The Tamil Creator

Shyam Srinivasan ( @shyam990 ) is a professional poker player who's won millions of dollars playing both online and in tournaments all over the world. He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss foregoing a career in criminal law to play poker professionally and how his parents reacted to this decision, the different countries he’s gotten to play in, running into celebr...

Abarna Raj is the Co-Founder & CEO of Australian-based Palmera ( @palmeraprojects ). The organization is named after a tree which grows in Sri Lanka and is fundamental to the existence of the communities it's located in because every part of it is used from the bark, the timber, the leaves and the fruit. Palmera is a social startup looking to help change the way that the world tackles pov...

Ganesh Thava ( @ganesh.thava ) is a Tamil-Canadian Director, Writer & Actor. He's had roles in movies "Spin" and "Cyber Underground" while writing & directing his own short film "The Orchard & The Tree" (premiered at @reelasian ). He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss being pro-therapy, having rejection rituals, his movie...

Keerthana Rang ( @keerthanarang ) is the Corporate Communications Lead at @Uber in Canada. She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss transitioning from politics to tech, growing up in the Tamil co-op in Parkdale, how governments & private companies interact to drive innovation forward, her involvement in developing the new @tamilcommunitycentre in Scarborough, if scho...

Piraveen Sivalingam ( @piraveens ) is an entrepreneur who owns & runs a Boston Pizza Franchise with his brother in Markham (Canada). He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how he got into the franchising game, doing business with family, missing out on fun with friends/family when he was younger because of the responsibilities that came with being a business owner,...

Vanessa Raquel Raponi ( @vanessaraquelraponi ) is a Senior Product Development Engineer at Spin Master ( @spinmaster ) and Founder of EngiQueers Canada ( @engiqueerscanada ). She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss being a poor brown kid in a wealthy part of Toronto (Leaside), being queer, surviving childhood abuse, getting the opportunity to be the Willy Wonka of produ...

Sundar Viswanathan ( @sundarvmusic ) is an award-winning (including a 2022 JUNO) Canadian Jazz musician. He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how being subjected to racism led him to a career in music, how his dad got him a second opportunity for music education after he failed an audition, going from getting paid in wings to winning a JUNO ( @thejunoawards ), similar...

Anusha Srijeyanathan ( @anusha_srij ) is the Executive Vice President of Client Success at Benevity ( @benevity ). She was previously part of Eloqua (which was acquired by Oracle). She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss making the most of your circumstances, why she went from finishing her last day at Oracle in Toronto on a Friday and starting hew new job at Benevity o...

Gokul Natesan (@gokuln_) is a professional basketball player who grew up in California. He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss getting his basketball chops from his dad who played in India, the process of becoming a professional basketball player (the good and the bad), hooping with NBA star Jordan Poole, the Raptors vs. Warriors championship series, South Asian represe...

Sarah Sukumaran ( @sarahsuku ) is a former Nike Product Director who is now the CEO & Founder of Lilith NYC ( @lilith.nyc ), a female-centric sneaker brand looking to disrupt the hypermasculine multi-billion dollar sneaker market. She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss working for Nike before starting her own company, the future of manufacturing (ie. 3-D printing,...

Jey Balachandran ( @jeybalachandran ) is the Chief Technology Officer at Doximity, after joining 10+ years ago as Employee #7 . He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss Doximity’s adoption of remote work prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, their hangouts at the U of T library, the value of University degrees in the future, being headhunted and moving to the US as a result, di...

Jallaja Pararajasingham ( @letsjalsa ) is a dancer, choreographer & founder of Let's Jalsa Dance Academy. She is also the Manager of Volunteer Resources at the SAAAC Autism Centre ( @thesaaac ). She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss her work/passion as a choreographer & dancer, her parents owning the Bread Master Bakery in Malvern Mall (Ara was a frequent...

