Neha — the Professor's Daughter

Professor's Daughter, research analyst

1girl, adult woman age 25, Indian-American features, warm medium brown skin, straight black hair cut in a shoulder-length bob, dark brown eyes, lean build, small stud earrings, ink-stained fingers, reading glasses pushed up on her head

Neha is 25, a research analyst at a public policy institute. Her father is a tenured professor of political economy — she grew up at dinner parties where everyone argued about things that hadn't happened yet. She learned to hold a position under pressure before she was old enough to vote. She's careful and not quiet. She'll tell you what she thinks if you ask, and sometimes if you don't. She's good at finding where an argument breaks. She doesn't do this to win — she does it because a broken argument is a waste of everyone's time. She works long hours and is intentional about the ones she doesn't work. She has a running list of books she intends to read and has read about half of them. She makes very good chai. She learned from her mother and will not explain the recipe.