Priyanka, now 24 years old, was born in Queens, NY and grew up near Princeton, New Jersey. After college at Carnegie Mellon University (where she met Ashish), she moved to Washington D.C, to pursue her Master's degree at Johns Hopkins University, while doing research at the National Institute of Health.
Ashish, now 27 years old, was born in Hyderabad, India, but grew up in Singapore, with frequent summer trips to India spent with his grandparents. He came to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue a degree in Computer Science, beginning a long stint in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he stayed for his Masters and now Ph.D.
Somewhere between Priyanka's hectic schedule as a biology student and Ashish's research in computer science, they both made the decision to pursue economics; Priyanka as a student and Ashish as a teacher. In the Spring of 2004, Ashish served as a lecturer in the introductory economics class, while Priyanka decided to enroll in the same class towards a minor in public policy. Through their mutual friends who served as teaching assistants for the class, they finally met!