In 1972, my parents immigrated to New York from Delhi, India by way of Toronto, Canada, where I was born. My original introduction to New York was in Flushing, Queens, but I spent most of my childhood in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. As an undergraduate, I attended the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned a BS in economics from the Wharton School of Business and a BA in psychology with a minor in English from the College of Arts and Sciences, and as a graduate student, I attended Stanford University, where I earned a PhD in Social Psychology.

At Stanford, two things happened that would change my life. The first was that I became interested in how people make choices, particularly the importance and universality of choice in people's lives. The second thing was that I met the man, Garud Iyengar, who would one day become my husband. We were both waiting for the Marguerite bus at the top of the oval, he with a torn ligament, me just being lazy. Garud asked me to join him for lunch at the Thai Cafe. That was December of 1993. On July 6th, 1997, we got married in a traditional wedding in Bangalore, India. We both joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1998. I teach in the business school, and he teaches in the school of engineering.

Garud and I always thought tenure would change our lives, but what really did was the birth of our son in May of 2005. Ishaan is now three years old, and you can see more pictures of him here.

Some of our favorite things to do as a family include going for long walks throughout the city and eating at our favorite pizza places, including Nick's, John's, Una Pizza Napoletana, Patsy's, and Lombardi's. We also enjoy the many great chocolate shops around the city, especially Kee's Chocolates, La Maison du Chocolate, and Jacques Torres Chocolate. I confess I'm the one who eats all the chocolates. I also enjoy cooking, but most of all, I love to travel. So far, I've visited over thirty countries—I have many more to go.