Jyoti Rajan Gopal

I am a mom, a Kindergarten teacher and a writer. I was born in India but I grew up all over the world, from Thailand and Indonesia to Myanmar and China. My family moved often, and I was used to picking up my life and trading in the familiar for the unknown. But there were some things that did remain constant: my parents, my little brother, and the stories that we carried. I grew up with English classics like Enid Blyton and Arthur Conan Doyle and Indian staples like Amar Chitra Katha, R.K. Narayan and Rabindranath Tagore. In the books that traveled with me around the world, I found solace, adventure, and a magical escape.

25 years ago, I moved to New York with my husband, where we have lived ever since. We’ve raised our two daughters in Yonkers, in a very old house that has the most amazing porch where I love to sit and read, write, or drink coffee.

When I’m not reading, writing, teaching, or being a mom, I love to work in my garden, dance hip hop and swing, and go for walks and hikes in nearby nature!