In my previous career, I worked for a tech company. Lots of stress and chaos took me to the point of burnout. My energy was low and my motivation lower. I knew that I was not anywhere near my best self and that is when I decided it was time to take a sabbatical. At the time, I had no idea how wonderful it would become.

For my sabbatical, I chose to travel and study, two things I have always enjoyed. My destination was Sydney, Australia, and it became my home for the next six months. Along with a classroom…

By Navina Chhabria | www.navinachhabria.com

Let me start by saying I LOVE FOOD and I am eating a chocolate cream biscuit as I write this. There are sugar granules on the top and a creamy filling in the middle. The biscuit is crunchy, so buttery that it’s melting in my mouth. There may or may not be chocolate stains on my shirt.

Food has been an important part of my life. It has nourished me, soothed me, filled me up and inspired me. It is weird though. I was a thin, scrawny kid who’d rather run around outside than eat…

What is home? Four walls? A picket fence? Marriage? Family?

I never really lived with my grandparents. But each year when we visited during the summer holidays, Amma, my grandmother would tell me about her home in Pakistan, a big, beautiful tree and the lake where she would swim in the afternoons as a young girl. A home she would never see again. Her new home was Bombay. Initially in a refugee camp and then a one bedroom apartment that was shared between at least eight people. They shared a single bathroom and a kitchen so small it could barely…

My dad was born in pre-partition India. His family had to run overnight with virtually no belongings, leaving their thriving life behind. He was two. And although my mother was born in free India, the loss of land and life her family had to go through was still palpable.

Having to rebuild from nothing, there were little resources and almost nothing left for luxuries. And coffee was a luxury. Like gold. To be taken out only on that rare special occasion. Which was laughable because when kept for long periods, it almost never survived the humidity. The powder turned into…

By Navina Chhabria | www.navinachhabria.com

Have you ever looked at a brand or an object and have been immediately attracted to it? And have you wondered why? Was it the color, the design or perhaps an illustration that drew you in? From your morning cereal, your dish towel, the clothes you wear to everyday objects. Illustration is all around us. Ever bought something just because it was cute? Yeah. Me too!

When thoughtfully done, illustration can speak directly to your target audience, capture their attention and lure them in. It is a means of storytelling. Usually accompanied by text, its…