There are some amazing stories from all over this country where people's work and contribution has been acknowledged. To be part of that is an absolutely fantastic feeling.

Tell me why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognise our own strengths our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

The whole kiss-and-tell thing is a negative approach that often happens in a World Cup. We will see negative stories about the players and it can affect their confidence and the overall performance of the national team on the pitch let alone the bid to actually stage the competition.

To share our stories is not only a worthwhile endeavor for the storyteller but for those who hear our stories and feel less alone because of it.

I was always such a people-watcher. I would sit on street corners alone and watch people and make up stories about them in my head. Then all of a sudden I was the one being watched.

In the digital age of 'overnight' success stories such as Facebook the hard slog is easily overlooked.

Light and funny has a more compelling quality when you're younger. But I haven't abandoned the genre: I love falling down I love Lucille Ball. It's just that a lot of those stories revolve around problems that I can't convincingly portray at this age.

The funniest racism is the racism between minorities. It's something you don't see dramatized but almost every minority I know who's my age they have these funny stories about their parents stereotyping other minorities.