Vrinda Singh Chauhan: A Technocrat Championing India’s Languages

Writing to empower women

During her university years, Vrinda wrote “Murky Girl.” The self published novel uses fiction to expose how patriarchy stifles women’s lives. She followed it with “5 Minutes,” a collection of vignettes about women in the corporate world. In a 2021 interview, she explained that the book encourages girls to “break free from the shackles of society” and shows that “technology is my pride, and literature my passion”. Her work focuses on self discovery, resilience and empowerment, themes that have resonated with readers. The New Indian Express described her as “a technocrat at a reputed MNC, entrepreneur (owner of Paperwiff), blogger and author”—a blend of identities she embraces rather than hides.

Creating Paperwiff

Frustrated by the difficulty of finding readers for her debut novel, Vrinda founded Paperwiff in 2018. The platform allows anyone to publish poems, stories or essays in their mother tongue. She designed it so that “even a person who is not very tech savvy can publish their words”, and she envisions Paperwiff as a digital library that “bridges the gap between readers and writers”. Since then, the site has attracted more than 100,000 readers and thousands of writers, becoming one of the largest online communities dedicated to regional languages.

Paperwiff differs from other blogging platforms in its emphasis on vernacular content. Users can post in hundreds of Indian languages, including dialects on the verge of extinction. Vrinda and her team promote writers through contests, open mic events and social media campaigns. She describes the platform as “home to thousands of independent languages,” where literature and technology combine to give hidden voices a stage. This inclusive design has created a supportive space where emerging authors can build a following without leaving their cultural roots.

Revitalising endangered languages

In July 2023 Paperwiff launched a mobile app. The app supports more than 15 local languages—Bundelkhandi, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Rajasthani and Gujarati among them—and aims to give endangered tongues a digital presence. Vrinda calls Paperwiff “an emotion… we want to make publishing vernacular content easy and accessible to everyone”, noting that the app has become part of users’ daily routines. She plans to extend support to languages in southern India and to build an online dictionary that will collect definitions and preserve local vocabularies. By digitizing rare languages she hopes to “bring back lost treasures from the past”—a mission that positions Paperwiff as both publisher and cultural archive.

Engineering, entrepreneurship and recognition

Beyond Paperwiff, Vrinda works as a software developer and project manager for multinational firms. Her engineering skills underpin the platform’s technical infrastructure, enabling her to mentor younger colleagues. She also founded PixiBlu Digital Communications, a boutique agency that helps businesses develop digital brands. While less visible than Paperwiff, the agency reflects her belief that technology can democratize entrepreneurship.

Vrinda’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In 2021, she was included in the Times Group’s 40 Under 40 list; the Times of India article names “Vrinda Singh Chauhan, Founder, Paperwiff” among the honorees. The award recognizes young leaders whose innovations benefit society. In March 2024, she was honoured at the International Ambassador Meet organized by the World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises. Business Standard reported that she was recognized as the CEO and founder of Paperwiff and highlighted her Himachal Pradesh roots, her Integrated M-Tech degree, and gold-medallist status, as well as her authorship of Murky Girl and 5 Minutes. The article also noted that she serves on the advisory board of a government university, is a TEDx speaker, and was previously honoured in the Times Group’s 40 Under 40 list. Later in 2024, the Inspiring India compendium profiled her as a resilient entrepreneur who combines engineering training with social impact.

Advocacy and impact

Empowering women is central to Vrinda’s work. Her novels encourage girls to challenge expectations, and she mentors female writers through Paperwiff. She regularly speaks to students about pursuing STEM careers, using her own experience—excelling in engineering while nurturing a creative passion—to show that gender should never limit ambition.

Her platform also champions enthusiasts of vernacular language. By digitizing local literature, organizing contests, and building dictionaries, Vrinda hopes to instill pride in regional identities and resist linguistic homogenization. When a language disappears, she argues, so do the unique worldviews it contains. Paperwiff’s inclusive model therefore advances both literary diversity and cultural preservation.

A model for inclusive innovation

Vrinda Singh Chauhan’s journey shows that innovation need not come at the expense of tradition. By self publishing a novel she encountered the structural barriers faced by writers outside India’s urban centers. Rather than accept them, she created Paperwiff, a platform that supports content in countless Indian languages and has attracted hundreds of thousands of readers and writers. A mobile app released in 2023 revitalizes endangered languages, and plans for an online dictionary show her commitment to preserving cultural heritage. Recognition from the Times Group and Business Standard underscores the broader impact of her work.

More importantly, her story encourages young Indians to pursue multidimensional careers and to use technology as a tool for inclusion. By blending engineering and literature, she demonstrates that innovation and empathy can coexist. As Paperwiff expands and as more writers publish in their mother tongue, Vrinda continues to provide a blueprint for purpose driven entrepreneurship in a diverse and rapidly changing India.

Even as accolades accumulate, Vrinda remains grounded. Colleagues and collaborators describe her as approachable and generous with her time, particularly when mentoring authors from rural communities who have never published before. She often travels back to small towns to host writing workshops and openmic events, returning to the places that shaped her own early life. In doing so she underscores her belief that the next great voice in Indian literature could come from any village or city—provided someone builds the platform to hear it.