Aysha grew up in Pakistan. Graduating as a valedictorian of her class, she won a scholarship to Mount Holyoke College where she studied International Relations. Her time at college sparked a passion for development and she returned to Pakistan. She quickly learned that the poor needed access to economic resources and networks before they could voice their demands for social justice and she decided to arm herself with an MBA. In 1998, she founded a pioneering economic development not-for-profit organization, Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, focused on poverty alleviation through the provision of business development and market-focused trainings for girls and women. She headed the organization until 2013 when she relocated to Singapore. She is on the Board of Kaarvan Crafts Foundation and an Ashoka Fellow.

During the time she spent in the villages, her life interfaced closely with girls and women and her admiration and respect for their determination, strength and humor in times of despair grew immensely — with so little they managed to achieve so much. The characters in her debut novel Beyond the Fields challenge the roles that have been defined for them, determined instead to persevere and achieve their dreams. She has been a member of the Singapore Writers Group since August 2013. She is currently working on her second novel.