I come from a small village near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Since childhood, I have seen people differentiating between boys and girls because of their gender. While boys could have the best of all worlds, the girls in the family always sacrificed their desires for other members of the family. However, I always knew that I cannot make a difference unless I have a stable educational background. 

I was 15 years old when Kailash Satyarthi became the second recipient of a Nobel Prize after Mother Teresa. I was shocked to know that he was initially Kailash Sharma, but to fight casteism, he let go of his second name and adopted ‘Satyarthi’, which means ‘the seeker of truth’. I was preparing for SSC CGL exams without any coaching, meanwhile, I was also taking classes for underprivileged children in my hometown.

Opposed Social Barriers Of Casteism, Patriarchy

I vehemently believe that patriarchy and casteism have crippled India’s social structure for centuries, and I strongly oppose them. However, when I taught my students the same, the people started criticising me. Parents of the children who came to me to study started blaming me for teaching wrong ideas to the students.

I cleared my SSC CGL exams with the All-India Rank 30. My cadre allocation and posting would take a few months. Till then, I would continue to teach these children, and wherever I get posted, I would teach underprivileged children there as well. Teaching is my passion and gives me the feeling that I am contributing for the development of society.

My Mother Has Played A Decisive Role In Who I Am Today

My result came out recently, after which I changed my name from Nikhil Tiwari to Nikhil Saroj because Saroj is my mother’s name. I have always seen children taking up their father’s names, however, I wanted to bring about a change and thus added my mother’s name, because after all, she has played a decisive role in my upbringing and made me stand on my feet. I want to bring a change through education, and I have been working on the same consistently for the last three years.

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