A black-and-white photo showing a woman sitting on a stone wall and holding a young child in her lap, with another child standing beside her. The background includes houses and a hillside.

I was born and raised in Bombay, a city alive with stories. My childhood was filled with tales told by my mother and aunts.

My mum was a librarian I grew up surrounded by books. I could always be found by 398.2—the section for folktales. That early love of stories has guided me ever since.

After studying Drama at Exeter University, I joined Common Lore, a group of storytellers and musicians, and spent several years touring with them. Since then, I’ve worked as an actress, director, dramaturg, producer, and arts and heritage consultant. My work has taken me across the UK, India, and Southeast Asia, working with a wide range of organisations including Theatre Centre, Arts Council England, Royal Court, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Rich Mix Centre, Creative Scotland, the BBC.

A person getting a haircut outdoors while three other individuals, dressed in white robes, look on, with plant life and a paved driveway in the background.

When I was six, my mum and I visited Mount Grace Priory in England. As I stood among the ruins, I learned about the monks who dedicated their lives to prayer. That visit stayed with me and sparked a longing for the sacred.

So when I went travelling in Thailand many years later it was only natural that I should ordain as a Buddhist nun to deepen my spiritual practice.

Just before the new millennium, on 30 December 1999, I was walking along a rural road near Bordeaux, close to Plum Village, where I was attending a winter retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh. A van struck me, and its wing mirror broke on my back. I was hospitalised and all my internal organs were bruised and I was unable to walk. I found comfort and healing in the mindfulness practices I was learning. Meditation helped me stay calm, focus on my healing, and stay present through the recovery process. It was this practice that led me to be able to heal body and mind.

Meditation

I’ve been a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh since then. In 2005, I travelled through Vietnam with him and an international delegation of monks and nuns, recording and presenting a programme for BBC Radio 4 called The Vietnamese Buddha. His teachings on mindfulness have profoundly shaped my life and work. I now use this knowledge to run retreats, workshops and to guide others, both live and online, where mindfulness and creativity come together.

Since 2005 I have also been a Buddhist Prison Chaplain. I teach meditation, mindfulness and Buddhism in a range of prisons. In 2006, I was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh into the Order of Interbeing and given the name True Lotus Wisdom.

A pink and white lotus flower with green large leaves in the background.
Two women standing outdoors, one elderly with a brown knit hat and the other middle-aged with curly gray hair, both dressed in brown jackets, in front of greenery and a blue car.
A scenic landscape of rolling green hills and fields with scattered trees, under a partly cloudy sky during sunset or sunrise.
A woman with short curly hair, wearing a black dress with white floral prints, smiling, standing next to a framed Japanese-style painting with three traditionally dressed figures. The background is black curtains.

Yorkshire

Eventually, I moved to the Yorkshire Dales, searching for a quieter life. But instead, I found myself starting something new. In 2010, I founded Settle Stories, a company dedicated to storytelling, supported by my husband Graham Brand

Over the years, I’ve written and performed several one-woman shows, including Memories of an Indian Childhood and The Turning Point. In 2018, I launched my first piece of interactive fiction for children, Down the Rabbit Hole, and published my first children’s book, The Dragon’s Pearl, through Settle Stories Press. The Dragon’s Pearl was highly commended by the FAB Prize in 2018.

Settle Stories

Settle Stories has grown into something I’m incredibly proud of. We work with exceptional artists to create transformative experiences for people and communities.

We reach tens of thousands of people a year through the Yorkshire Festival of Story, our online learning platform Storyversity and Stories for Schools.

I love sharing my learning which I do through workshops, trainings, coaching and talks.

A woman wearing a colorful shawl sitting on a grassy hill with a black bowl, overlooking a scenic landscape with rolling hills and a cloudy sky.
A smiling older woman with gray, curly hair standing on a cobblestone street in a historic neighborhood, with old brick and stone buildings in the background.

  • "An amazing artist and storyteller."

    Jack Zipes