#SoCaltech: Nivedita Mahesh

“When the fires broke out, I was on a flight to Boulder for a conference, and when I landed, my phone started buzzing with red alerts and evacuation orders. But I was one of the lucky ones—my house is south of the 210 Freeway. The next day, when I got home, I quickly realized everything was fine in our house, but it was definitely not the same for a lot of my friends in Altadena who lost their homes and needed a place to stay. I contacted a few of them, and we had a spare room, so they came to stay with us—but seeing how it affected them, I just wanted to do more.

“I talked about that with one of my friends who was displaced and staying with me, and we got the idea to do two things: start up the the Graduate Student Council–Caltech Postdoctoral Association Donation Center, which collects and distributes needed items for displaced families, and donate money to those affected. I donated as much money as I could personally, but then I thought, OK, I can dance—I’m a Bollypop instructor in the Valley—and I can teach a free online dance fitness class as a fundraiser and ask participants to donate. It was an opportunity to dance away stress while giving back to the community. I put an ad on my social media and in 10 hours, I raised $450 dollars, which I donated to the Caltech Donation Center and seven GoFundMe campaigns.”

Nivedita Mahesh, the David and Ellen Lee Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Astronomy, is a volunteer dance instructor for the Los Angeles-based dance group Bollypop.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.