My Story

My Story: ‘I Was Asked To Lose Weight Or No One Will Even Look At Me’

Asmi Shah has been challenging societal norms —breaking one at a time. In her thirties, she is an adventure traveller owning a travel company and a delivery kitchen. Asmi, however, had to battle tough times to get rid of self-doubt and to embrace her truer self. Now, she is actively involved in sharing her days of struggle and spread the message of body positivity to inspire many.

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My Story: ‘Selling Tender Coconuts On Footpath, Trying To Support My Family Gives Me Immense Satisfaction’

The 33-year-old Satyavati who set up her stall to sell tender coconuts in Bengaluru’s Banashankari is a mother of two. She has been balancing her efforts to support her family financially and help her kids get a good education. But like any other businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic hit her day job badly. After one of her customers took her business online recently, it began recovering gradually.

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MyStory: “All My Life, I Was Made To Feel That Hair Is An Essential Part Of Physical Appearance”

Sravya Manasa decided to donate her hair to cancer survivors after she met some of them while she was on a tour for her dance performance. Being a professional Kuchipudi dancer, it was not easy for her to take this step. However, she wants to break the conventional definitions of beauty by shaving her head, She says that people should accept themselves just the way they are.

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MyStory: ‘Make Difference To Someone’s Childhood, All Sacrifices Would Feel Worth It’

Rahul Singla has been working on various social causes since he was in college. However, due to personal reasons, he had to stop his work after college finished. But he was determined to build a platform devoted to working towards the prevention of child sexual abuse. He started an organisation named Bachpan. His team conducts workshops on raising awareness about child sexual abuse.

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My Story: “I Was Jobless For Around Five Months Due To Pandemic And Felt Like I Had Hit Rock Bottom”

Niket Sharma started preparing for civil services exams during his third year in college. However, he was not supported by his parents for his career choice and was soon diagnosed with depression. He was jobless after the pandemic struck which made him feel directionless in life. Then, he decided to purchase a domain and start a digital marketing blog on it. It helped him to establish his freelancing career and now he wants to work passionately in this field.

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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.

Samriddha Dutta, while recounting her experience of being online shamed, trolled and objectified, highlights that one is capable of inflicting actual damage through virtual verbal abuse.
Parth Upadhyaya always obsessed climbing the summit Mount Everest in his prime years. After waiting for nine years, he finally went on for expedition along with other climbers. Although his expedition was not an easy one and he was rescued by a Sherpa in a blackout moment.
Shreya Gautam witnessed her grandmother suffering from cancer when she was a child. Back then, she could not do anything for her, but she decided that one day she would shave her hair to spread awareness on cancer survivors. Even though everyone was appalled as she went bald, she felt liberated and now doesn't want to follow the societal notions of beauty.
Rutuja Jayakar had acne scars since her school days. This topic has the conversation starter for her wherever she went- be it her college or office, As it affected her confidence levels, she decided that she would ignore whatever advice that she received from strangers. She finds ignorance to be the solution to the society's remarks about her face.
Rewati Ranjan was molested when she was a teenager. She underwent a similar situation when she was in her college and it took a toll on her mental health. After hitting rock bottom, she decided to seek professional help for combatting anxiety attacks and is trying to recover from her traumatic experiences.
As the lockdown left many stray animals without food, Riddhima Jain started feeding many of them who were left with no food. Now, she feeds the dogs at least four times a week and wants to spread hope in such difficult times.
Shreeya Upadhyay was body shamed in her school days. This made her extremely insecure about her looks and she didn't feel confident about herself. Finally, she started accepting herself just the way she looks and works on her personal development without noticing what her peers say.
Nidhi S Jankal's family was always made her feel like an outcast due to her dusky colour. She moved to Australia after her marriage and was tormented by her husband. Once she came back to India, she decided that there is no looking back for her. She built a successful career as a fitness trainer in Bengaluru and is now planning to work on her new venture.
Dhwani Chugh suffered from vitiligo, a skin condition that causes patched complexion. She was always at the receiving end of taunts and comments by her peers. Although, she started to accept herself just the way she is and doesn't wish to comply with society's 'terms and conditions' of appearances.
Anushka was bullied in her school days. She suffered from mental health issues due to her troubled experiences. But she was determined to fight back. She was awarded the Young Researcher Scholarship and authored two books, one of which got published in nine languages.
Diksha Chhabra, 33, is a fitness entrepreneur, fitness influencer, a model and Mrs.India Earth 2017.
Shiwani Agarwal firstly suffered from sexual abuse when she was 10-year-old. When it happened for the second time, she was completely shattered. She took a pledge to not let any kid suffer the way she did this led her to start 'Break the Silence' movement to educate kids on sexual education.
Aqsa Mustaque came across many women who couldn't afford sanitary pads during the pandemic. With the money collected from fundraising, she distributed 6000 packs of sanitary napkins which reached around 4000 women in 15-20 slums around Kolkata area.
In the slums of Kusumpur Pahadi, South Delhi there lives an 18-year-old girl, Mansi. With sheer determination and support from Asha Community Health and Development Society, Mansi is going to be the first in her family to attend college.
In less than seven minutes of dialing 100, we had two police officers and an ambulance waiting to take us to the hospital.
Avani Prasad was suffereing from acute depression and her dream of becoming an IAS took a backseat. Although, she didn't want anyone to undergo the same traumatic experience. She started an organization named Spandan to make mental health services more affordable to people.
Shipra goel was always commented about being fat. She was forced to go the gym and her health continued to deteriorate. She started doing yoga to maintain her weight as it was the easiest option and eventually took it up as her profession.
Mariya had to leave college in the first year to get married. After marriage, she was busy with her responsibilities for her family and never got a chance to start her education again.
"I hit my lowest when I wanted to play the lead in a school play. I was meant for it. But, I was asked to play the role of a tree instead since it would 'match my skin colour'. That day, I cried for hours."
"I was hospitalized; the next 3 weeks were a blur of treatments. Dad would feed me breakfast every morning before work and say, 'Just one more day!', while mom spent the rest of the day with me."
When Swati Raval was asked to pilot a flight in order to rescue stranded passengers from India, she could only think about the safety of her children. Returning from the flight, she couldn't hug her children as she has to maintain social distancing norms at home.
Manashri Soman's parents were told that she would never be able to walk or talk along with the visual impairment which was congenital in her. But, in contrast to being labelled as not being 'normal', she went to school, college and became a financially-independent person.
Maitri Shah was always questioned about her abilities and the people around her were bothered so as how would she accomplish things because of her disability. However, her determination to keep going ahead in life made her change things around and she has kept her hustle going.
Heena Mandavia started 'Harsh Thali and Parathas' as a mere means of survival in Mumbai. Later, her son Harsh Madavia took over the responsibility and the business. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the mother-son duo has been feeding the poor and the destitute and have served more than 11,000 meals.