Punam Hariharan
I grew up as an Armed Forces Kid along with my two younger sisters and a brother as my father Mr Dhrub Singh Samyal, served in the Indian Air Force, eventually retiring as a Flying Officer in 2004. Hailing from Jammu and Kashmir, my roots lie in some of the most beautiful regions of the majestic Himalayas. My mother Mrs Susheela Samyal, is an artist who loves nature and animals. She constantly kept herself busy designing, painting, gardening, cooking and making food preserves and all of that left an indelible impression on me. And thus, grew my inherent love for nature, colors, designs and all things culinary!
I was always drawn to nature, it’s ingenious forms, and the unfathomable variety of colors and elements. Back in the days of my childhood, one would often find me loitering around the orchards in my grandparents and relatives houses in Samba, Jammu and Basholi amidst the lofty Shivalik Hills, with the blue mesmerizing river Ravi flowing through like a Painting… and in the Foliage of the Military campuses where we lived.
I loved taking these long walks around places where we lived and travelled around J&K, Punjab, Karnataka and Assam. The soothing streams, sitting around the small temples, watching village elders do their morning pujas and lying idle on the isolated stone culverts on hilly roads… just soaking in Mother Nature’s beauty was my favorite way of passing time during summers.
I cannot put in words now the joy these wanderings brought to my little soul. My cousins and I would relish Black Berries, Guavas, Bers, Jamuns, Sugarcanes, Grapes, Mangoes salvaged in big baskets after a storm from the farms… and the natural mushrooms that would spring up magically after the first rain!!
Winter holidays would be spent with three generations of family sitting together in the open bright sunny yard, making delicious citrus fruit salads and relishing them. Celebrating New Year’s Eve with a big gang of cousins from the village, playing and hopping from home-to-home for sweets are some of my most cherished memories of growing up in those simple fun filled times. There was no doubt that I felt one with mother nature from the earliest days of my life…
I eventually went on to Graduate from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore and then worked at various jobs for 20 years, learning and growing with multiple companies. I started my career as an Organic Certification Inspector, then moved to Online Agri Marketing Operations, the first of its kind in 2000 and then to the Project Management and Administration roles with IT Consulting companies like Sapient and Fidelity Investments. My entrepreneurial journey started in Delhi in 2012 with Real Estate and then with Interiors and Furnishings.
I am also a creative professional; I continue to write for advertising projects (PVR- Sung by Shankar Mahadevan), UP Yoddha- Sung by Daler Mehndi, Mauka- A single sung by Palash Sen etc) and for Indian Cinema as a Lyricist (Listen Amaya- featuring Deepti Naval, the late Faroukh Sheikh and Swara Bhaskar, 2013) and have been a Voice Over Artist for many Television Commercials for almost 20 years now.
I have enjoyed the freedom of Start-ups and have equally loved the security of Corporate jobs. I am eternally grateful to God for every experience that I have garnered, and I value all my relationships with so many amazing people who I have met in this journey.
“Every day is an adventure into the unknown, best lived with love in our hearts, compassion in our deeds and dreams in our eyes”