Jaya Padmanabhan is the collaborative editor at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, helping California journalists dive deep into health stories. She is a veteran journalist with bylines in The New York Times, PBS Next Avenue, Forbes, MarketWatch, Seattle Times, India Currents, Ethnic Media Services, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Examiner, The Bold Italic, The San Francisco Standard, Medium, The Hindu and more.

She is the author of "Transactions of Belonging," a collection of short stories published in 2014.

Jaya has received more than 30 awards for her journalism and fiction, notably from the San Francisco Press Club, Writer's Digest, New America Media, Lorian Hemingway Contest, and the Page Turner, among others.

In 2015, she was the convocation speaker addressing the graduating class of computer science graduates at San Jose State University. Her speech was titled "Why a Software Engineer became a Writer.”

Jaya Padmanabhan 2015 Convocation Speech to the SJSU CS Dept

A SELECTION OF IN-DEPTH REPORTING STORIES

	Bilingualism May Stave Off Dementia, Study Suggests - People who spoke two languages daily in their youth tended to score higher on memory tests later in life, the researchers found.
	Why I Chose An Assisted Living Facility In India For My Mother - It's a decision I can justify intellectually, but cannot rationalize emotionally.
	Autumn Blues - How to cope with depression among older adult immigrants
	For Aging Immigrants Food from their Homelands is Key to Happiness - How food from homeland is connected to mental health for aging immigrants
	The American Dream - The foreclosure crisis of 2011
	The Complicated Relationship Between Screen Time and Depression - Is it really the case that depression and screen time are correlated?

Transactions of Belonging
The short stories in the collection blend emotion and introspection.

I would recommend this book to any short story lover. The stories are not straightforward thereby doesn't take the reader for granted. The reader is made to think. Imagine. Expand the story in his/her mind. One of the best short story collections that I have read recently. - Booxoul review - April 16, 2018

Goodreads reviews:
http://www.goodreads.com/book
/show/22283154-transactions-of-belongings

FAVORITE ESSAYS

Now That I Care For Her, I Feel For Her • Next Avenue • Published on Dec 22, 2020
"Our relationship will always be an imperfect one, but it rests on the twin pedestals of her trust and my caring."

Historic debate highlights just how bad the Trump-Biden debacle really was • The San Francisco Examiner • Published on Oct 2, 2020 | News Columnists
James Baldwin and William F. Buckley thoughtful, eloquent in 1965 face-off over race

For Aging Immigrants, Food from Their Homelands Is Key to Happiness • The Bold Italic • Published on March 18, 2019
Stories from California's immigrant seniors clinging to the flavors of their past

The Audacity of My Secularism • Editorial, India Currents • Published on June 2, 2016
At a dinner recently, the conversation drifted to the politics of religion in India.

Waiting to inhale: The curious incidence of tears and laughter at death • The Hindu • Published on January 19, 2018
Remembering the day my father died.

Podcast: @AtalantaDiaries. Here is the full recording on Spotify. Also available on Apple Podcast.

inDIALOG
- Television to inspire
View the archived website

India West writes about inDIALOG
by Lisa Tsering ( Dec 29, 2000)
Excerpts:
"A new Indian American television show seeks to break the "Bollywood and more Bollywood" mold, with interviews with prominent Indian politicians and artists."
"Padmanabhan produces, directs and coanchors the show with classical dancer Vidhya Subramaniam. As they explain in a press release, the show "draws the spotlight on the singular achievements of individuals.....artists, musicians, authors, entrepreneurs and other captains of industry." "