Working on television: Television is my first love without a question. The opportunity just came my way and I decided to accept it. It was not a career option at the time as I was still studying. Actually, I would have loved to be a travel writer. I am an absolute bookworm and I love to travel.

Unwanted shift to Mumbai: I was born and raised in Jamshedpur and then moved to Bangalore. I actually had no interest in coming to Mumbai, but now that I am here,I love the city. It has been very good to me from the beginning. When I first came here, I found a wonderful flat with a sea view on three sides, I made a bunch of friends and also had a job to be proud of.

Cautious about films: I was offered movies when I came to Mumbai but I was very cautious. I was quite sure that I would never do a Hindi film. But after a while, having done television for a few years, my interests opened up in related media - like films. I am up for new things and would like to test the waters. Being from a non-filmi background, I had never even considered acting. I never even had a portfolio made for myself. Now that I am in the business, I enjoy it tremendously. Working in 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho' with Karan (Johar) and Nikhil (Advani) was fabulous. I will do more films as and when a project catches my fancy.

Work as escapism: I like to enjoy the work I do. It is not my style to take up as many projects as I can fit into my schedule and make as much money as possible. Work is a big part of my life, but it is not my whole life. I consider acting and reading as my forms of escapism. While reading, I immerse myself in the story and forget about the worries of the world. Similarly while acting, I lose myself in the character I play.

'The Lounge': The show is different in the kind of guests that we have. It is the content, kind of guests and the interviewer that differentiate one chat show from the other. 'The Lounge' is very current. People from various fields come on our show. It's a fun show, not very serious. Our guests talk about how different their life was growing up - they add little anecdotes that may interest the viewers. We deal with lighter personal issues that people don't get to know otherwise.

Being a media personality: I like to think of myself as one. Along with television and films, I also host ground events or anchor televised events. That's why, in my mind, doing 'The Lounge' after Heena was not much of a transition.

International Emmy's 2003 : Being invited to present an award at the Emmy's was an absolute honour. I had an opportunity to represent my country. It was a prestigious event and it was nice to be acknowledged as an 'Indian Princess'. It was interesting to see how people at the event were curious to know more about India and Indian cinema.

Fave Actors: Rani Mukherjee, Priety Zinta and Bipasha Basu.

Complete foodie: I love to cook and then eat what I cook. My favourite restaurants in Mumbai are Indigo, Olive, India Jones, Mahesh Lunch home and Trishna (for coastal food) and the Zodiac Grill at the Taj (for special occasions).

Getaways: Goa! I love going there. Last year my husband and I went there eight times. Every time we get a couple of days off together, we pack our bags and are off. Though New York is my favourite city in the world to travel to.

Looking ahead: Other than 'The Lounge', I have a couple of other projects. There is one fiction series with Ravi Rai and a talk show on spirituality.

Simone in a nutshell: I'm a quiet person - not really a social beast. I believe in being fair to people. And I'm really high on manners. I am very focused on what I do and believe in taking responsibility for my actions.