editor, she has been working in close association with Keekli––a creative space for children, since 2017. Sonia was shortlisted for the Rama Mehta Writing Grant in 2024. 

Ankit Kante is a father, a husband, and a software engineer by profession. Recently, Ankit has embarked on a new journey, exploring writing as a career. Based in Indore, he spends his free time reading books and watching movies.

Savie Karnel is the author of The Nameless God and Laxmi Panda: The Story of Netaji’s Youngest Spy. The Nameless God was voted the Most Popular Children’s Book on Amazon India in 2021. The book was also shortlisted for Bangalore Literature Festival’s Book Prize in 2021 and MAMI Mumbai Film Festival’s Words to Screen Options Market in 2023. Savie has been a journalist with The New Indian Express, Mid-Day, and Talk Magazine. She currently lives in Kolkata.

Neelesh Kulkarni is a management graduate, entrepreneur, theater and voice-over artist, cricket commentator, corporate coach, poet, and bestselling author published by HarperCollins and Westland Books. He has written In the Footsteps of Rama: Travels with the Ramayana (2021), Open Sesame: My Little Book of Magic Tricks (2023), Uprising: The Liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (2024), and Akashvani (2025). His books have been translated into Hindi, Gujarati, and Marathi. One of his books has been made into a web series and another is being made into a movie.

Vibha Lakhera, the founder of Project Empathy, is a researcher, educator, and writer. She is the Managing Trustee of Reachout Foundation, a non-profit organisation with a mission to create awareness about racial and ethnic discrimination. She is a Knowledge Partner with Ad Lucem Foundation, Krakow, Poland, and has ideated and created projects for National Foundation for India and ICCo. She has co-authored The Empathy Manual: A Resource Book for Teachers with Usha Rai. 

Srilekha Mitra has completed her post-graduation studies in English Language and Literature from the University of Calcutta, College Street Campus. She is a cinephile and poet whose research interests include world cinema and cultural studies; her world revolves around the three Fs––films, football, and food. She has written for Film Companion, Youth Ki Awaaz, Women’s Web, Feminism in India, and High on Films. Her poems have been published in various international anthologies such as FemAsia Magazine and Latin Anthology

Maj Gen (Dr) Yash Mor has an MSc in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University, an MA in Defence Studies from National University, Dhaka, and an MPhil and PhD from Osmania University, Hyderabad. He served as a United Nations Peacekeeper in Mozambique and has experience fighting terrorism in Punjab and J&K. He was awarded the Sena Medal and Chief of the Army Staff Commendation Card for gallantry. He is an author, a motivational speaker, and an advocate for nature and wildlife conservation.

Roomy Naqvy has taught English to BA and MA students since 1995. His MPhil dissertation was on A.K. Ramanujan’s poems. His PhD thesis dealt with Parsi identity and culture. He is happily multi-ethnic.

Ankit Raj Ojha‘s creative and academic writings are published in eighteen countries, including venues such as Poetry Wales, Poetry Scotland, The Honest Ulsterman, Indian Literature, Routledge, Johns Hopkins University Press, etc. He is winner of the 2023 Briefly Think Essay Prize, finalist in the Sundress 2023 Broadside Contest, and editor at The Hooghly Review. A PhD from IIT Roorkee, Ankit is an assistant professor of English with DHE Haryana. Books: Pinpricks (Hawakal, 2022), Wives (Hawakal, 2023). 

Durga Prasad Panda is an accomplished bilingual poet and critic whose works have appeared in prestigious journals and significant anthologies. A recipient of Indian Literature Translation Prize from Sahitya Akademi in 2002, he has attended several symposiums including the World Congress of Poets in 2019. He has edited a Reader on the life and works of eminent poet Jayanta Mahapatra.

Suchita Parikh-Mundul is a writer and copy editor. Some of her articles can be read online at The Swaddle. Her poetry has appeared in literary magazines like The Bombay Literary Magazine, Sahitya Akademi’s Indian Literature, Usawa Literary Review, Outlook India, and various anthologies. She lives in Mumbai, India.

Barnali Ray Shukla is a writer, filmmaker, and poet. She made her directorial debut with Kucch Luv Jaisaa (2011) and was an assistant director on Satya (1998). Her latest feature film Joon (2023) is streaming on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime India, UK, USA, Japan, and Germany. Barnali has also directed four documentary films––Liquid Borders, Once upon a Sky, All Is Well, and I Run into Chairs. Her poetry, creative writing, and essays have appeared in prestigious international publications. She is working on her second book of poetry, after Apostrophe (RLFPA, 2017), and is casting for her next directorial venture.

Aneeta Sharma is an author and bilingual poet. Her work has been published by Kitaab International, Indian Periodicals, Visual Verse, Om International, The Aleph Review, and Setu, and her poems have appeared in notable anthologies such as Amity: peace poems, Love Poems, Buffering Beyond the Barrel, and Kshitij. She has authored Home Run (Notion Press, 2021), A Handful of Dewdrops (Evincepub, 2022), and The Dalhousie Murders (Readomania, 2024).

Anil Sharma holds an MA in English Literature from Hansraj College, Delhi University, and an MBA from Jodhpur National University. He was the head of the cabin team on board IC 814 which got hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999. He published a book titled IA’s Terror Trail which chronicles sixteen episodes of the hijackings of Indian Airlines flights from 1971 to 1999. He is the co-author of Varanasi: Portraits of a Timeless City.

Amrit Kiran Singh has served as the CEO of Jack Daniels, South Asia, for more than two decades. He has been the Executive Chairman of the International Spirits and Wines Association of India, the Vice Chairman of the World Spirits Alliance, Brussels, and India’s representative at WHO (Geneva) on the committee for minimising the negative impact of excessive alcohol consumption. Amrit was also the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce. He lives with his wife Farah in Gurgaon.

Padm Nabh Trivedi is a lecturer in a government polytechnic in Uttar Pradesh and a research scholar in IIT Roorkee. He writes in both English and Hindi. His publication credits include Dreich (Scotland), Good Printed Things (USA), The Bayou Review (USA), Loft (UK), Roi Faineant (USA), and Setu (USA).

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