Rajesh was born in Norfolk, England, the child of two Indian doctors.
[3]: xiii She attended King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, studied French at the University of Leeds, and has a postgraduate diploma in magazine journalism from the Department of Journalism, City University.
[14] She was one of the judges for the 2021 Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year ,[15] after her Around the World in 80 Trains was shortlisted for the 2020 award.
[16] In mid-2021 Rajesh received racist abuse on social media as a result of raising concerns about depictions of autism and of students of colour in Kate Clanchy's book Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me.
[17] As of 2023[update] Rajesh is working on her fourth book, which will be about "the recent rise in sleeper trains".