Archives: Authors

Utsav Somani is the founder of Offline — India’s most exclusive community of scaled-up tech founders. Early members include the co-founders of Zomato, Country Delight, Ultrahuman, Noise, CoinDCX, and many more. He is also responsible for bringing AngelList to India, which became the most active seed investor in the country. With 1000+ investments since it’s launch in 2018, AngelList India has over $250 million in assets under management. Utsav runs two solo-funds—iSeed and Galaxy—that have around $100 million in assets under management. Utsav has personally invested in over 180 start-ups such as BharatPe, CoinDCX, Pristyn Care, Ultrahuman, Sugar Cosmetics and Park+, along with top-tier VC firms. He has been rated as a top ten angel investors multiple times and won awards like Fortune India 40 under 40 and Entrepreneur India 35 under 35.

Archana Garodia Gupta

Archana Garodia Gupta is an Indian author, entrepreneur, business leader and celebrated quizzer. National audiences know her from over fifty episodes of Kaun Banega Crorepati, where she appears as an expert, and as a winner of the prestigious BBC Mastermind quiz.

A bestselling writer of children’s books on Indian history, Archana brings the past alive with wit and clarity. She also writes widely on history, retail and women’s issues for publications such as The Hindu and The Indian Express and is a popular speaker at literary festivals and schools across India.

A strong advocate for women’s empowerment, she has served as national President of the FICCI Ladies Organization and led various FICCI committees.

Passionate about education, Archana serves on the boards of leading educational institutions including IIM Sirmaur, Indraprastha College for Women, and Modern School, Vasant Vihar.

An MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, she is the founder of the digital-first exporter Touchstone and a recipient of several entrepreneurship awards.

Shruti Garodia

Shruti Garodia is an author whose work brings stories from India’s past to young readers in a lively and engaging way. She studied engineering and quantitative finance at Cornell University, USA, and spent several years working in banking in New York and London before pursuing her love of history and storytelling.

She has authored several bestselling children’s books on Indian history and written many columns for The Indian Express and The Hindu. Shruti enjoys sharing everyday details, lesser-known people and surprising moments that make history come alive. She often speaks at schools and literary festivals across India, UK and France.

Travel is central to her writing. Shruti loves exploring museums, heritage sites and old towns around the world, always looking for stories to bring to young readers. She also enjoys adventure sports like trekking, sailing and scuba diving.

Based between London and New Delhi, Shruti divides her time between writing, finance and projects that connect learning, culture and discovery.

Nadia Lee is a bilingual former management consultant who has lived and worked across four countries. An avid traveller and gastronome, she has spent the past decade seeking out new cultures, cuisines, and experiences around the world. Her adventures have ranged from kissing stingrays, petting tigers, and a close shave getting bitten by a shark.

She currently lives in Japan, where she shares a river-facing apartment lined with palm trees with her husband, several winter white hamsters, and an ever-growing collection of books. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading historical Asian texts, exploring new cuisines, and planning her next journey.

Zoramthanga is a towering figure in Mizo politics and a three-term Chief Minister of Mizoram, helming the state from 1998–2008 and again from 2018–2023. A long-time president of the Mizo National Front, he rose from second-in-command during the MNF’s insurgent years to the party’s undisputed leader after Laldenga’s death. Over his five-decade public life, he has served as Minister of Finance and Education, represented key constituencies across Mizoram, and steered the MNF to multiple electoral victories. Known for transforming a rebel movement into a democratic force, he remained one of India’s senior most seasoned chief minister until 2023.

A Delhi University topper in English Literature, writer and journalist Shubhra Krishan has authored six books on food and well-being. After a long run with Cosmopolitan and Femina, she turned publisher with Travel Secrets. Somewhere between deadlines and dinner, a crime plot took hold and refused to leave.

Soft Kill is Shubhra’s debut novel.

Col V. N. Thapar is the father of Capt Vijyant Thapar, VrC, who was a fourthgeneration army officer. At the early age of fifteen, he was selected for the National Defence Academy and commissioned on 12 December 1962 in the
Maratha Light Infantry. He commanded a battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. He was part of the 1965 War and Bangladesh War, and has operated in counter-insurgency operations. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Defense
Services, Staff College, Wellington. He has written for media publications and is a motivational speaker at various forums, universities, colleges and schools.

Neha Dwivedi, a Kargil War martyr’s daughter and an Armoured Corps Officer’s wife, is a doctor by profession. She is an alumnus of DPS RK Puram and Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. She sought solace in writing and found her
strength post her father’s martyrdom. She now lives in Mumbai, where she works as a childbirth educator and an infant and young child feeding specialist. She deeply believes in the healing and inspirational power of stories. This is her first book.