Living with a disability has been my greatest teacher.
When I was in 4th grade, during our Dussehra vacation, my father finally bought me a cycle after days of begging him for one. I spent every day practising riding it. The day after Dussehra, while my family was out working in the fields, I was out riding. While taking a turn, I hit something […]
Research is a chance to do something meaningful for society and leave your mark.
I still remember clearly being in class 5, sitting excitedly as our teacher prepared a science experiment. She placed a handkerchief inside a glass, flipped the glass upside down, and dipped it into water. My eyes widened as she took it out, and the cloth remained dry. It seemed like magic, but she explained it […]
I had wings; I just needed to learn how to use them.Â
I am still amazed by how far I’ve come. My journey from a small village in Uttar Pradesh to a research student at India’s most prestigious institute has been anything but easy. Born into a farming family, I am a first-generation college student, and this achievement fills me with immense pride. My parents, despite never […]
True strength means moving forward despite problems, driven by love and resilience.
Stitching had never been easy for me, especially with the challenge of my leg. But as a mother, pain meant little compared to my child’s well-being. I contracted polio as a child, losing the use of my left leg. Yet, my father never let my disability define me. He encouraged me to learn stitching, believing […]
But now, I know that learning does not stop after twenty years in the field.
For more than twenty years, farming was the only work I knew. I own four acres of land in Gopalpur, Bihar, where I grow different crops throughout the year. Depending on the season, my fields have wheat, maize, potatoes, paddy, vegetables, and turmeric. Farming had always supported my family, and over the years, I had […]
Every morning, I woke up with a dream for my children.
My husband and I always dreamed big for our children, aspirations we never had the chance to fulfill ourselves. We got married young—he was 17 and I was 15—and never finished school. But we wanted a different future for our kids. We sent them to a private school, even though the fees were high. We […]
Now, I do not see farming as something I returned to because I had no other option.
My father has spent most of his life farming. For nearly 15 years, he has worked on our land, growing potatoes along with maize and wheat. We own around seven acres, and for our family, the land has always been our main source of livelihood. But farming was never easy. The yield from maize was […]
Today, my dream is much bigger than simply playing for my school.
I had never watched a football match when I was first selected to play. In fact, I did not even know much about the game. I was good at sports and enjoyed running. I had stamina, and I was always happy to be on the playground. But football was completely new to me. I had […]
And sometimes, that is all it takes to begin changing.
I was never someone who spoke much growing up. I kept to myself and felt nervous around new people. Starting a conversation or speaking in front of others was always a struggle. But there was one place where I felt completely different – the playground. I always loved sports; volleyball, in particular. I enjoyed the […]
I hope to start a school of my own someday.
I was in first class when my parents decided to move our family to the city. We were living with my grandparents. For my brothers and me, everything felt new and unfamiliar. My parents worked as daily wage labourers. In a month, they earned around ₹2,000. Even before bringing money home, they had to spend […]