I was sent to a boarding school in Ghaziabad (near Delhi) when I was 12 years old. This was perhaps the first turning point for me as I learnt what sharing, being self-dependent and patient was all about. Life perked up and seemed brighter when I returned home at the age of 15 and completed my schooling from DPS, Mathura Road.

Studying in Miranda House was a positive turning point for me as I met Niret on the campus and we became good friends. And many years later we decided to tie the knot. In college when I was clueless about my future goals, it was Niret who suggested that I try my hand at advertising. So I joined the advertising agency RK Swamy where I worked for eight months before leaving for Australia to study Mass Communication at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

After returning from Australia, Niret and I got married and soon afterwards I joined J. Walter Thompson. My big campaigns like Pepsi’s Nothing Official About It and Yeh Dil Maange More caught on and nine years later I became vice president and my work became even more exciting.

But soon I wanted to try my hand at something new along with my job. That’s when I started writing The Zoya Factor and fortunately readers liked it. The success of my debut work has encouraged me to write another book and currently I am working on a new book which I hope to finish by November.

(As told to Chitra Papnai)