Riva grew up in Bombay, India. She was fortunate enough to be raised in a family with liberal, feminist ideals and a mother who taught her to watch for the moments of female opportunity in Romances like “Legally Blonde”, “Gone With the Wind” and “You’ve Got Mail”. While her girlfriends swooned over the male love interests of these films, she was asked to pay attention to the business acumen of the women; to Elle’s sharp focus and Katharine’s indefatigable spirit. As a result, she grew up devouring the works of Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, growing obsessed with the theme of female agency and resilience and balking every time she discovered it lacking in realty.

Riva delves deep into the art of storytelling and into the society she loves, Indian culture,to weave some wayward strands of its fabric as conflicts in her scripts to create media that empowers, supports and comforts young Indian women. She hopes to encourage them to raise their standards for themselves higher, because they are worth it.