Ellen Bal was born in the Netherlands in 1967. After having taken a Masters degree at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi 1990, and a Masters in Social History at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, in 1992, she came to Bangladesh in 1994 to do research on the social history of the Garos. Ms Bal remained for one year in Bangladesh, living for long stretches of time in a Garo village north of Haluaghar; during that time, as well as during her numerous trips back to Bangladesh since then, she made many acquaintances and friends among the Garos. Ellen Bal is presently living in the Netharlands and teaches at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and the university of Amsterdam.