From Mumbai Slum to Microsoft: Meet Shaheena Attarwala, Product Design Manager at Microsoft

A chance look at Netflix’s new series “Bad Boys Billionaires” led to the unearthing of a truly inspiring story from this Microsoft employee, who immediately recognized her old home in the infamous Mumbai slums. From sleeping on the roads to now living in a Mumbai apartment, Shaheena Attarwala’s story is nothing less than a miracle, albeit brought on by hard work and determination. 

She immediately took to Twitter to share her story which has now gone viral for all the right reasons. 

“The @netflix series "Bad Boy Billionaires – India" captures a birds-eye view of the slum in Bombay I grew up in before moving out alone in 2015 to build my life. One of the homes you see in the photos is ours. You also see better public toilets which were not like this before,” she tweeted.

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. You also see better public toilets which were not like this before. pic.twitter.com/fODoTEolvS

— Shaheena Attarwala شاہینہ (@RuthlessUx) January 26, 2022

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Who is Shaheena Attarwala?

Shaheena Attarwala grew up in the Darga Galli slum close to Bandra railway station. Her father was a hawker of essential oils who moved from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai. 

"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 said. 

Living in the slums, she grew up with no rose-tinted glasses over her eyes and very early on realized the importance of independence. “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. I did not want to accept the default fate that awaited me," she told NDTV.

Rags to Riches 

When Shaheena first came across computers, she couldn’t help but be fascinated with them. Early on, she realized the importance of these revolutionary devices. 

"I believed that computers could be a great leveler, that anyone who was sitting in front of it would have opportunities," she said. 

With no financial relief in sight and poor grades, instead of attending computer classes, she was forced to do needlework. However, she convinced her father to borrow money for her computer classes. She even skipped her lunch and walked home in order to save money for her computer classes. 

"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," said Ms. Attarwala.

Present View from Mumbai Apartment

Last year, after years of toiling away, Ms Attarwala moved her family to a Mumbai apartment which is notorious for their high costs. 

She said, “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.”

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😌 pic.twitter.com/J2Ws2i4ffA

— Shaheena Attarwala شاہینہ (@RuthlessUx) January 26, 2022

She ended the tweet on a very thought-provoking note, urging fellow Indians to use their entitlement to make way for the underprivileged of society.

“Like me, millions of families in India live in poverty and are unseen by you. Their only hope is that an average educated Indian will ask the right questions to people in power and that can change their lives. Anyone who talks to you about anything apart from the actual problem a poor Indian is facing is fooling you and selling you propaganda. If you are not convinced, take the opportunity to live in a slum/village for a few days. Reality will hit hard. We owe it to our country to ask the right questions to people in authority. #HappyRepublicDay2022.”

In addition to this heartwarming story, what acts as icing on the cake is a battery of encouraging comments, where people from all over the country have extended their support to this extraordinary girl. Well, all we can say is keep such stories coming our way!

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