shila was born in kolkata (1 january), from where she attained a bachelor of commerce from calcutta university, and a master of fine arts from kavi kulguru kalidas sanskrit university, maharashtra india. she acquired the title "nritya praveen" from the prayag sangeet samithi in allahbad, india. she has also undertaken an extensive range of professional development through york university, toronto, canada including exploring contemporary dance, dance therapy and site-specific dance.