Alif holds a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the Bangladesh College Of Arts and Crafts. While attending the college she was awarded as the best "Water Colorist of the Year"in 1978. Although she was a student of Fine Arts she always had a strong inclination towards decorative pottery painting.She won the 1st prize in the Inter College competetion in 1976, the winning design was painted on a traditional urn from rural Bangladesh.After coming to the USA she participated in the International Women's Art Show held in the World Bank in 1992. She started to do decorative painting on pottery in 1997. She held her first exhibition of handpainted pottery in 1998; thereafter she began taking custom orders.