Me
In the run up to the end of the year, I have decided to write a 5 part blog post series on my experiences of being a brown female startup founder. Keep an eye out on our blog over the course of the next couple of weeks for all 5 parts, we start the first one with ‘Me’.
I was always a curious child and science and technology were two things I really enjoyed (and still enjoy). I remember being an eight year old, sitting on the living room floor, taking apart calculators and imagining I was building robots. When I reflect upon it I think this is where my obsession with robots and Artificial Intelligence began.
As I headed into my teens I started to learn a lot more about the world, things like climate change, lack of medicine and resources in developing countries, poverty and general wealth disparity and realising what being a girl from a South Asian background really meant in the real world. It invoked something in me, a real sense of social justice and advocating for human rights and equality. I carry this sense of social justice even to this day. This led me to become more active in activism (pre social media and Internet days) and to volunteer for a number of charities where I could really have an impact and make a difference. My friends and family have always described me as a ‘hard working idealistic do-gooder’.
Many years have passed but I’m still interested in technology, science and do-gooder causes. I am obsessed with anything space and technology related. I love getting involved in philanthropy in particular human rights, women’s rights and body positivity via different campaign groups and charities. In particular I am a big supporter of Amnesty International, Oxfam and WWF. I love to learn and continue to read and listen to enriching podcasts to help expand my mind. Outside of that I love to have fun, especially anything music related like going to gigs and playing my guitar and my two favourite sports that I participate in are boxing and tennis. I find that having interests outside of work related stuff helps me to relax and switch off from the startup world and is good for the mind and soul.