As a widely travelled brown skinned person brought up in India and educated in the West, I’ve often found my values and beliefs atodds with the society I happened to be in. At first, I was protective, even combative about my values till slowly these differences begunto embrace me.I believe in embracing differences. Today, our society is polarised about everything from politics to climate change.Views and perspectives that differ from ours make us anxious and uncomfortable. We avoid disagreements and differences. In myworld, unpacking and understanding these differences can powerfully set us on a path towards learning and growth.

What we believe in is often shaped by our past experiences and memories. During my career at sea, I experienced a near collisionwhich was traumatic as a start but later became a turning point in my life. A decade later when I took up a PhD in Social Sciences itbecame obvious to me through this journey how the same experience can be narrated in so many different ways. Since then, I havetaken up a passion for creating human stories. I find storytelling as a powerful way to promote learning and influence change.Based inthe North East of Scotland, I travel extensively (of course not at the moment :) and set up learning events across the world. My work isrecognised both in the scientific community and across safety critical industries – maritime, oil and gas, aviation, retail, health,insurance and renewable sector. My interests include storytelling, cultural anthropology, organisational learning, safety managementand accident investigations.

There is a beautiful expression in anthropology – ‘making the familiar strange and the strange familiar’. I find it very helpful in learningmore about myself each day.

About me