Banu Munnangi laughing
Banu smiling in a room of red lights

Off the clock

The person behind the models

Ambitious by default, curious about almost everything, and always up for a good coffee. Here is the side of me that doesn’t fit on a CV.

Writing
A novel series
Currently learning
Spanish
Favourite show
Vinland Saga
Signature dish
Biryani

Fiction · Second Life Inc. · In progress

Guess what? I’m also writing a book.

What if you could erase your past and become someone entirely new?

There are mistakes you cannot undo. People you cannot face. Memories you would give anything to forget.

For those who have nowhere left to turn, Second Life Inc. offers the impossible: a fresh identity, a rewritten history, and a second chance at life.

No past. No loose ends. No looking back.

For some, it is salvation. For others, it is a secret worth protecting at any cost.

But when someone from a vanished life resurfaces, the line between a second chance and an escape from the truth begins to blur.

Because starting over may be a choice. Making the past disappear is another matter entirely.

Everyone deserves a second chance. Don’t they?

  • Book oneResetIn progress
  • Book twoThe First FileIn progress

Moments

Summits, stages and everything between

Banu in the snow at Chandrashila, with Himalayan peaks behind
Chandrashila, in the Himalayas
Banu at a summit cairn on the Brahmatal trek
Brahmatal summit
Banu delivering the keynote at DataJam
Keynote, DataJam
Black and white portrait of Banu in sunglasses
Off duty
Banu smiling outdoors by a lake
Weekend mode

Beyond the books

What fills the rest of the week

In the kitchen

Cooking

Indian desserts, biryanis that take their time, and my own Indianised pasta that purists may never forgive. Cooking for people is my favourite way of saying welcome.

Aprendiendo español

Learning Spanish

A work in progress, somewhere between ordering a café con leche and holding a real conversation. Practice partners and patient corrections are very welcome.

Anime

Vinland Saga

My favourite show. It starts as a revenge story and becomes something much bigger: what it takes to stop fighting and build something worth keeping. Recommendations welcome, but the bar is high.

Ambition

Always building

By day I lead AI for credit reinsurance. After hours I build anyway: apps you can try, essays, and now novels. I like people who are building something of their own too.

Outdoors

Mountains

Brahmatal, Chandrashila, the Swiss Alps. Summits have a way of clarifying things, and the best conversations happen on the way down.

On wheels

Skating and cycling

I learned to skate, and on a free morning you will find me cycling through the woods. Anything with wheels, fresh air and a little speed counts.

¿Tomamos un café?

Let’s grab a coffee

If you’re in London and any of this sounds like you, whether it’s anime, Spanish practice, mountains, a ride through the woods, books or big plans, I’d love to meet. Coffee first. Biryani if it goes well.