INDU BALACHANDRAN is a travel/humour columnist, and winner of India’s Best Children’s Book My Grandmother Can’t Cook! (National Jarul Awards, 2024). She’s authored two bestselling books: The Oops&Downs of Advertising and Runaway Writers, republished internationally as The Writers’ Retreat in UK. Her writings appear in New York Times, Sunday Hindu, Firstpost, Lonely Planet, Readers Digest, and seven anthologies of short stories. Indu was formerly Creative Chief at J WalterThompson, Chennai with a 30-year career in Advertising. She writes a regular column HeSaid/SheSaid in Deccan Herald.  

Indu was brought up on an unhealthy diet of Mad Magazine and Ogden Nash since age eight; leading to writing rhyming slogans for every contest that comes her way. This trick has won her a kilo of gold, a car, free holidays abroad, and numerous appliances around her house. Indu lives in Bangalore, with a secret hope of doing stand-up at family weddings someday.