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Barnali Shukla
Writer -Director- Poet
Professional Background
Barnali Ray Shukla is a versatile filmmaker, accomplished writer, and evocative poet whose journey from the world of science to the realm of cinema and literature is nothing short of inspiring. Initially, Barnali made her mark as a cell biologist, specializing in plant tissue culture, after achieving top honors both at the graduate and post-graduate levels at the prestigious Delhi University. Her educational background at Miranda House College and later at Delhi University set a solid foundation for her analytical skills and creativity, which she would later channel into her film and writing career.
With a passion for storytelling and a deep appreciation for the arts, Barnali made a pivotal career transition to filmmaking. Her cinematic journey has seen her collaborating with renowned figures in the Indian film industry, including celebrated directors like Ram Gopal Varma and Sudhir Mishra, and influential producer Ekta Kapoor. Her debut feature film as a writer-director, titled "Kucch Luv Jaisaa," premiered in May 2011, marking the beginning of her significant contributions to Indian cinema.
Beyond film, Barnali is a prolific writer and poet whose work resonates deeply within contemporary Indian literature. She has contributed her poetry to esteemed platforms such as Kitaab.org, Madras Courier, OUTCAST, and the Indian Cultural Forum, as well as international publications, including UCity Review in the USA and Platypus Press in the UK. Her short stories have found their home in various literary outlets, including OutOfPrint, Dastaan, and ReadFingers, showcasing her versatility as a storyteller across multiple genres.
Education and Achievements
Barnali's educational journey highlights her dedication to academic excellence. After achieving her Bachelor's Degree in Botany/Plant Biology at Miranda House College, where she was a university topper, she further pursued her Master's Degree in Plant Molecular Biology at the same prestigious institution. This academic acumen has been instrumental in shaping her analytical thinking and creativity, which inform her storytelling approach in both film and writing.
Her skills as a scriptwriter were recognized when her scripts were notably long-listed for the esteemed SUNDANCE-Mahindra Script Lab in both 2013 and 2014, underscoring her growing reputation in the film industry. Barnali's first documentary, "LIQUID BORDERS," produced in 2015 through Films Division, gained international acclaim as it traveled to various film festivals across North America, Italy, and India. This documentary paved the way for her later works, further solidifying her status as an influential filmmaker.
Achievements
Barnali's creative endeavors have garnered multiple accolades and recognitions in recent years. In 2016, she was honored as the India winner of the RLPoetry Award for her first collection of poems, "Apostrophe," celebrated for its rich imagery and emotional depth. Currently, she is in the process of pitching her second Hindi feature film, which promises to capture audiences with its compelling narrative.
Moreover, Barnali has recently completed a feature-length documentary titled "Once Upon A Sky," which has quickly established itself within the film festival circuit, receiving twelve official selections, featuring as a finalist in two festivals, and winning four prestigious awards, including best director and best picture. This film is now accessible to audiences via streaming platforms like www.beboptv.com, expanding her reach and influence. Barnali balances her busy professional life with personal passions, living in Bombay surrounded by her cherished plants and books. When not writing or directing, she enjoys trekking in the breathtaking Himalayas, which rejuvenates her creative spirit and desire for adventure.
Barnali Ray Shukla continues to impact the worlds of cinema and literature, carving a niche for herself as a talented filmmaker, writer, and poet. With her unwavering commitment to storytelling and her diverse body of work, she inspires others and demonstrates the power of creativity in shaping culture and ideas.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.