Naren Balakrishnan ( @naren.bala ) is a Partner at Grant Thornton LLP. He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss his past life being an engineer at IBM, the $3 billion-plus tax credits that are given out in Canada every year, his relationship with money including how he invests, why companies need to consider & take advantage of the SRED program, and more! Follow Naren...

Apinayah Arul ( @apin.yah.ai ) is co-founder of Varman's Smile Foundation ( @vsmilefoundation ) which was started in her late brother’s memory with a mission of raising awareness around mental health and suicide prevention. She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss moving from Toronto to Vancouver for a fresh start which included 5 days of drivng with her family, how...

Sibi Selvanathan (@superstarsibi) is a Product Manager by profession who was able to knock off a bucket list item for himself by writing & publishing an Amazon Top 5 Epic Fantasy Book in 18 months during the pandemic (@author_skselva). He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss why he chose to write a fantasy genre novel,  how he leveraged free time to sharpen his writi...

Tia Bhuva ( @tiabhuva ) is the CEO & Founder of successful e-commerce company TiaBhuva.com ( @tiabhuvadotcom ) and creator of the trademarked "Saree Silhouette" (ie. yoga pants for sarees). She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how she came up with the idea for her flagship product the "Saree Silhouette", her data-drive obsession resulting in 8...

Bhi Bhiman ( @bhibhiman ) is an American singer-songwriter who grew in St. Louis and now lives in LA. He's been called "One of America's Best Kept Secrets". He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss his latest album "I'll Sleep When I'm Famous" as a tribute to his late nephew, the guitar being his first love at age 7, his album being...

Tanya Selvaratnam ( @tanyaauthor ) is an Emmy-nominated producer, writer, abuse survivor and social justice champion. She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss reading at the age of 2, her last book Assume Nothing and the impact she hopes it has along with her upcoming book Leaf Me Alone , her first film getting into the Sundance Film Festival and the opportunities that c...

Prakash Chandran ( @prakawesome ) is a podcast host, serial entrepreneur and currently the co-founder of Xano, the fastest no code backend development platform. If his last name sounds familiar, he is the brother of Sashee Chandran (@sasheechandran), founder of @myteadrop and guest on Episode #9 of the "The Tamil Creator" podcast. Our second brother-sister combo that's appeared on t...

Apiramy Jeyarajah is the Head of UK Wholesale at Aviva Investors. She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to chat about topics like working hard to get herself into a leadership role in the finance industry where people that look like her are rare, a growing trend towards digital platforms & robo-advisors, to moving from Sri Lanka to London at the age of 2, her dad instilling...

Tharshan Rajendiram (@tharshanr) is writer, director, standup comedian and actor, along with being the co-creator behind the famous "Basement Reels" YouTube channel (@basementreels, 80,000+ subscribers). He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how he he met his co-creator behind the "Basement Reels" YouTube channel, the desire to belong after immigrat...

Rathika Sitsabaiesan ( @rathikasitsabaiesan ) is a former politician (Canada's First Tamil Member of Parliament) and currently a professor at Centennial College ( @centennialcollege ). She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss growing up in a single income household, watching her parents help other Tamil immigrants get on their feet in Canada, introducing Tamil Herit...

Dunstan Peter is a serial entrepreneur who is the founder of several companies including Trinity Tech, Tnext Communication & Trinity Star Development. He was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2019. He joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss the power of education, building up the sales momentum for his multi-million dollar business with no sales reps initially...

Rubi Balasingam ( @rubi_balasingam ) is an Australian-based actress and screenwriter, includes roles in TV Series "Jack Irish" and "Improv Sessions". Rubi joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss starting out her career while doing comedic theatre, the importance of a side hustle as an actor, learning Kung Fu & ballet to improve her odds in acting, di...

Rajan Bala ( @im.provising ) enjoys being a tech builder - he was a co-founder at retail tech startup Hiku. Rajan joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to how Carleton University (@carleton_u) is underrated when it comes to engineering talent, how the idea for Hiku was formed along with how they got the idea off the ground, missing out a big exit with Walmart, starting a charity to...