“Prahlika” is a Sanskrit word for a type of literary puzzle. True to her name, little Prahlika loves puzzles and seems to forget about the world when she is solving them! Mother Aruna Hatti is an attorney by background and founder of kid’s brand Rayil.

Prahlika

Do you have special powers? I have a special talent – puzzles

Who is the strongest person in the world?  My daddy

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A surgery doctor

What is the best thing in life?  Birthday cake. And parties. But mostly just the cake

Are you scared of anything?  Ghosts. And giants but some giants are nice

What makes you laugh? A feather – I’m very ticklish

Your favorite films, books, apps?  The Pinkalicious books are my favorite.  I also love watching The Smurfs and doing Scribble Press on my iPad.

Something you did recently that you really loved?  I just got back from India and I had a lot of fun riding auto-rickshaws – they don’t have any doors, have 3 tiny wheels and they are so cute!

Your favorite belonging?  My little Hello Kitty doll

The next item you would so dearly love to get?  More knee-high socks or headbands – I wear them every day.

Aruna

The place you love near your home? A local Fullerton, CA restaurant: Pho Ellie – they have the best vegetarian pho.

Where do you dream to go for your next family holiday?  Iceland – my husband proposed to me there and we’ve been longing to take our kids there.

A film or cultural event that you saw recently and that stayed with you? English Vinglish – a movie about a mother of 2 kids who struggles to learn English.  It really hit home and reminded me that it’s never too late to better yourself.

The film that you love to see with the whole family? The First Grader – about a Kenyan man who learns to read at the age of 84.

The book on your bedside table? Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire that was written by Gandhi’s grandson.

The children’s brands you cherish? I love whimsy and detail in children’s clothes – but done in a classic, refined way.  I love Rayil (of course) as well as Charabia.

What do you buy online?   Almost everything – even a kitchen sink! It’s so much easier for a busy mom like me to shop online. I make sure to recycle the boxes though.

The product/ purchase that changed your life?  I hesitate to state that any material object has changed my life, but that being said, I recently bought a Tofu Press by TofuXpress and it has saved me a lot of hassle in the kitchen

What are your main current concerns?  Protecting our schools: the random violence in American schools really scares me – it makes me want to pull my kids out and home school them. I wonder who we can trust to come up with an effective solution

Something that made you laugh out loudly recently?  A little jingle my kids made up:  “One day I was walking…then I saw a human.  I asked to be friends…then we did a little dance…then we’d be friends forever.”  I think it’s the use of the word “human” that made me laugh so hard.