"Breakdown. Pickup. Put together and move on. This summarizes my story.
Up till the age of 16, my family in Dubai raised me in a contemporary, liberal home before deciding to send me to a government engineering college in Rajasthan.
In 2006, the majority of 16-year-olds lacked even a cell phone connection. I was thrust into a completely unfamiliar society with few resources and no family. The kids around me had grown differently – most men had never interacted with women outside their families and now their raging puberty was its crazy best.
These men wanted to diminish me as a dumb NRI as well as ogle at me. The women felt threatened because I was different and attracted more attention from the other gender.
Being an NRI woman meant that I had to be unintelligent, undeserving, and overprivileged, which made me feel attacked and trapped in the grip of patriarchy and prejudice.
Finally, I decided to be a fighter who would have the strength to walk the lonely path, and have faith in herself.
I spoke my truth and refused to follow useless social norms. I worked hard to excel in academics and a plethora of extra curriculars. A big turning point66 was winning all Asia Techfest at IIT Bombay amongst lacs of entries.
Despite two job offers at campus, I pursued my MBA. I was now a little bit hardened but multi-fold boldened.
My biggest learning has been to deal with people who look down upon others due to their own insecurities.
A generation can learn from the struggles of one person. I helped and healed myself as a child because I had no support. This is what built my character. Now I am on my journey to share these insights and practices that I applied on my life."