Hello, I'm Avantika.

I’m Avantika, a sophomore at Columbia University studying Cognitive Psychology and Film & Media Studies. I grew up in Bombay and now live between there and New York. I’m interested in how art shapes us, often before we have the words to explain what it’s done.

I’ve been performing for as long as I can remember. Acting was my first way into storytelling, and it still influences how I approach a piece of writing, a film, or something I’m designing. Studying psychology alongside film has given me more ways to think about the questions I keep returning to. What makes us identify with someone? What do stories teach us to feel, and whose experiences do we learn to overlook?

I write for The Times of India’s Voices, Bwog, and The Gilded Standard, where I’m also part of the core team, working on editorial identity, design, and social media. My writing moves between culture and behaviour, from masculinity onscreen to the economics of Broadway. My films bring my interests, passions and experiences into a different medium.

I also work on content, partnerships, and community events for startups and causes that I care about. Earlier, I founded DayOne Learning Solutions, creating educational and mental health resources that reached thousands of children and teenagers. It taught me how much care goes into making something people will actually connect with and use.

I'm constantly thinking about how much of who I am comes from the art I’ve spent time with. This website is a growing record of that relationship, through the things I make and the things that keep finding their way into them.