Arundhati is a writer, cultural practitioner, social activist and traveller. Based in Bangalore with three decades of experience in the arts and culture, she served as the Executive Director of India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) between 2013 and 2023. Her awards include the Global Fundraiser Award from Resource Alliance, Chevening Clore Leadership Award (2015-2016), Chevening Gurukul Scholarship at the London School of Economics (2005-2006), and Salzburg Global Seminar Fellowship. She contributed on advisory panels and boards of the Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Blind with Camera, Sangama and Toto funds the Arts, and continues to do so for The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Shomokaleen Protibidhan (a feminist magazine in Bangla), the Solidarity Foundation, and Maraa. She has co-curated the International Theatre Festival of Kerala 2020 organized by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
Arundhati actively volunteers with many citizen initiatives that work towards a just and equitable society. She speaks on arts and philanthropy for leading Indian and international organisations including International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), Kelola Foundation, On the Move, Festival Academy Europe, UNESCO Berlin, The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), Kultura Nova Foundation, University of Leeds, Theatre Cooperative Turkey, among others. She writes for publications such as Scroll, The Wire, The Hindu, The Deccan Herald, News 9, Business Standard, etc. A poet in Bangla publishing in little magazines since 2010, her first collection of poetry Oshomoye phire esho nodi hoye was published in January 2023 by Lastrada Prakashan. Her book All Our Loves: Journeys with Polyamory in India has been published by Aleph Book Company in April 2025. She consults and offers training programmes for the cultural and not-for-profit sector. She was raised in Asansol and is based in Bengaluru.