About Me
Hi, I am Soumya. My favorite things are chocolates, flowers and books.
My first chocolate memory is my Uncle visiting me and bringing me a chocolate every time he visited. When I was a kid, I ate an entire packet of Cadbury Eclairs without sharing with my cousins. I will always remember the disappointment in my cousins’ eyes and the lesson from my parents about sharing. As I grew up, I preferred dark chocolate. A chocolate a day keeps sadness away!
My favorite flower memory is taking a rose flower that grew in our garden to my middle school teacher. My classmates competed with one another in giving the most beautiful flowers to our favorite teacher and our hearts swelled with pride when we saw our flower in the teacher’s hair. My other flower memory is using the petals of the gulmohar flower to make fake nails. In my early adult years, my Instagram page used to be flooded with pictures of flowers. Every spring, I wait for the appearance of the first flower and rejoice it.
My mother encouraged me to read books and write stories. Books are one of my best friends and have been my constant companion in beating boredom. I grew up reading children’s magazines such as Chandamama, Tinkle and Bommarillu. These were the only Indian picture books available when I was growing up. When I came to United States and saw the first picture book in my adult years, I fell in love with them. I read an assortment of books, thanks to my parents. My mother got me interested in literature, while my father kept me grounded with self-help books. Head over to my Instagram page @bookish.soums to see what books I read and learn about my writing projects.
My website is sprinkled with all the things that I love and miss about India. I grew up looking at the blue sky through the leaves of the gulmohar tree and waited for the appearance of tabebuia flowers in spring. I miss having coconut water from a coconut in hot summers. Mangoes were devoured every summer with relish. The sweetness of the banginapalli mangoes is divine. In the chilly winter nights, I miss having roasted corn and peanuts. My father used to purchase a steady supply of corn and peanuts and roast them in the winter season. The door on the website is a graphic of the door of my parents’ home. Drop by a message to tell me about the things that are of interest to you.
- Soumya
