Media, Storytelling & Production Portfolio

Harini Sasikumar

Podcast host, writer and visual storyteller — an electrical engineer, building a career behind the microphone and in front of the camera.

Podcast Host Writer Visual Storyteller Engineer
"The life we want always wants us back."
Portrait of Harini Sasikumar
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The Yatra — host
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About

Harini Sasikumar
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Harini is a final-year Electrical and Electronics Engineering student at Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore, now transitioning into media, storytelling and production — building a growing body of creative work as a podcast host, writer and visual storyteller, and applying to the University of Westminster to formalise this direction through postgraduate study.

Applying for
MA Digital Media / MA Journalism
Currently
B.Tech EEE, final year
In progress
The Yatra · Medium · Hello, this is Nitra
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The Story So Far

My story with that life began at the age of six, standing on my school stage with a microphone in my hand, looking at an audience without realising that this moment would continue to find its way back to me. Growing up in a close-knit school community gave me something I value deeply — the opportunity to be seen, encouraged, make mistakes, learn from them and grow.

My undergraduate journey in Electrical and Electronics Engineering added a different light to my life. It taught me resilience, discipline, and most importantly the ability to stand back up when things did not go as planned. After many years, I had the opportunity to host our Freshers' Day — and something within me felt a sense of bliss again. It reminded me that one aspect of life does not define who we are; there is always another beautiful feather waiting to become part of our journey.

Each time I felt that I was falling back, my love for being behind a microphone or in front of a camera held me up. Through speaking, acting, writing, hosting and podcasting, I began to understand that my interest in media was not simply about being visible. I became fascinated by the process of transforming an idea into an experience: how a story is constructed, how a character can make an audience feel, how a voice can hold attention, and how a narrative can make people imagine themselves inside another world.

This is why I am particularly drawn to the MA Digital Media Storytelling and Production at the University of Westminster. The course does not approach media just as a process of creating content or following trends. Its emphasis on media storytelling, interactive and immersive media production, and narrative development resonates strongly with the way I want to understand storytelling. I want to create stories that invite people to feel, imagine and immerse themselves in the world being presented to them.

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Writing

Published opinion and reflective pieces on career, storytelling and media ethics.

The Person Standing Before the Camera Is Also Human!

An argument for more empathetic, less celebrity-obsessed journalism — and what real interviewing should look like.

Read on Medium →

What Really Matters at the End of the Long Streets…

A personal reflection on choosing an unconventional career path over a "safe" one — for anyone told to be realistic.

Read on Medium →

Are We Knocking the Right Way?

For Electron, the Amrita EEE department magazine — arguing for portfolio-based evaluation over entrance exams.

Pending publication
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The Yatra

A personal interview podcast exploring people's journeys, crafts and perspectives through honest, unhurried conversation. Harini hosts, researches guests, develops questions and edits each episode.

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The Raga That Life Holds

A conversation exploring a life spent teaching and performing Carnatic music.

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A Small Win for Your Skin

A conversation with Dr. Kalaivani on skin health, confidence and small wins.

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A Cup of Emotional Intelligence

A conversation with a yoga practitioner on presence, balance and the mind-body connection.

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Visual Storytelling

A Peek Into My La La La

A look into the channel's origin story, along with a few solo podcast videos.

Watch on YouTube

A Few More

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Upcoming Book

Hello, this is Nitra

Hello, this is Nitra

A semi-autobiographical book exploring identity and personal journey through personal connection — written and developed chapter by chapter.

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CV

Two sides of the same story — the creative practice and the engineering training it grew out of.

Profile

Podcast host, writer and visual storyteller with a background in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, transitioning into media, storytelling and production.

Experience

Host & Creator, The Yatra (Podcast)

Ongoing

Research, guest outreach, question development, hosting and editing.

Writer, Medium

Ongoing

Personal and opinion pieces on career, storytelling and media ethics.

Creator, YouTube

Ongoing

Original video content including reflective pieces and podcast episodes.

Author (upcoming), Hello, this is Nitra

In progress

Semi-autobiographical book, developed chapter by chapter.

Career Objective

To pursue postgraduate study in Digital Media and Journalism, building a career that bridges storytelling, production and audience connection.

Certifications and Courses

Myso — a self development course, about giving life a newer experience beyond the one already known.

Education

B.Tech, Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore — Final year, graduating June 2026

CGPA: 6.88

Skills

Power Systems

Load forecasting, economic dispatch, power factor correction

Embedded & ML

ESP32, wearable sensors, edge inference, ensemble learning

Simulation

Simscape, MATLAB, MPPT algorithms

Selected Projects

Edge-Based Knee Rehabilitation Monitoring Using Wearable IMU Sensor and ML

Wearable ESP32 system classifying knee flexion angles in real time; 99.6% confidence, 15ms on-device inference, 99.99% BLE data reduction.

ARIES-CAN: Real-time Intrusion Detection for CAN Data Using Ensemble Learning

Hybrid AdaBoost–Random Forest IDS for IoV CAN bus traffic; 100% accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score detecting DoS and spoofing attacks.

Smart Factory Patrol Robot with Multi-Sensor Monitoring and Computer Vision Surveillance

Autonomous ESP32-based line-follower robot with obstacle avoidance, RFID localization, environmental monitoring and human detection.

Integrated Short-Term Electrical Load Forecasting and Economic Dispatch

ANFIS/ANN load forecasting (MAE ≈ 4.87 kW, R² ≈ 0.999) integrated with linear-programming-based economic dispatch.

Active Power Factor Correction for Single-Phase EV Charger Rectifier

Simscape-modelled rectifier and boost converter with PI-based current-mode control; ~0.998–0.999 power factor, ~3% THD.

Comparative Analysis of MPPT Algorithms for PV Systems

Compared four MPPT techniques for a solar PV–boost converter system under varying irradiance.

Certifications and Courses

Relevant coursework and certifications in power systems, embedded systems and machine learning.