Shailesh Lodha

Shailesh Lodha (born 8 November 1969) is an Indian poet, actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for portraying Taarak Mehta in the Hindi sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Lodha was born in Jodhpur in a Marwari family. Lodha is married to a management author, Swati Lodha, and has a daughter Swara. Since his father was transferred to different places, Lodha travelled a lot. His mother loved reading and had a good vocabulary in Hindi. At the age of nine, Lodha was nicknamed "Baal Kavi". He had an office job, but he left it to follow his passion, i.e. writing poems. In a 2015 interview Lodha said, "I am half Jain". Lodha has completed B.Sc. and PG in marketing.