From Living in a Mumbai Slum to Working at Microsoft, Woman's Story Goes Viral

Shaheena Attarwala talks about her life in the slums, facing gender bias, poverty, and sexual harassment.

Shaheena Attarwala.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

It is inspiring to read stories of people who rise up against all odds, turn their life around and make something of themselves despite living in adversity. Such is the story of Shaheena Attarwala, a woman born in a Mumbai slum who is now living her dream life.

Born to an ordinary hawker, Shaheena spent her early years in the Darga Galli slum near Bandra. She took to Twitter to talk about how she and her family would "sleep on roads". It was then in 2015 that she decided to move out.

Shaheena was attracted to computers right from her time in school, but her grades were never enough to get her enrolled, so she was assigned needlework. Later, she persuaded her father to enroll her in a private computer class where she learnt the basics of programming.

It was then that she stumbled upon design and decide to pursue that as her career. All this while, she faced several issues that inspired her to build a better life for herself.

"Life in the slum was hard, it exposed me to (the) severest living conditions, gender bias, & sexual harassment but it also fueled my curiosity to learn & to design a different life for myself," she writes on Twitter.

"I quit programming and chose to pursue a career in design because the design made me believe that possibilities exist and things can change and technology is that tool to the change," Shaheena told NDTV.

She later secured a job at Microsoft as a Product Maker for Emerging Markets, and after years of hard work, she moved into a spacious apartment in Mumbai.

"In 2021 my family moved to an apartment where we can see the sky from home, good sunlight & ventilation. Surrounded by birds & Greenery," she wrote in her post.

Users online were more than impressed by her story and many even lauded her hard work. Here are some reactions from Twitter:

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)