Anthology of Personal Essays
Echoesof becoming
Edited by Manisha Sobhrajani
About the book
A collection of quiet, unguarded essays where fourteen voices turn inward and find something worth sharing. Read it slowly; you will hear your own life echoing back.
- ISBN — print
- 978-93-5890-681-3
- ISBN — eBook
- 978-93-5895-659-7
- Cover design
- Aahan Kapoor Sinha
Edited by
Manisha Sobhrajani
Manisha works with communities in remote and hostile environments across India, focusing on trauma, reconciliation, and the human cost of conflict and displacement.
With a background in journalism and publishing, she brings rigorous research together with a deep commitment to lived realities, amplifying voices often excluded from mainstream narratives. Her fieldwork and writing explore how histories of violence and vulnerability shape communities, engaging grassroots groups, policymakers, and scholars alike. When not in the field, she works with authors to turn their manuscripts into books. Her published works include The Land I Dream Of (Hachette India, 2014), Forest of Tides (Hachette India, 2018), and Shadows of Azadi (Melbourne University Press and Yoda Press, 2025).
Manisha Sobhrajani on LinkedInPraise
Real-life essays on varied heartfelt themes. Deeply moving.
Echoes of Becoming is a deeply reflective and soul-stirring anthology that gently reminds us of the beauty, fragility, and resilience of human life. Each essay carries the quiet power of lived experience, inviting readers into moments of love, loss, healing, awakening, and transformation. The vulnerability and honesty of the writers create not just stories to read, but experiences to feel. This book is a compassionate companion for anyone seeking meaning, connection, and the courage to embrace their own journey of becoming.
Nobody thinks their life is remarkable until they start telling it. So much comes from putting the quotidian details of our lives down on the page, and trusting ourselves to follow the thread that extends from a single moment. This book is full of these sacred journeys. May you see yourself in them and remember you aren't alone.
Echoes of Becoming doesn't look away from the hard moments — it sits with them, long enough to find what's true on the other side. It's written with the kind of honesty that comes only from having actually lived through the moment. As I read these essays, I found myself reflecting on some of the most profound moments of my own life, with a rare sense of clarity and conviction. It's a must-read for anyone trying to understand how their own hardest moments shaped them.
This book is a remarkable collection of life stories from people across different walks of life. What makes it special is the honesty and generosity with which the contributors share their journeys, offering readers insights that can inspire reflection, growth, and positive change.
Read one of the essays. It is a beautiful account of what most Indian sons go through. Highly recommend reading it to understand that you are not alone.
The contributors — open a name
An index of fourteen voices
01Amit SS Jain
“I am not good enough” — Amit SS Jain has been answering that sentence, in one form or another, for as long as he can remember. He tried answering it with a merit scholarship at NSIT, a GMAT of 750, and the Young Leader Award at ISB, and now with a PhD at IIM, where he has published research with Oxford University Press and Ivey. Seventeen years of building products that saved companies millions took him to a leadership role building systems that can think — but the core question only scaled with him. This chapter is the gradual awakening where he stopped answering and, for the first time in two decades, started asking who had been keeping the question alive.
Amit SS Jain on LinkedIn02Bhavana Issar
Bhavana Issar is the Founder & CEO of Caregiver Saathi, a tech-enabled venture supporting family caregivers providing long-term home care. She has consulted with WHO and Stanford University on caregiving, and through her firm Sambhaavna advises organizations on leadership, innovation, and behavioral sciences. A Global Fellow of WomenLift Health 2025 and a Distinguished Alumni awardee from XLRI (2024), she brings thirty-plus years of HR experience as an OD consultant, Process Work facilitator, and visiting faculty at XLRI and the IIMs. Featured in Rashmi Bansal’s Touch the Sky, Bhavana is also a motorcyclist and Limca record holder who champions women riders, storytelling, and humor as tools for transformation.
Bhavana Issar on LinkedIn03Bindu Krishnan and VG Krishnan
Bindu Malini Krishnan is a leadership coach and co-founder of the ShikshaDaan Foundation, which she set up with her late husband V G Krishnan to provide scholarships and mentorship to underserved students across India. Both had stellar corporate careers spanning over three decades before founding ShikshaDaan; Bindu is an alumna of ISB and Krishnan an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad. Though losing Krishnan devastated her, she has chosen to continue the work of making the world a little better. He was, and will always be, the centre of her universe — her twin flame.
Bindu Krishnan and VG Krishnan on LinkedIn04Divya Gianchandani
Divya Gianchandani is a consultant, coach, amateur writer, and nature lover. With over two decades of experience in leadership development, consulting, and organizational work across India, Asia, and the Middle East, she has supported leaders in deepening self-awareness and navigating growth and change. She delights in designing spaces and programs that bring diverse people and perspectives together for shared learning and deeper connection. Divya lives in Delhi with her family and her two beloved doggo girls.
Divya Gianchandani on LinkedIn05Eklavya Sinha
Eklavya Sinha is a Pune-based learning professional passionate about helping others learn and thrive. He brings over two decades of experience in human resources, having led learning and leadership-development initiatives across McKinsey, Accenture, Aon, the Dalmia Bharat Group, and the Tata Group. His blogs and short stories draw from lived experience, offering a fresh and thoughtful perspective on everyday moments. Beyond work and writing he enjoys quizzing, playing the guitar and harmonica, and travelling with his wife and son — at heart a curious observer of people, stories, and the small moments that shape who we become.
