“Lipika” is the Sanskrit word for “writer.” Maybe my destiny in this creative field was written in the cards the day my parents named me! Then again…

I was born in a small town in Indiana and raised in a small town in New Jersey, where for over a decade I studied classical singing technique at Westminster Conservatory while actively avoiding performing in public (too many eyeballs staring back). As a freshman in high school, I auditioned for (thanks double-doggy-dare) and then was surprisingly cast as The Witch in our spring production of Into the Woods AKA dream role because wow who doesn’t love Bernadette Peters?!

Suddenly I was enamored with everything about performing: research and preparation for the creation of roles, mining scripts with my castmates for details and juice, the energy and passion inherent in a collaborative rehearsal process, and most of all performing – becoming another person and sharing a story with all those eyeballs in the dark. So I moved to the Big City to earn a BFA at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (any NYU alums out there? Go Bobcats! Or Violets! Still not sure which…) I’ve since been splashed head-to-toe in puddle water by a taxi so I’m pretty sure I can call myself a New Yorker now.

Over the years I’ve found that I thrive on collaborative work on both stage and screen but have a special passion for helping develop new plays. I’ve originated roles in world premieres at Manhattan Theatre Club, The New Group, Luna Stage, California Shakespeare Theater, American Conservatory Theater, and Mixed Blood Theatre Company, among many others. I also love being behind the microphone and consider myself lucky to work in a wonderful community of voiceover artists who specialize in English dubbing. Check out my RESUME and MEDIA pages for more details!

As an advocate for inclusion, I am Co-Founder of 1497, a non-profit initiative to support and uplift talent of South Asian descent in the American film and television industry (our name signifies the year before Western colonization began in the area now known collectively as South Asia). In 2023 we became the first South Asian partner of the Sundance Film Festival and hosted the first South Asian Lodge during the festival’s opening weekend in Park City, Utah! I’m also on the Steering Committee of AAPAC (The Asian American Performers Action Coalition), with whom I received Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre in 2022. I’m proud to be a National Volunteer Partner for Girl Scouts of the USA and #UnionStrong member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. In my spare time, I love traveling, cooking (especially the eating part), doing crossword puzzles in pen, lighting one-match campfires, and running for inordinate amounts of time outdoors.

I love meeting and collaborating with new people, so find me on FACEBOOK and TWITTER or sign up for my NEWSLETTER, and let’s get to work!