From struggling in Mumbai slums to being appointed a design lead in Microsoft, Shaheena Attarwala’s inspirational journey has all the ingredients of a powerful rags to riches story. Recently, Ms. Shaheena took to Twitter and shared the dose of inspiration that we can all take a piece of to help us on days where we feel like the odds are drawn out against us. She also spoke to NDTV where she shared further details about her journey. Daughter of an essential oils hawker, she was raised in Darga Galli slum in Mumbai. As she lived in some seriously severe conditions, she used them as a fuel to work hard and fulfil her dream of establishing a different lifestyle for herself.

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1. The Facts of the Matter
2. Sexual Abuse, Bias, and More: Living Conditions in Slums
3. Seeing Women in Helpless Conditions
4. Falling in Love with Computers

The Facts of the Matter

Zoya Akhtar’s film Gully Boy was a fascinating account of a man living in Mumbai slums and making a name for himself using his talent and hard work. Similarly, Danny Boyle’s Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire gave an account of a youth’s journey who lived in Mumbai slums, and did all kinds of jobs to make his end meet, and gain key insights. These insights would later help him win the title of Crorepati in the film.

Life imitated fiction in the case of Shaheena Attarwala, who’s making buzz thanks to her inspiring story. Her story started from a slum in Mumbai – to landing a job as a design lead in Microsoft.

Her inspirational story was revealed after she spotted her own home in a Netflix show ‘Bad Boy Billionaires: India’. She took to Twitter to shared her discovery and wrote, “The Netflix series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires: India” captures a birds-eye view of the slum in Bombay I grew up before moving out alone in 2015 to build my life. One of the homes you see in the photos is ours.”

In one of the most heartwarming ‘Before/After’ comparisons, she added another tweet which read, “In 2021 my family moved to an apartment where we can see the sky from home, good sunlight & ventilation. Surrounded by birds & Greenery. From my father being a hawker & sleeping on roads to having a life, we could barely dream of. Luck, Hardwork & picking battles that matter.”

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Sexual Abuse, Bias, and More: Living Conditions in Slums

Speaking to NDTV, Ms. Attarwala stated that she lived in Mumbai’s Darga Galli slum and saw her father earn his living by being a hawker of essential oils. “Life in the slum was hard and exposed me to severest living conditions, gender bias, and sexual harassment but it also fueled my curiosity to learn and to design a different life for myself,” she was quoted saying.

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Seeing Women in Helpless Conditions

She added that during her teenage years, she saw how women around her felt helpless and abused. “By the age of 15, I had observed many women around me were helpless, dependent, abused, and going through life without having the freedom to make their own choices or to be who they wanted to be,” she said, adding that she did not want the same for her.

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Falling in Love with Computers

It was during her school days when her fascination with computers began. In her interview she said how she understood the value of computers, where any person using it would be looking at a window of opportunities ahead of them.

She insisted her father to get some money so that she can start taking lessons at a computer class. Ever persistent, she chose to do away with lunches and local commuting to save money, and eventually use the same to buy her own computer.

She backed herself all the way through and eventually found a life for herself where she would be proud of herself.

 

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