Welcome to my home page! I am a simple and friendly person who likes to meet people, learn about new cultures, and new ways of thinking and living.

My hobbies include singing and cartooning. I wish I could spend more time pursuing these!

How to pronounce my name right? For non Indians, pronouncing my name is a nightmare. So here's a mini quide: Vidhya is pronounced as "Vidh" and "yeah". It is a Sanskrit word meaning "knowledge". Navalpakkam is pronounced as "Naaval" and "Paakkam", it refers to a small scholarly village in Southern India that my ancestors hail from.

My family means a whole world to me! My parents spent a lot of time and energy in making me what I am. Appa (father in Tamil), with his ceaseless enthusiasm and optimism, encouraged me to dream big and achieve them. Amma (mother in Tamil), on the other hand, struck the balance by her gentle, but firm emphasis on moral values, discipline, and extra-curricular activities (singing, dancing, painting). Paati (grandmother in Tamil) was a living example of how to be loving, sensitive to others' feelings, tolerant and helpful. I still cherish the innumerable bedtime stories she told me. My brother inspired me by his calm and composed approach to difficult situations. I was lucky to spend a lot of time in my childhood with my extended family -- including my several aunts, uncles and cousins -- who taught me to share and care for each other. Later on, as I grew up, I found one of my best friends, Debo, who eventually became my husband. Debo and I can't be more different -- we speak different languages, eat different food, have different likes/dislikes, live in different cities -- but we are great friends and love each other for what we are! He continues to support me, and dares me to think in unconventional ways...

My passion, like every supermodel would say, is "World Peace" :-) I am neither a model, nor Dalai Lama, but thanks to my grandmother's bedtime stories and my mother's emphasis on moral values, I developed a strong interest in spirituality. In my spare time, I meditate to discover the inner peace and love, which is otherwise hard to feel in the intensely competitive world of science, work and politics. I strongly believe that "World Peace" comes when each individual (the basic unit of the world) changes to become more loving and peaceful.

My favorite books include the Alchemist, Lord of the Rings; and my favorite movies include Forest Gump, Lord of the Rings, Matrix.