It was raining that summer night in 1972. The people in Hardwar, India, sensed something in the air but couldn't quite place it. The whole town was restless. People tossed and turned in their beds unable to sleep. Then at the unearthly hour of 3, the morning of May the 30th, a newborn's wail raped Lady Calm. It was my father. He was crying like a baby out of sheer joy. My mother was on Planet Pain. I had just been conceived.

Well, in the very beginning, my parents were quite impressed by my naked intellect. I rode the praise for some time but then something happened that changed their outlook drastically -- school! I stumbled through high school at Air Force Bal Bharati , New Delhi.

I always wanted to be a gynecologist. Atleast, that's what it seemed from the games I played when I was a kid. My parents were adamant that I do computer science and that too in India. I, on the other hand, wanted to work on women in the US. It was war. After a few months of butt-wrenching negotiations we came to the following agreement:

• It would be computer science, not gynecology.
• I could leave the country as long as I didn't go to the US.
• I would stop wetting their bed.
• My father would return my Barbie doll to me.

So, I ended up at Angelo State in West Texas. But, I still yearned for America. Four years later, I got that chance. Somebody's admission letter from Stanford got delivered to me by mistake. A quick name and wardrobe change got me there without arousing any suspicion.

As a woman, I enjoyed my stint at Stanford. Though, it was sometimes difficult explaining my moustache as a cultural nuance to interested men. I wrapped up one year's worth of college work in two and joined Hewlett-Pathak as a software engineer. So, that's where I am now and there you are.

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