As a child, Ayesha's family moved around a fair bit but the one constant in her life was spending every summer at her granddad's estate with her twin brother, older sister and cousins. Ayesha was a quiet child with her head perpetually in Enid Blyton books - the only exception being when she was at the estate - getting up early with the cows being milked, watching the birds, swimming in the stream and gorging on all the fruits she could eat and the yummy food that her grandmom used to make.

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Her family settled in Chennai when she was 12, from where she completed her BCom as well as her chartered accountancy.  She started working when she was 19 as a staff accountant with Arthur Andersen, specialising in tax consultancy.  A constant yen to learn new things, saw her switch from working in consulting firms to industry, working in several of the Big 4s as well as top multinational companies such as JP Morgan & Shell, gaining valuable experience in both direct and indirect taxes.   She also has had one stint at entrepreneurship when she set up and ran Asmara, a home and lifestyle store in Bangalore for two years.

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A person with diverse interests, Ayesha has always been a foodie, and now is working with this interest to run The Lazy Grasshopper Farm Pantry, a production centre which seeks to create value-added farm produce.  A beneficiary of having had stable employment for 25+ years, she now looks forward to generating employment for herself and the women of the village communities surrounding the farm.

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