Washington, October 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A friend’s sudden death at the age of 35 prompted Delhi-born engineer Monica Saigal to walk away from a lucrative corporate career and pursue a childhood dream of becoming a writer. At 57, the Northern Virginia-based author has published 14 books and says the decision has brought her a sense of peace that money could not buy.
Saigal said she had wanted to write since she was about five, but growing up in a conservative Punjabi household in Delhi, she felt her career choices were largely limited to becoming a doctor, lawyer or engineer, or marrying into wealth.
“I’m one of the original three idiots. I became the engineer with two master’s degrees,” she said, recalling how she followed the conventional path before eventually finding her calling.
Born in Delhi, Saigal moved to Bahrain with her family at six and spent nearly three decades there. She later returned to India, earned an engineering degree from BMS in Bangalore and moved to the United States in 1991 for graduate studies at Lynchburg College in Virginia and George Washington University.
She subsequently worked at Ernst & Young and Hewitt Associates. Although a close friend repeatedly encouraged her to write, Saigal kept postponing the idea until retirement.
That changed when she learnt that her friend had died after falling and hitting her head on a sidewalk.
“Her question kept ringing in my mind, you know, what makes you think you’re going to be old enough to retire?” Saigal said.
She quit her full-time job, cutting her family income by half, and began writing. Her early earnings were modest, with just $5,000 in her first year of food writing. The work eventually led to cookbooks, including Modern Spice, published by Simon & Schuster.
Another cherished project was the children’s book Papa’s Butter Chicken, inspired by cooking with her father. She said seeing his pride when he received the book remained a treasured memory.
Saigal has also drawn on personal experiences for her writing, including caring for her seriously ill former husband in an intensive care unit. She turned that difficult period into a journal-style book for ICU caregivers, with copies donated to visitors at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Her latest book, The Lotus Blooms Twice, explores women’s identities and possibilities in later life, when familiar roles begin to fall away. Saigal said she wanted to challenge the expectation that women must simply endure hardship, instead imagining a second phase of life marked by joy, intention and mutual support.
Her advice to aspiring writers is straightforward: “Sit and write. You cannot edit a blank page and you cannot sell an idea.”
Although she admitted there are days when she misses aspects of her former career, Saigal said the satisfaction she has found through writing makes the decision worthwhile.
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