Mani is a year shy of seventy and claims to be a writer by default. He was brought up in Bombay where he graduated in Chemistry from the University of Bombay. Subsequently, he embarked on a career that, if not chequered, was not exactly boring. Having opted for a career in sales, he spent a year traversing the length and breadth of Uttar Pradesh before joining a Multinational Pharmaceutical Company and being posted in Trivandrum.
A quarter of a century and voluntary retirement later, he shifted to Chennai where he taught Spoken English to young students including South Korean kids and corporate clients too. Burdened with a prodigious memory, he began to jot down his experiences as a kid spending his summer holidays with his Aunts, Uncles, and cousins in Madras, Trichur-Kerala. Eventually, the book, Summers in the Past Tense, took shape. He has also provided illustrations. Mani lives in Chennai with his wife.