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Meet the author
Hi, I’m Rekha.
A holistic pet guide, a yoga teacher, and for fifteen years, Sprinkle’s person.
Rekha Uppal is the author of Where the River Meets the Light: A Holistic Guide to Caring for Our Aging Pets. She wrote it for anyone who has loved an animal with their whole heart, and for anyone facing, or carrying, the goodbye.
Morning practiceIn her own words
Every person carries a story, a struggle, and a spark of greatness within them, and I find joy in helping that light shine a little brighter.
Rekha Uppal
Ask Rekha who she is and she won’t lead with titles. “I am just like anyone else,” she says. “There is absolutely no difference between you and me.”
Her mornings begin with gratitude: a few quiet minutes of prayer, breathing practice and meditation, a cup of chai, a passage of scripture, and breakfast for the birds and squirrels in her backyard. “Those moments of peace, purpose, and connection set the tone for my day.”
She speaks the way she writes, gently, from experience rather than theory. People who have heard parts of her journey tell her the same thing: it feels “very real” and “very close to the heart.”
Her brave hero, and the little soul who started it all
Sprinkle “Prabir” Uppal
For fifteen years, a small, spirited Yorkshire Terrier named Sprinkle Prabir Uppal was the heart of the Uppal home. Prabir means “brave hero,” and he lived up to it: beach walks, autumn leaves, birthday treats, and a front-row seat to every family moment.
When he grew old and sick, Rekha chose to care for him at home: soft blankets on the floor, food made with love, gentle touch, fresh air and sunlight, and a family who slept beside him. Those tender months, and everything they taught her about love, presence and letting go, became her book.
“My relationship with animals didn’t begin or end with Sprinkle. It only got stronger.”
His portraitAlways ready for his close-up.
BirthdaysEvery year, with cookies.
ExplorerNose first, always.Love, after goodbye
She honored him the way you honor a soul.
When Sprinkle passed in 2024, the Uppal family said goodbye with prayer, flowers and ritual, the way they would for anyone they loved. His paw prints, his collar, his bowl and the cards friends sent are still kept close, and the garden still has a little corner that belongs to him.
In loving memoryCards from friends who loved him too.
His paw printsKept forever.
His corner of homeFlowers, photos and a candle.
Prayers at the riverA farewell ritual for him.
What remainsCards, his bowl, his collar.
His gardenMarigolds and a Dog Crossing stone.True connections never break; they simply shift form. Love, once awakened, cannot be unmade.From Where the River Meets the Light
Love, in action
Long before the book, there was seva.
Seva means selfless service, and for Rekha it was never a project. Through SEVA, the community service group she helped found, she has rallied friends and neighbors for years to bring meals, blankets, coats, school supplies and holiday toys to families and children across Montgomery County and Washington, DC. Very often, Sprinkle rode along.
When one person is willing to organize her community network, good things happen!
Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, thanking SEVA and Rekha Uppal for over a hundred blankets, diapers and care kits
Her co-pilotSprinkle rode along on so many delivery runs.
Thanksgiving drop-off
Meals for a local shelter, with Sprinkle in her arms.
Warm meals
Home-cooked food for the Interfaith Works women’s shelter.
Winter coats
New coats for local children from low-income families.
Holiday toys
Gifts for young patients at Children’s National Hospital.
The same hands that cared for Sprinkle have been caring for strangers all along.
Yoga, prayer and quiet healing
Where her calm comes from
Rekha is a Certified Yoga Instructor, meditation guide and Reiki practitioner. She organizes spiritual programs where her community can pause, breathe and reflect together, and she sees animals the way she sees people: as souls, cared for in mind, body and spirit.
Born in India into a Sikh family, she grew up with the hymns of Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Later, the Bhagavad Gita became the teaching she returns to again and again: do your work with love, and let go of the outcome. “I don’t just read them,” she says. “I live the truth.” You’ll find that wisdom woven gently through her story.
PracticeBalance, breath and patience.
Why she wrote this book
I want them to feel permission to grieve, permission to love deeply, and the reassurance that the relationship mattered. The book should leave them with peace, not despair.
Rekha Uppal
Some friends smiled when she said she was writing “a book about a dog.” It is that. It is also about everyone we have loved and lost, and how to stay fully present with them while they are still here.
A portion of the author’s proceeds from this book is donated to non-profit organizations supporting, educating, and leading holistic care for our pets.
Growing intoRekha’s next chapter is as a spiritual coach and thought leader: guiding pet parents and seekers to care for their animals as souls, live with full presence, and find meaning after loss.
Say hello
She’d love to hear from you.
Caring for an older pet? Missing one who has gone? Tell Rekha their name. She reads every message.
Or get her free Comfort Checklist and a few gentle letters from Rekha as the book comes closer.
For press, podcasts and book clubs
Rekha Uppal is a holistic pet guide, Certified Yoga Instructor and Reiki practitioner. After caring for her beloved pet Sprinkle through his final years with holistic, home-based care, she wrote Where the River Meets the Light: A Holistic Guide to Caring for Our Aging Pets, a memoir and gentle guide for anyone loving an animal through the end of life.
