Aarti Narayan

I’m delighted to share that my debut book “The Lives She Carried” is now available to pre-order on both Amazon India and Amazon UK, as well as Waterstones UK. Sharing links: amazon.in/gp/product/106… amzn.eu/d/5TGFTFF waterstones.com/book/the-lives…

No one can take your education away from you. Sometimes, that's all you carry with you... After securing an MBA in 1997 from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, I left India, armed with nothing but my MBA. My husband and I owned fewer clothes than books -- 5 cartons of the latter to 2 suitcases of the former. We had no possessions to speak of. Clearly the MBA we possessed made up for the lack of everything else, because 25 years and two children later, here we still are! No one can take your education away from you - A life lesson passed down from generations, thanks to my grandmother's migration from her little village to the bustling city we now call Mumbai. She came with no education and had several children to bring up almost singlehandedly. And yet she was farsighted enough even in the 1940s and 1950s to repeatedly tell her children that ‘everything you own can be taken away from you, but no one can ever steal your education. And that will make all the difference.’ Her words were passed down to my mother, her youngest child, who made sure that they were etched on my mind throughout my youth. These words are also my legacy to my children. As teenagers, they listen to very little I say but even they haven’t once disagreed with their great-grandmother’s words. Here's to the last 25 years in Singapore and the next 25 (and more) 🥂 #singapore #education #mba #iima

Writing the next chapter…. I was a corporate warrior for over 20 years. Then in 2022, I had three months of forced inactivity, thanks to a skiing accident. Though I hated feeling helpless, this actually gave me the space and time to reflect on what else I wanted to do with my life. That summer, I volunteered to put together the silver reunion yearbook for the IIMA Class of '97. The appreciation I received was completely unexpected. I'd always been, and still am, an avid reader but for the first time in my life, I realised I might have a talent for writing. A few months later, I idly submitted a 100-word piece to the NYT's Modern Love: Tiny Love Stories section. I was just writing something for myself. Imagine my surprise when an email landed in my inbox informing me that the NYT would like to run it the following week! This was the first time I had been published and I'll never forget that moment. It was followed by a second piece also published in the NYT the next month. This gave me hope that I could possibly tell stories in a way that resonated with people. It’s taken me time, but I’m finally ready to share what I've been up to since I quit my job two years ago -- I penned my first novel that is on its way to getting published very soon! It's a work of fiction that draws heavily from real life. Truly a case of art imitating life. Stay tuned for more - I hope you will join me on this journey as I navigate this new chapter. #newbeginnings #careerchange #author #book

@MayorofLondon @RishiSunak @KensingtonRoyal @RoyalFamily

I’ve always been shocked and saddened that barely any British people know about the horrors of Empire. So on the eve of Aug 15 - India’s Independence Day - I am sharing a poem I wrote. REMEMBER, REMEMBER!   When you came home for afternoon tea You grumbled about my country’s poverty Tiny, outstretched hands – so hopeless and hungry Turned your stomach and made you queasy   But you never spared a thought For the years of famine, plunder and loot A sub-continent dragged in the mire Because Britain was building an Empire.   Europe was liberated by your armies You took pride in defeating the Nazis But did your conscience never quail At the wretched souls buried in our jails?   You boasted of abolishing slavery Yet failed to notice the irony Of bonded labour toiling in our fields Yoked to the plough just like beasts.   When you thought Scotland might break away You rose up as one in righteous dismay But my land was ripped apart in a lifelong rift A bloody Partition was your farewell gift.   It seems you ‘just can’t be arsed’ To face the demons of your bloody past But must you rub salt in our wounds Each time you flaunt the Koh-i-noor? Now we don’t want your money And it’s rather too late to say ‘Sorry!’ At least let the Empire’s true story Be taught in your schools for posterity.    Cry shame to British leaders, all the powers-that-be For this reluctance to face your history If apartheid, slavery and the Holocaust can be remembered Surely, Great Britain, you can do better?   - Aarti Narayan @narendramodi #PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay @PMOIndia @ShashiTharoor @ndtv @anandmahindra @DrSJaishankar @AmberDubey_MoCA