Rashid Siddiqui is an information security professional working in cybersecurity, who also writes on contemporary issues, philosophy, technology and life on his blog loggingreflections.wordpress.com and on cisspmadeeasy.com. Born in Darbhanga, Bihar, his life has since taken him to Delhi and now Sydney. His novel Unfriend follows two childhood best friends from a small town in Bihar — one Hindu, one Muslim — who share a single cricket bat and a thirty-year friendship, until the times slowly decide they are meant to be enemies. Spanning 1992 to the present day, it's a story about the cost of belonging, the friendships our times try to break, and how we lose the people we love not in one argument, but one forwarded message at a time — warm, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking, insisting throughout that there are no villains, only people. Drawing on his own life across Darbhanga, Delhi and the corporate world, and a lifelong reading of history, religion and philosophy, Rashid writes about contemporary India with the double vision of someone who left it: an insider's memory and an outsider's distance. Unfriend is available at Dymocks, on Amazon, and through Notion Press.

Uma Panch is a global keynote speaker and author whose work sits at the intersection of conscious leadership, wellness transformation and human connection. Her story spans three countries: born in Sri Lanka, raised in India, and later moving to Australia during one of the most searching periods of her life — not just a new chapter in a new country, but a journey toward meaning, identity and a deeper sense of belonging. Navigating change across cultures gave her a lasting appreciation for the stories, beliefs and values that shape how we see ourselves and one another — a thread that now runs through her work helping people move beyond labels and conditioning toward deeper connection and meaningful transformation. Uma is co-author of The 7 Wonder Shifts: The 7 Keys to Understanding Gen X, Gen Y & Gen Z, which explores how different generations think, communicate, work and connect — inviting readers to find the "wonder" in each generation and turn generational differences into stronger relationships and collaboration.