My Story

Hello! Welcome to my new site. I wanted to start my first blog post with a little more about me and my story, so here it is! 

I was born and raised in a suburb just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My parents immigrated from Gujarat, India in the ‘70s, and since I had the blessing of growing up with my grandmother living with us, I was raised with exposure to Indian culture, cuisine, and food. While I can’t say this was initially the case, I’ve since embraced and celebrated my heritage and incorporated it in my life currently as a husband, son, brother, internal medicine physician, artist, and cook. 

Ever since I was a child, I was always drawn to the fine arts. More often than not you would find me drawing and painting whenever I had a chance. As an undergrad student in Chicago I picked up graphic design / visual communication alongside my molecular biology and pre-med coursework.

My passion for both science and fine arts is what drew me to pursuing a career as a physician, as I saw these two areas of study work in harmony in the medical field.

During my early years of undergrad, living away from the luxury of home cooked meals, I began cooking more frequently as a way of avoiding dormitory food. As I was vegetarian at the time my options were limited, and I found that I had to figure out how to cook in order to eat the foods I actually enjoyed. I turned to Youtube videos, food blogs, and phone calls home to recreate my childhood favorites. I quickly discovered a new passion of mine, and cooking became my primary form of artistic expression. Living in Chicago exposed me to individuals with diverse backgrounds and upbringings, and this allowed me to explore other cultures through food. I started trying my hand at Mediterranean flavors, East Asian dishes, American classics, and more. As I became more equipped with experimenting in the kitchen through my new found love for cooking, I also developed a deeper understanding of my rich Indian culinary heritage. I had the opportunity to travel to India during this time as well. While traveling, I was able to enjoy the foods I grew up with a fresh perspective and a new appreciation for the process and effort going into their preparation. 

As I continued with my culinary journey back in Chicago, I came across the documentaries Vegucated and Forks over Knives that inspired me to re-evaluate the way I was eating.

Through learning more about the food industry and its impact on the environment, animal welfare, and our health, I decided to become vegan in January 2015.

I initially did this partly as a challenge for my own self-discipline, and I was able to stick with it. As a way of documenting my journey and sharing my culinary creations, I created my prior blog plantbasedartist.com and Instagram account @plantbasedartist. Later the same year, I pursued my dream career and enrolled in medical school where I embraced plant based nutrition beyond veganism. As many medical schools in the United States do not emphasize nutrition in their curricula, I took it upon myself to learn more by attending conferences and connecting with clinicians who incorporated nutrition into their medical practices. I learned the profound impact of nutrition on the management of many chronic diseases including coronary artery disease and diabetes. I went beyond the classroom to learn more about the impact of whole food nutrition (vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds) and earned a Certification in Plant Based Nutrition through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at Cornell University.

As a practicing internal medicine physician, I hope to continue learning more about the role of nutrition in conjunction with medical therapies. I look forward to continuing to share what I learn while also sharing my art through food. 

I invite you to join me on my exploration of food, art, and medicine!