Sharmila Basu Thakur, daughter of Subhash Chandra Basu Thakur of Dakshin er Bari, was equally interested in studies and art from an early age. She stood First Class Fast in B.A and M.A examinations in philosophy From Jadavpur University. Then she did her PhD in philosophy from Jadavpur University. At the same time she Practice and continue her dancing skills. She took introductory lessons from Mr. Asit Chatterjee and Mrs. Ruby Banerjee. Later he was trained by Pandit Ramnarayan Mishra, Shri Prahlad Das and Professor N.K. Shivshankaran. At the same time she learned Odissi dance from Guru Muralidhar Majhi and Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. Her devotion to this dance was so strong that she created a special chapter in the world of dance by applying the art of Odissi dance with Rabindra sangeet and Bhajan. She made her solo dance debut in February 1987 at the Ice Skating Ring Hall in Kolkata. Since then she has performed almost all over Kolkata. Her choreography has been highly acclaimed.

She started her career as a professor and finally opted for journalism as her profession. She is a dance and music critic. After getting retired as an Editor of Sananda, she started her own design line Cottonwala and pop up eatery. She loves to experiment with fresh available ingredients and innovate unique dishes. She loves to travel and thus Travelwalla has come into being. She operates tour for small groups in a different manner. Now Sharmila is not only a trained classical dancer, but is also a very good cook, editor, writer, designer of garments and gifts and much, much more.