September 15, 1999
Bhavnagar
Gujarat, India — Where it started
Born in a small coastal city in Gujarat. This is where the paper was made — before it was folded, before it had a direction. Bhavnagar gave the plane its material. The rest of the journey would give it shape.
Origin
1999 — 2013
Ahmedabad
Gujarat, India — The first fold
Fourteen years in a city that runs on chai, monsoon rains, and a kind of warmth you don't realize is rare until you leave. Ahmedabad taught me that generosity isn't a gesture — it's a reflex. Gujarati hospitality isn't something you learn. It's something that happens to you over thousands of small moments until you realize you've been shaped by it. The first fold in the paper. The deepest crease.
The first city doesn't just raise you. It calibrates you. Everything after is measured against it.
~2014
Long Island
New York — The crossing
The Atlantic Ocean between everything I knew and everything I didn't. Moving to the US is the kind of fold that changes the shape of the whole plane. Long Island was the arrival — the first American chapter, the adjustment, the recalibration. A necessary stop between who I was and who I was becoming.
Immigration
New chapter
Fall 2017 — Spring 2022
Champaign
Illinois — The education
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A BSc in Accounting and Information Systems, then a Master's in Accounting. Cornfields in every direction and a campus that ran on ambition and late-night study sessions. This is where the paper plane first caught wind. I learned how to think in systems, read balance sheets, and — more importantly — how to be 8,000 miles from home and make it feel like yours. The Midwest taught me that people are kinder when there's nothing to prove.
UIUC
Accounting & IS
MS Accounting
Summer 2022 — August 2023
San Diego
California — Chasing the sun
I moved to San Diego because I love the sun and someone told me it never rains there. They were right. Balboa Park on a Tuesday afternoon. Fish tacos that cost four dollars and changed your entire week. Sunsets over the Pacific that made you feel small in the best possible way. San Diego proved you could optimize for joy — that choosing where to live based on weather and vibes wasn't shallow, it was smart.
Some cities challenge you. San Diego reminded me what I was chasing in the first place.
August 2023 — Present
Chicago
Illinois — The one that stuck
I came back to Illinois for a job. I stayed for everything else. Chicago is the city that earned it. Deep dish arguments that never end. Jazz bars on a Wednesday. The lakefront trail in October when the wind isn't trying to kill you yet. Celtic Crossings with a Guinness. Comedy shows in basements. ServiceNow downtown, supporting the CTO's office, building things that matter at scale. This is where the paper plane is parked right now — but the engines are still running. 31 new states planned for 2026.
Current base
ServiceNow
WHO DEY from the Midwest
Six cities, two countries, one paper plane. The creases are the story. The next fold hasn't been decided yet.