I'm talkative, curious, and probably more opinionated than is good for me. I like moving countries when I'm bored, taking bad pictures on my analogue camera, and pride myself on the consistency with which I shove my foot down my own throat.

I'm currently a PhD candidate, researching women's health experiences. I'm on fieldwork (data collection) in 2017. In my free time, I read just about anything I can get my hands on, obsess over tennis, and experiment in the kitchen.

I have a deep and abiding love of chocolate, literature, indie rock, and pop-culture references. I like my food with spice; conversations with laughter, and adventures with a liberal sprinkling of the ridiculous.

Nobody knows why I dance like my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (it doesn't). Everybody wonders when I'll shut up. The answer is 'not right now'.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I move around a lot- for work, for school, for a whim that won't be ignored. Couchsurfing is usually the first place I check to get involved in my new community, to dive in head first, make friends, have a laugh, and feel a little bit more at 'home'.

Couchsurfing has introduced me to some of the most wonderful people I know, given me some of my favourite memories, and made me laugh harder than I knew I could. It's let me build a community- across space and time- of people who feel the same way about the world.

Interests

films, reading, tennis, books, music, writing, feminism, travelling, photography, identities, women's rights, social justice, human rights, indie rock

• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• performing arts
• photography
• beauty
• dancing
• human rights
• womens rights
• dining
• chocolate
• trivia
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• hockey
• tennis
• paragliding
• field hockey

Music, Movies, and Books

I will give any book and genre a chance (and I will finish it, even if it is utterly excruciating), but my favourites are fantasy (Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, American Gods), mysteries (far too many to name), and, well, pretty much everything else. Some of my favourite authors include Albert Camus, Salman Rushdie, Douglas Adams, Joan Didion [the list is endless]. My goodreads account can probably give you a better idea: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3864144-risha.

I really like my indie rock, classic rock, and indie folk. I have a soft spot for Tchaikovsky and for Yo Yo Ma. I also really like old Bollywood tunes and have been known to fall down an AR Rahman rabbit hole (whatever, I'm Indian.. I'm almost required by law to like it...)

I'll watch pretty much anything- even spectacularly awful films, just so I can make fun of it and quote terrible, terrible lines from it for ever more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

There is always something more amazing around the corner. :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd love to learn a new language, a new skill. I'd love to find the confidence to perform, the time to learn how to dive, paraglide and surf. I would love to be the kind of person who has no boundaries, no limits and is unafraid of the beauty of the world. Teach me to jump in, feet first.

What can I teach you? I have no idea.
No-bake cheesecake? How to play field hockey? The rules of tennis? Tennis trivia! Scrabble? Random, completely useless facts? Talk about feminism, the right way to brew tea, why Shakespeare is a genius, why Twitter is awesome...
a lot of the things I have to offer involve talking, for which I apologise as I do entirely too much of it!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, China, Ethiopia, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, India, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom

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