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Laila Bhaidani

Seeker, storyteller, writer.

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Three things people don’t know about you?

a) I cry while watching movies. In happy scenes too! b) I can do good mimicry. c) I can be very moody.

What’s your greatest fear?

Loosing my loved ones.

What is your greatest achievement?

Through the toughest, most depressing phases of my life, I didn’t loose my spirit and hope. I didn’t ever give up on life and living. That I believe would be my only achievement so far in life. :)

High point of your life?

Growing up in a joint family. My childhood was the most beautiful stage of my life. It nurtured me into the person I am today. B) Getting Zoe ( My beautiful baby Labrador) and becoming a mother to her. C) Getting My first book published - Us… mostly!

Low point of your life

There have been plenty. But without sounding idealistic, each low point truly contributed to my becoming. Therefore they don’t appear “ low’ any more to me. They were learning points. And my first book, “ Us..mostly” is perhaps a result of all those learnings I had during my lows.

Which living person do you most admire?

There are plenty of people in the public eye, who have done work ,worthy of admiration : Karim Aga Khan, Sushmita Sen, Osho , Dalai Lama, Gulzar, A. R Rahman, Imtiaz Ali.

Who is your favorite fictional hero?

Well, in movies it has to be Raj ( Played by Shahrukh Khan) of DDLJ. Sherlock Holmes in the Tv series. Howard Roark of Fountainhead remains a memorable character.

Who is your favorite fictional villain?

Mogambo! From Mr. India. And Joker from Batman.

Who are your favorite authors?

I admire and love Jhumpa Lahiri’s work. Rabindranath Tagore is my other favourite. Osho was sensational even though he didn’t write his book, rather spoke them.

What are your 5 favorite books of all time?

1. Almost single - Advaita Kala 2. Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri 3. Mind Body Balance - Osho 4. A new Earth. - Eckhart Tolle 5. Archies - I can read them all my life.

Is there a book you love to reread?

Almost single is a book I have re read many many times and I can still read it again. Its hilarious! And New earth - its eye opening.

What are your 5 favorite movies of all time?

1. Queen 2. Kill Bill 1& 2 3. Pretty woman 4. Rockstar 5. Paataal Bhairavi!

One Superpower you wish you had?

Its not really a superpower. But I wish I had the power to provide every stray dog with food, shelter and love. That no one sleeps hungry and cold.

Your epitaph would read? /Last line in your biography would be?

Epitaph: She seeked, She laughed, She loved. Biography last line : And she lived...

If you had a time machine to take you back to any country and any time period, where would you choose to be for your childhood, adolosent , adult life and silver years?

I would be happy living in the same time zone that I have lived in as a child. But I would have liked to experience growing up in the countryside in a farmhouse or a villa, where there is room for a lot of natural beauty, flora and fauna and of course dogs, horses, rabbits and butterflies! A small pool alongside would be splendid!

If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?

I would have liked to play a musical instrument. Either the Piano or drums.

Which book you wish you had written ?

None. Every book is an individual perspective of a writer on the given subject. And even if I like a book too much, I would not wish to have written it, because then it wouldn’t be the same!! Besides this world needs more perspective to showcase its myriad colours.

When and where do you write ?

As a practise, I try to keep aside my evenings for writing, usually in coffee shops. But I write best, when my thoughts are compelling, time and place take a backseat then.

Silence or music?

While I am writing I prefer western classical music playing in the background. Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart are my co writers! While editing, I need complete silence.

One phrase that you use most often?

Its a word : Perhaps

Do you have a writing ritual / superstition?

No superstition. But I need good coffee and enough food supplies to keep me going.

What’s your guilty reading pleasure?

Osho, Mills and Boons and Comics. I can devour them.

Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?

Just keep writing. This world has a lot of room for different voices.

"Laila Bhaidani has over ten years of experience in the field of education, creativity, and content development.
She loves jogging, travelling, exploring myriad cultures of the world and their ethnic and culinary flavours, watching movies and plays, and is an amateur anthropologist. She is an adventure sports enthusiast, loves visiting history in books, films and architecture. She speaks, reads, and writes five languages.
She hopes to travel the world and soak in the local: demography, cuisine, music, lifestyle, culture, and art in this life.
She adores Rabindranath Tagore, Guns n Roses, Quentin Tarantino, Jhumpa Lahiri, Meg Ryan, and Beethoven.
She enjoys latin dance forms like Salsa and Bachata, Jazz music , Adventure sports and Pilates.
She is an ardent dog lover and is enthusiastic about photography, dance and art."

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Debashis Biswas

With more than 15 years of experience in book sales and distribution, Debashis currently oversees Leadstart’s business activities in eastern India and neighbouring countries. He has previously worked with several leading book publishers and distributors.

Walid Jalal

Walid has 7 years experience in online listing & marketing Working in SEO firm & Publishing sector. He worked in a Restaurant as a Manager in Sharjah for two years. He loves cricket & cooking.

Jayati Sarkar

Jayati has been into literature studies and has pursued her Mphil in Australian Aboriginal Poetry from the University of Calcutta. She is an avid reader and her love for books has brought her to the field of Publishing. For years she has explored the other side of the book as a reader and now she works with Leadstart as the Senior Executive in the Editorial Department. Her work profile includes working closely with Authors, managing the projects from end to end and also working with national and international publishers for management of Secondary Rights.

