About Me

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About:

I was born and raised in Houston, TX as an only child to two of the most amazing people I have ever met. Even though my mom grew up here, both of my parents were born and raised in India which provided some pretty interesting culture gaps for me growing up. Because of this we are constantly learning from each other about what it means for us as Indians living in the US and still preserving our culture. My heritage and my culture mean everything to me, and are an integral part of who I am.

My mother has always told me growing up that if I live my life with the confidence, work ethic, and swagger of Beyoncé I can achieve anything. 19 years later I can still say that I very much live up to this mantra. I'm blessed to have been raised by two adults who, despite having full time jobs, have never had to work a day in their lives. Watching their work ethic and their passion has always convinced me of the importance of finding something that I truly loved, and pursuing it. Luckily for me, this passion came to me when I was seven years old and it was time for my classmates and I to chose our favorite celebrity to dress up as for the school wax museum. Instead of fighting for the title of Michelle Kwan or Brittany Spears, I came that day in a bowler hat and a fake mustache dressed as the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. I credit this fascination of buildings to the endless travel opportunities I was given by my parents. Places like Holland, Hungary, China, India, and Australia (to name a few) gave me exposure to the beautiful architecture around the world. It was this beauty that had always captivated me and yet it surprises me, even to this day that when it came time to choose a major years later, architecture was still the first thing on my mind.

I have to say that if you had asked me where I would be going to college when I was in high school I would have said far away from Texas. By some turn of events, I ended up at the University of Texas at Austin and I have to say, it was the best decision I ever made. Even though I was born and raised in Houston, I am now proud to call myself a true Austinite. So far in college I've learned to hula hoop, I've learned from dreadlocks (yes I used to have dreads) to blue hair no hairstyle is too wacky for Austin, I've learned that good music can cure most of your feels, and that good friends can cure the rest.

Why I Ride

Finding a cure is obviously an important step in eradicating cancer, but so is preventing cancer before it hits. One of our main initiatives when we give presentations to our community, and every other community we ride through, is to educate the public on cancer prevention and early screening. The earlier the disease is caught, the more likely it is to be successfully treated. Cancer takes hold of 550,000 Americans every year, and in my opinion that is 550,000 too many. I ride so that the Americans and Canadians we communicate with can possess the knowledge necessary to catch the signs early and prevent the disease from taking hold.

As soon as I came to UT I became terrified that I was limiting myself to only one creative outlet. I began searching for other talents, and found a secondary niche in photography. I took a few classes, and tried out to be a staff photographer of our school paper, The Daily Texan. Through the Texan, I received some fantastic opportunities to connect with people that I would normally not have gotten the chance to connect with. One of these people is Edye Melton; a paraplegic, a pug foster parent, a cancer survivor, and the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. When I first met Edye I was interested in juxtaposing her life and her paraplegic pug’s life together into one graphic photo story. It wasn’t until after I began photographing her that my story shifted focus completely. As Edye graciously allowed me to follow her around to her personal training, her appointments, and even her home I began to fully grasp what the life of someone suffering from cancer truly entailed. During this experience she would share with me stories of her struggle with cancer and how much she appreciated the help and support of her loved ones. On April 19th 2012, Edye’s 39th birthday and my last day of shooting, I accompanied her to what we hoped was her final oncology appointment. That’s where we hear the good news, that Edye was officially free of breast cancer, free of disease.

Ever since that moment, a new hope was instilled in me. I ride for all fighters of cancer in confidence that one day every single person will come out victorious in their battle. I ride to hear the term “cancer survivor” more often than the term “cancer victim”. I ride so that, like Edye Melton, everyone will one day be told that they too are “free of disease”. I ride for a cure.