Mallika hails from the far away land of Teaneck, New Jersey, where she lived on a cooperative farm. Her role was feeding the chickens and hens and tending to the herb garden. At a young age, she discovered that by singing to the herbs, she could make them grow faster, so she often sang to them, until one day, one of the bean sprouts shot up from the ground and went all the way up into the sky. She decided to climb the beanstalk, and it took her to a mysterious man in a tuxedo who told her that she had a beautiful voice. He then told her that she would go to Princeton and be a glorious alto in Koleinu, and, well, the rest is history.