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.

Sarbajeet Mohanty is one of the founders of Parapsychology And Investigations Research Society (PAIRS) and a paranormal investigator. He researches on the existence of ghosts and spirits and investigates the paranormal activities by visiting different places. He often travels places containing myths and figure out if there’s any truth to these stories.
Laxmi (30) was diagnosed with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC) when she was in her 10th standard. She faced a lot of societal challenges throughout her life, however, her husband stood rock solid and never made her feel like a burden.
Seeing silver linings during a hard grind and never giving up ultimately resulted in me gaining valuable lessons that I now seek to pass on.
Nitin Tyagi was 14-years-old when he joined dance classes to lose weight. While learning different dance forms, he found his love for ballet dancing. From being shamed and abused for his unconventional choices, he has come a long way to be accepted and praised for his art.
A mother of two children, Aliya Farooq started working as a fitness trainer in 2012 in Kashmir valley and has trained thousands of women till now. From suffering postpartum depression to smashing stereotypes, Aliya carved a niche for herself, became Kashmir’s first certified fitness trainer and launched the first-ever exclusive all-women fitness gym in the valley.
Captain Vikas Nautiyal is one of the many pilots who contributed to 'Operation Ganga' and helped stranded Indian students in Ukraine get back home. A Brain tumour survivor, the ex-Air Force fighter pilot defeated the life-threatening illness to pursue his passion for flying.
Disturbed by the increasing number of polluted lakes, Anand Malligavad quit his corporate job in 2019 to become a full-time lake conservationist and revive the pride of Bangalore, its' lakes.
Shruti Shastri is a female priest from Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur and has officiated over 75 weddings till now. Today, she conducts poojas, havans, solemnises marriages across India and is breaking gender stereotypes in her own dignified way.
Prakriti Varshney is an avid travel blogger and has found joy in climbing mountains around the country. She became the second Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Ama Dablam in Nepal and she dreams to climb Mount Everest soon.
Nikky Gupta grew up in a conservative household in the industrial town of Kanpur. She broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman in her family to become an entrepreneur and run her own PR company.
Arsha is one of the many women who spoke up about being sexually assaulted at the infamous 'Infeckted Tattoo Studio' in Kochi. By sharing her ordeal on social media, she wants to create a safe space for people to stand up against the abuser.
The 29-year-old Noor was fascinated with bikes since childhood but never had anyone to teach her to ride. Until one day, when she bought a second-hand bike and started learning on her own.
Pakeeza Qureshi is fondly known as the 'Karate Girl' and 'Young Sherni' in her Kashmir village. At the age of 14, she has won three medals at the national level and wants to inspire young girls around her.
After working in the corporate sector, Disha Ekal realized that baking always remained constant with her. Therefore, she quit her job, worked in a local pastry shop for a while, before flying to Paris to learn professional baking.
Dagmar Eckert is associated with Isha Foundation and has undergone a spiritual journey after experiencing Mahashivrati celebrations organised at Isha. Dagmar realised the divinity of Lord Shiva, as the Adiyogi (the first yogi) and the related festivities.
Rachita Srivastava has been working in the development sector and has co-led many projects in rural districts based on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Menstrual Health Management and Gender Equality.
Salil Jamdar is a multi-talented YouTuber, actor, singer and writer. He started his channel 'Salil Jamdar' in 2018 with multiple originals that are highly entertaining and relatable.
Kalyani Potekar has ridden on enough rough terrains to make herself the face of India’s motorbiking club. In her childhood, when her friends were learning to ride a bicycle, she was understanding the mechanics of clutch and gear from her father.
Kapil Bajaj is suffering from Arthrogryposis and dwarfism, which led to many complications in his life, including a weight gain of 68 kilos. However, the Indore-based man overcame all odds and shed 29 kgs in a year without any hard workouts.
Anvita Nair lost her best friend to suicide in 2017. From then on, she began to read extensively on mental health and came across the much-ignored topic of maternal mental health.
Major Prajakta Desai became the first woman officer of the Indian Army to become an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Observer in 2020. She was just eight years old when she dreamt of joining the Indian Army, and she made her dreams come true.
Nupur Chaudhuri (35) is a professional pole dancer from Pune, having practised it for the last four years. She got her big break recently after she appeared on reality show India's Got Talent where judges showered her with praises and gave immense respect to the dance form.
A VCR playing the iconic Michael Jackson tunes got Jay Anand hooked to music. Battling heteronormative constructs, he is living the dream as an independent musician.
Malleshwar Rao took up a part-time job to be able to buy his college books. He would eat the leftover food at night, but could not ignore the amount of food being thrown in the dustbins when hundreds slept hungry on the streets.