Eklavya Sinha on LinkedIn06Girija Venkatesh
Girija Venkatesh is an artist at heart who anchors her self-expression in music, rangoli art, and poetry. Her association with communities that bridge social change with inner transformation both anchors and informs her creative work. Drawn to Indic wisdom traditions from a young age, she finds purpose in helping others navigate their lives grounded in awareness and compassion. Training across biochemistry, yoga, classical music, sociology, and bhakti literature has taught her to hold diverse and often conflicting perspectives with curiosity and room for dialogue. This essay, and an upcoming book on wellness, are her ways of connecting with the collective that keeps her woven into the web of life.
Girija Venkatesh on LinkedIn07Jaidev Murti
Jaidev Murti is an educator, coach, and consultant who is still very much a work in progress. After a 25-year career in the corporate world, he is now rediscovering identity, purpose, and what it means to create impact beyond titles and outcomes. His work today focuses on unlocking human potential, helping people become better leaders and better humans, and navigating the complexities of the modern workplace with greater self-awareness, empathy, and intention.
Jaidev Murti on LinkedIn08Kumud Kalia Issar
Kumud Kalia Issar is an insatiable learner who, despite being a schoolteacher, never ceased to be a student herself. She is a compassionate caregiver and co-founder of the non-profit Caregiver Saathi, an Applied Behavioural Scientist (professional member of the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science), a certificate holder of the International Gestalt OD and Leadership Development programme (iGold), a poetess, and an avid solo traveller — a multifaceted person who challenges outdated societal norms while upholding universal human values.
Kumud Kalia Issar on LinkedIn09Manisha Sobhrajani
Manisha works with communities in remote and hostile environments across India, focusing on trauma, reconciliation, and the human cost of conflict and displacement. With a background in journalism and publishing, she brings rigorous research together with a deep commitment to lived realities, amplifying voices often excluded from mainstream narratives. Through her fieldwork and writing, Manisha explores how histories of violence and vulnerability shape communities, and strives to advocate for the basic human right to live with dignity. Her work engages not only with grassroots groups but also with policymakers and scholars, bridging gaps between on-the-ground realities and broader discourses of justice and human rights. When not in the field, she works with authors to turn their manuscripts into books, bringing the nuances of her advocacy work into the folds of editing. Her Published Books: The Land I Dream of: The Story of Kashmir’s Women. Hachette India (2014); Forest of Tides: The Untold Story of the Sunderbans. Hachette India (2018); Shadows of Azadi: Women’s Lives in the Crucible of Kashmir. Melbourne University Press and Yoda Press (2025) She can be reached at manisha.qcw@gmail.com
Manisha Sobhrajani on LinkedIn10Mohit Jhurani
Mohit Jhurani is an operator-founder with 13 years in manufacturing, supply chain, and early-stage startups. After an MBA from IIFT Delhi he began in manufacturing and supply chain at Procter & Gamble, scaled operations at Rivigo, founded the edTech platform Bluetick, and most recently led operations at Isler India across India and China. Starting Bluetick at 35 and closing it at 40 set him on a path of discovery and acceptance. A Vipassana meditator, half-marathon runner, and CrossFit and Hyrox enthusiast, he draws quiet joy from movement, presence, and his newest pursuit — writing fiction. This essay is his honest attempt to face the inner critic he once ran from.
Mohit Jhurani on LinkedIn11Nitesh Batra
Nitesh Batra is a yoga teacher and mindfulness and compassion educator. After studying and working in the US for 14 years, he returned to India to study Ashtanga under Sharath Jois in Mysore and founded Ashtanga Yoga Sadhna in Bengaluru — a space for traditional yoga, breathwork, and contemplative practice. He holds training in Compassion Cultivation from Stanford’s CCARE and Buddhist philosophy from the Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London. Through The Mindful Initiative he works with children, parents, educators, and corporate leaders, and teaches as adjunct faculty at IIM Bangalore. His belief that every child deserves tools to understand their own mind gave birth to mTeen.
Nitesh Batra on LinkedIn12Sireesha Yadlapalli
Sireesha has navigated divorce, distance, and reinvention, co-parenting her son with empathy and maturity, choosing connection over conflict; this essay is her reflection on that fifteen-year journey. A dancer at heart and a deep thinker, she believes that how we raise our children is the truest reflection of who we are. It unfolded alongside a hard-won twenty-six-year corporate career in pharma and healthcare across India and the US — the same instincts shaping how she led. She now channels that into SY Advisory and Media, advising founders, CEOs, and boards on human dynamics and business complexity.
Sireesha Yadlapalli on LinkedIn13Sushant Gadroo
Grandmaster Sushant Gadroo is an internationally respected holistic wellness mentor with over 16 years of experience guiding people toward balance, strength, and inner harmony. Through the timeless practices of Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Reiki, he helps individuals reconnect with their natural energy, calm their minds, and awaken their resilience. Known for blending ancient wisdom with a simple, practical approach to modern life, he creates spaces where people of all ages can experience healing, clarity, and transformation. Through his work with Finding Innerself Wellness, he continues to inspire a growing community to breathe deeper, move softer, and live more consciously.
Sushant Gadroo on LinkedIn14Tanusri
Tanusri is a Chartered Accountant turned full-time musician, performing across India with her band Tathaagat Project. After ten years working as a CA, she chose the world of music fearlessly and without a second thought — a free spirit who wants to spread positivity through her songs. There is a soul in her voice that compels you to listen. With her originals “Zinda” and “Yaadein” released and many more to come, she is clear that music is the very purpose of her life, and urges everyone to live without regret. Her truth is spoken through her music.
Tanusri on LinkedIn