Ashwini Jadhav

Ashwini has about a decade’s experience in design. She is a Master of Commercial Art, who has worked in the publishing and advertising sectors as a visualiser & designer. She was judged as the third best in the state, when she finished her foundation course in applied art. She is a practicing calligrapher in Modi Lipi (a script in the Marathi language) and is a Rangoli artist who has won several accolades in those domains. During the popular Ganesh Chaturthi festival, several idols of Ganesha in varying sizes get made, one the most important finishing touches to the idol is that of painting the eyes, which Ashwini has practiced to perfection and does it for hundreds of idols every year. In addition to the above, she is also a trained classical dancer, a national level Kabaddi player and loves cooking.

Ananya Subramanian

Graduation in journalism and love for books, led Ananya to take up a career in publishing. With her experience in the field, she has come to believe more and more in the power of stories and the people who tell them. She is a vegan and an animal-lover; and loves to dance, tend to her pet plants and often find solace in solo travelling.

T. Vijay Kumar

Vijay has over a decade’s experience in supply chain management working in India and the Middle East. He heads the production, supply chain and receivables management for Leadstart. Prior to his current role at Leadstart, Vijay worked in inventory management for five years, in Abu Dhabi.

Iftikar Shaikh

Iftikar has a decade & half years of experience across publishing and the banking sectors in the finance domain. He enjoys working on numbers and loves uncovering stories that the numbers tell. A fitness enthusiast, he loves trekking and travelling.

Maneesha Arun

Maneesha has an experience of over two decades in the content industry spanning over publishing, media and secondary rights business domains. She has a deep interest in psychology.

Mahendra Rawat

With more than a decade’s experience in book sales and distribution, Mahendra comes from a family immersed in the book trade. He worked with several book distributors and publishers before his current assignment with Leadstart.

RAJESH KRISHNAN

With more than 15 years of experience in book sales and distribution, Debashis currently oversees Leadstart’s business activities in eastern India and neighbouring countries. He has previously worked with several leading book publishers and distributors.

Rajesh Krishnan

Rajesh comes with over 3 decades of experience spread over various business domains. He oversees Leadstart’s business development & sales across southern & western India, Sri Lanka and Middle-East. His hobbies include dancing, trekking and travelling

Pooja Dutt

Pooja has over a decade’s experience in operations, sales and people management in various business domains. She loves to interact with authors and helps them meet their publishing goals. She is fond of travelling & cooking.

Bhavika Bharambe

After completing her MBA in marketing, Bhavika has focused on roles that helped her to become an experienced marketing professional today. She has worked for brands from various industries; Educational, Tourism, Retail, Entertainment, Airlines, Banking and more. She loves to spend her time by reading books and listening to music.

Naina Solanki

Naina leads the project management and author support functions at Leadstart Publishing. She is fond of being abreast of the latest developments in technology and is a keen learner of the six sigma methodology. She loves reading and travelling.

Preeti Chib

Preeti has a decade’s experience in brand and communication management with most influential and innovative media companies. She is passionate about building brands by translating consumer insights into product innovations and campaigns. She is a compulsive reader and considers a day gone without some bit of reading a day wasted. She loves reading stories to her children every night. A lover of visual art, to delve a bit deeper into the same, she took up formal training for design as well.

Malini Nair

Malini is passionate about Literature and Business Management. After her MBA (Marketing) from St. Xavier’s, she took up roles that involved sales, marketing, costing, MIS etc. in multiple sectors like Banking, Insurance, E-broking, and even the Steel industry. Eventually, her passion for languages and books compelled her to re-route her career to literature. This led to a career break and a Masters Degree in English Literature; post which she took up a role at Wordit CDE & Leadstart, enabling her to work towards both her passions.

Chandralekha Maitra

With two decades of experience as a book publishing professional, Chandralekha began her career as a features writer and columnist, working with publications across India, before moving into book publishing full time, with India Book House. She received her training in editorial title management from Book House, London. Over the years she has worked with some of the finest publishing houses in India and overseas, and across genres and markets. She has also worked with Osian’s-Connoisseurs of Art, India’s first auction house, gaining in-depth exposure to research and publishing in the fine arts-antiquities-cultural heritage genres. Additionally she has had a parallel, specialist career in Human Resources, working at Group HR, Tata Group, among others. She continues to write, train and mentor in this domain as her publishing commitments allow.

Raj Supe

Aka Kinkar Vishwashreyananda, Raj Supe is a poet, storyteller and novelist, as well as a seeker and devotee of Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath. An MBA by education, his career spanned advertising, research and creative consulting, before devoting his time to literature and spirituality. His works include Three No Trumps (novel), Sagarika Anusagarika [Echoes of Nine Rivers] (poetry), Pilgrim of the Sky (spiritual memoir), and translations of religious texts such as Cloudburst of A Thousand Suns and Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari. He has also worked on film scripts with Ram Gopal Verma and Ashutosh Gowariker, and on plays with Makarand Deshpande.

Dr. Rabindra Kumar Nanda

An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Stanford University, Dr Nanda is also a National Science Talent Search Scholar. He holds five Patents and is a published author of 50 national and 52 international research papers.

Swarup Nanda

Swarup has over a decade and half’s experience in multiple business domains related to content. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, he has worked with a couple of MNCs in the media space. His passion for literature and books is his motivation for building Leadstart.