My Story

My Story: “Unlike My Elder Brother, Who Had Cherubic Face At The Time Of His Birth, I Was Born Disfigured”

Ashish Saini (31) was born with a rare congenital disorder called lymphatic malformation, which disfigured the left side of his face. Others always treated him with sympathy, ignorance, mockery, hatred, empathy and even, to some extent, guilt. It took him a long time to accept the reality of how he looked. Now, he is extremely comfortable in his own skin and pursues his passion for modelling through his blog.

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My Story: “Nani Reminds Me Over And Again That Age Is Just A Number When It Comes To Chasing One’s Dreams”

Yashi Chowdhary prompted her Nani, Manju Devi Poddar to start her own venture during the COVID-19 lockdown. Her Nani has always been passionate about cooking and finally started her venture at 70 with assistance from her granddaughter. Through ‘Nani’s Special’, they serve varieties of sweets, snacks and other dishes, and have even made deliveries overseas.

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My Story: ‘I Wanted To Help Struggling Litti-Chokha Seller, Zomato Assured To Get Him Onboard After My Tweet Went Viral’

Priyanshu Dwivedi, a freelance writer, resides in Maharashtra’s Mumbai. On March 16, he went to his customary stall, near Versova beach, to have Litti-Chokha. Although he has been a regular at the stall, that particular day he decided to engage in a conversation with the vendor, Yogesh, beyond the usual banter. He found out that the Yogesh was facing extreme difficulties in making ends meet. Later, Priyanshu tweeted about the incident and sought help from Zomato to get the stall listed on the platform. The tweet went viral, ending up being shared by the likes of actor Manoj Bajpayee and ultimately triggering a response from Zomato.

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My Story: ‘Ola Auto Driver Returned My Belongings, Refused To Accept Reward For His Honesty’

Susanta Sahoo, a digital marketing professional and a blogger, hails from Odisha’s Bhubaneshwar. On March 13, Sahoo misplaced his phone and wallet in an Ola autorickshaw while commuting from work. The rickshaw driver, a good Samaritan, returned his belongings and has become the internet’s new hero for his honesty after Sahoo’s tweet describing the incident went viral.

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My Story

Real-life, first-person accounts that remind us every human has a story to tell, experiences to share, and actions to inspire.

Neha Agarwal is a project manager. She is visually challenged and has Vitiligo. However, she curved her weaknesses into strengths, and along with her regular job, she is one of the strong supporters of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Sangeetha Param (28) has always dealt with insecurity, low self-esteem, and worthlessness as she never felt good enough. After many psychotropic analyses, she was diagnosed with Bipolar Type 2, making her teenage years the most challenging phase of her life.
Srishti Kucheria is a 17-year-old artist who upcycles regular everyday items like clothes, shoes and stationaries with different art forms and customisations. In 2018, she started 'Caught in Colours' as a platform to share her artwork with the world. She has sold her painted, customised canvas shoes to Singapore and America, besides India.
Dipika Chandra was born and brought up in Delhi to humble parents. Despite financial issues, her parents spent little savings to ensure that she got a good education. Being a single girl child and losing both her parents never deterred her from pursuing her dreams of becoming a scientist.
Founder of a web development company, Aamir Qutub, comes from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, where he nurtured his dream of studying abroad and owning a business someday. A decade ago, he enrolled himself in an MBA course at Australia’s Deakin University and worked as an airport cleaner side by side.
Sanjyot Keer is a 29-year-old entrepreneur, chef and digital content creator. Six years back, he found YFL and built a state-of-the-art culinary space to produce breath-taking recipe videos. He started to take Indian food to the global gourmet diaspora, while making it simple, exciting and accessible to the foodies.
Yasir Khan, a farmer's son, is now a personal fitness trainer, transformation expert, and fitness model in Dubai. Since childhood, he struggled with financial constraints and used to sell milk on the streets to make ends meet.
Niyati Chetransh is a 10-year-old trained pianist by interest. Her father tried to kill her multiple times as he considered daughters a burden on parents. Besides Piano, Niyati plays 16 more instruments, including Keyboard, Ukulele, Tabla, Flute, among others and aims to be a music director one day.
A student of a second standard, Aakarsh Chaudhary, also known as VivOne, is India's youngest e-gamer who streams games online. At the age of four, his parents introduced him to online gaming, and since then, he wishes to represent India on an international stage.
Shabeena Killedar comes from the town of Davangere, Karnataka. She completed her studies in 2014, and her father, the breadwinner for her family, left in 2016. She defied all odds to achieve her dreams after a career break of more than five years.
Carrying the label of ‘homemaker turned career woman,’ Lakshmi Shankar Iyer had challenges right from her growing-up years. But with her dedication and brilliance, she took up challenges that came her way and converted all of them into opportunities.
Navel Nazareth, who is 26 and identifies as Queer, is passionate about writing and has worked for a national newspaper. He faced numerous challenges and problems since childhood because of his gender identity. But he never left hope and now aims to empower the LGBTQIA+ community.
Priyamvada Grover is a DJ who plays music ranging from hip-hop, funk and soul to grime, break-beats and heavy bass. She also works in the public policy sector, which is her day job. Before this, she served as a reporter, covering the economy, human rights, and the power sector.
Resham is a professional singer featured on various tv shows and her work has been acknowledged by Palak Muchhal, Ajay Devgn and many more. Despite the challenges, she is now working as a solo artist who manages her own brand and runs a youtube channel she creates covers and also works on her own singles.
Ananya Halarnkar is a singer with autism and is also learning to play the piano and can play guitar & harmonium. She has won several prizes in music and is a part of a six-pack band, set up by Yash Raj Films.
19-year-old girl Aarushi Ranjan comes from the Ratanpur village in the Sitamarhi district of Bihar. She is the first female in her village who showed courage and took education in an English medium school as her parents were not conservative like other villagers.
Dr. Varuna Raina is an ordinary Kashmiri Pandit woman with extraordinary grit who arose from a displaced childhood and near fatal head injury to become a doctor, mountaineer, athlete, yoga teacher, writer, mindfulness practitioner, and the first from J&K to scale Kala Nag at 6,387 meters.
A 26-year-old boy from Indore, Manoj More, lost his parents to severe diseases when he was 15. He never left hope and struggled to achieve everything his parents wanted. The absence of his parents creates a void in him as he can't celebrate his success with them.
Dipankar Bhattacharjee has been a cancer survivor for the last 10 years. From undergoing chemotherapy for six years to surviving major spinal surgery, he has navigated through all crises that struck in these years.
Isha Singh started her career as a banker but was always inclined towards art and social service. In 2007, she started Art Laureate and later set up 'The Kalaa Store', a Social Enterprise to promote local artists across India.
At first, I refused to accept that I could be gay and I concentrated on creating lies and situations to make myself believe that I am straight.
Deepa Kollipara is a 29-year-old lawyer living in San Francisco, California. She learned about her sexual orientation at 23, when she felt emotionally connected to women. She met her wife Gauri on a dating app, and after dating for several years, both recently got married in a fat Indian wedding in the US.
An eyeful and adroit digital content creator, Aastha Shah has marked her presence in social media owing to her courage and sagacity. Afflicted by vitiligo at a young age, the ailment turned out to be a blessing in disguise, extending to her new dimensions of self-acceptance and enthralling confidence.
Coming from a village in Chennai, a son of a flower vendor, Nirmal faced a lot of humiliation in his early days from friends and relatives. He decided to change things on his own and now earns a six-digit monthly income.