I grew up in India in the 80s on a vicarious diet of mangoes, imagination, curiosity, and spirituality -- listening to bollywood music while solving physics equations, sitting under mango trees and reading science fiction. I studied computer science for my Bachelor's at Delhi University and later moved to Canada to do a Master's in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University (and heck, squeezed in a thesis on Computational Criminology!).

I grew up hearing stories of my trailblazing grandmother in ersthwhile India (before Indo-Pak separation) running a community library in her home, publishing poetry in multiple languages, teaching photography and economic independence to women. My dad, an original feminist father and an engineer, imbibed in us the love for science, the discipline and patience to make things happen. My mother, with her creative talents and everyday perfectionism, gave us the edge of originality. Living the Indian Air Force 'fauji' life, and moving cities every so often, we found in us a sense of duty, adventure, mental adaptability, and cultural assimilation.

I’ve worked in the technology space for 15+ years as a software engineer, management consultant, program director in a myriad of industries -- telecom, banking, government, high-tech entertainment. Currently, I’m an engineering program manager at Google working to build coolest and impactful products FTW (for the world!). I'm fortunate to work and learn from the best teams in areas such as Ads Infrastructure (biggest distributed systems in the world), Google Cloud (innovative products powering billions of users). My current work is in an area I'm truly passionate about -- Responsible AI -- and I'm stoked to contribute in making AI Systems equitable for humanity!

In parallel life, I’m the creator and author of the STEM Books Series - Ara (more below). The assumption of my 4 year-old daughter, “Oh mamma, engineers are boys", inspired me to create and author this. The books are on a mission to inspire all kids, especially girls of color, to explore STEM. They teach computational concepts in a whimsical narrative. A big focus is to increase representation by showcasing real-life STEM trailblazers as fun characters. The books have been translated and published in 10+ languages globally. Further, we explore technological modalities to make kids literature diverse and inclusive. If this catches your fancy, do check out the book website and my TEDx talk.

As a community member, I'm honored to serve on the Board of Directors of Grand River Hospital Foundation in Kitchener-Waterloo (KW). Humbled to be a nominee for KW Rogers Women of the Year for 2 years, and recipient of KW Zonta Woman of Influence.

When not doing any of the above, you can find me nook’ing with a good book, zen’ing on the pottery wheel at my in-home ceramics studio (check out @kind.klay), whirl’ing on travel trips, volunteer'ing with community efforts, chill'ing with my family and friends. I live in the great city of Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada with my ever-supportive husband and naughty little droids.