But, Jyoti followed her own instincts and graduated from Yale University in 1993 with a B.A. in religion and economics, and she has maintained an interest in the political economy and religions of South Asia ever since then.
Her first job after college was working as a reporter for American City Business Journals in northern Florida, where she covered manufacturing and the regional economy.

From there, she went to graduate school at Columbia, earning a master's degree in international affairs in 1997. Her paper "Reporting on Economic Issues in India" was published as part of a conference, "American Reporting on India and Pakistan" at Columbia University's Southern Asian Institute in April 1997.

After graduate school, she went to India, Thailand and Nepal, travelling and writing as a freelancer before coming back to New York in 1998. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, Christian Science Monitor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, San Francisco Chronicle, Voice of America radio, City Limits and Himal magazine.

Jyoti is the director of the New York screenings of Himal's "Travelling Film South Asia" documentary film festival, which she has organized since 1998.