About

I was born in India into an American family and spent my childhood in several towns across that country.  I was educated in a boarding school in the foothills of the Himalayas and upon finishing secondary school I attended the University of Minnesota.  After receiving a BA in South Asian Languages and Literature, I completed graduate studies in Modern Asian (South Asia) History.

While studying advanced Urdu on a fellowship in Lahore, I fell in love with the culture, landscape and people of Pakistan and was inspired to pursue a career in international humanitarian work. I was fortunate to get an opportunity to join the United Nations office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Islamabad where I managed the third-country resettlement of Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees.  It was this work with vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees that planted the seed for what would become my first novel, The Book of Accounts. My career has taken me around the world not just with the UN but other organisations including the Red Cross, Save the Children, CARE and Oxfam. My most recent international role was leading a large humanitarian program in Myanmar, as Country Director.

I’ve nurtured several passions throughout my life. As a writer I’ve published two novels, written weekly columns on music and photography and maintained a number of blogs related to music, photography and the international aid business. My first novel, The Book of Accounts, (Citron Press, London, 2000) was nominated for two international awards: the Guardian First Book Award (2000) and the inaugural Frankfurt Book Festival eBook Award (2000). My second, The Shah of Chicago (Speaking Tiger Books, New Delhi) was published in 2017. 

I’m an accomplished amateur photographer. My work will shared here but is also available in a number of self-published coffee table books as well as in a series of geography textbooks published in the USA. My photographic work has been praised by international jurors on the website Lens Culture and has been featured in other international publications and sites.

In addition to the above, I’ve translated several short stories and one novel from Urdu into English for the well known Pakistani magical-realist writer, Mazhar ul Islam

Throughout my life I’ve nurtured a deep and eclectic passion for music. I’ve been blogging for 15 years now. For a number of years I wrote a weekly musical column, called Sunday Sounds, for the popular, award-winning Indian news journal, Scroll.in, which counted among its fans, the Academy Award winning composer A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and writer, Salman Rushdie.

I’m currently (slowly) researching and writing a history of the Pakistani cinema industry.

In short: Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits has been conceived as a place where I can share my writing, pictures and music in one place in many different formats.

As a Missionary (AUD15 Month) subscriber you get access to all content, including 15 years of music that I’ve shared across several sites. You will also get subscriber-only content including a weekly M3 Mixtape curated by myself. You will also receive 2 curated CDs of music with art work and liner notes in physical and/or digital format, twice a year.

As a Misfit (AUD150/year) subscriber you’ll get all of the above. Plus you will get 3 CDs/year as well as other exclusive content that will be available from time to time in throughout the year. Maybe a photographic print or a T-shirt or…

As a Mercenary visitor you have access to a lot/most of the content on this site free of charge.