Girish Chowdhary: My path to Illinois
![Chowdhary with crop bot](/sites/default/files/styles/news_landscape/public/news/G.Chowdhary.jpg?h=1edd594e&itok=Q7SkbMoI)
I was born in Mumbai, India, to parents who worked full-time. My mother, who was the first woman to work as an officer in the Maharashtra Civil Services, came in at a time when parental leave did not exist. Because of this, I spent my early years with my grandparents in Kumta, India. My grandfather was a university physics professor and instilled in me an interest and respect for science – particularly astrophysics.