Rajani Thindiath
Writer & Editor : Books | Comics | Animation
About
Rajani was the Editor-in-Chief of Tinkle ( from Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd., one of India’s largest comics publications) for a decade. She has been a writer / editor for over two decades. Her story Sinking Into My Skin closes Penguin's body positivity anthology Hug Yourself (2024).
She has written two graphic novels (SuperWeirdos: Whoosh! [2014] and YogYodhas: Warriors of the Spirit [2020]) and has been nominated twice for the 'Best Writer' Award at Comic Con India. She is an AVGC (Animation Video Games Comics industry) 40 Under 40 Winner and a recipient of the Sahitya Ratna Sammaan award by the Writers and Journalists Association for her contribution to Children’s Literature.
She is a TEDx speaker and was a juror at the British Fantasy Awards (2022) and the Publishing Next Awards (2023 and 2021).
She currently writes animation scripts for Nickelodeon and stories & scripts on commissioned projects, across media & platforms. She also develops Brand Content (including characters, worldbuilding and stories), takes on editing projects and is querying her YA Fantasy manuscripts.
Talks
I have had the good fortune of witnessing her editorship of Tinkle. She shaped the magazine’s editorial direction with stories that didn’t just educate children but kept them company during quiet moments, making the magazine their best friend.
Rajani’s creative vision is both fun and funny. Her writing always twinkles with playfulness and warmth. She is a born storyteller and a wonderful team leader, beloved by her subordinates and peers. As a co-worker, she brings a positive, can-do spirit to all her tasks and never fails to meet deadlines. She can come up with wacky, brilliant, out-of-the-box ideas to convey her vision while her organisational skills are inspiring and worth emulating.
Lakshmi Sankaran,
Ex-Editor, National Geographic Traveller, India
Testimonials
Having worked with Rajani for 13 years with Tinkle I have seen the growth of a remarkable writer to an outstanding Editor. The transformation that she brought to the magazine is tremendous, which speaks volumes of her talents. And these very ethics and skills, makes working with Rajani an experience that’s immeasurable.
Her ability to understand the pulse of the child reader and an eye for detail with every project she has undertaken with Tinkle will forever be the bench mark for the standards that she has set for the magazine.
Her characters YogYodhas and SuperWeirdos stand as a testimonial of the transformation that Tinkle has gone through over the decade.
Her meticulous work style and her dedicated love for the Excel sheet, reminds me of what the legendary Mr Stan Lee would say, ‘Excel’sior!
Savio Mascarenhas,
Group Art Director, Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd
I had the pleasure of working with Rajani when I was publisher at ACK Media. She became the editor of Tinkle during that period.
Being an editor of a magazine like Tinkle, which needed at that point to be made more contemporary and relevant while retaining the legacy value is no easy task, but I believe that Rajani managed it admirably.
She is excellent at multi-tasking and wears her many hats--as administrator of the magazine, as the chief planning person and coordinator, as a writer and as a visual person--with admirable ease. Her work requires her both to have a very wide vision of where the magazine is headed and also to have an incredible eye for minute detail, and she manages both with grace.
Rajani also manages a large team of diverse talents, and building the sense of team was one of her first challenges when she took over as editor and I believe that she was very successful.
Sayoni Basu ,
Consultant Editor at Penguin Random House India