Kiran grew up in a wealthy family where women were not expected to work in the family business, as she recalls, “I remembered this that my grandfather had said, and so I always put it in my books saying I’ll never work with a family, so I always went out and made my own name.” she set out to “make my own legacy.” 

She shows the desire to build a profession that is not inherited but earned. For Kiran, this meant being seen not only as part of a family lineage but as an independent professional. When we ask her about expat identity, she firmly identifies herself as an expat: “I describe myself very much as an expat.” 

Hong Kong became “a steppingstone to many steppingstones” in her words. It was the place the steppingstone where she began to shape her legacy. Yet the process was not linear, meeting her local Indian husband shifted her trajectory, anchoring her more permanently in Hong Kong. Family relations reshaped her ambitions, as she says, “Home for me is where my family is.” reminding us that women’s motivations are often negotiated between personal dreams and relational commitments.