Swati Keshri’s father was her family’s sole breadwinner. He earned less than Rs.500 a day. Born and brought up in a less privileged part of Delhi, the young girl was bracing for a life spent struggling to make ends meet. When her mother’s health needed attention, there seemed even less doubt that she would have to give up on her dreams and start working to help the family. She was inducted into the Udayan Shalini Fellowship Programme (USF) in 2009. Today, she is in Cambridge University studying Medical Genetics with the ambition of curing Alzheimer’s disease one day.
Swati is one of around 8,500 ‘Shalinis’ who have received financial and mentoring support through USF, launched in 2002 under Udayan Cares. Spread across 21 cities, the six-year-scholarship has touched the lives of 20,000 girls till date.
Not all Shalinis end up doing doctorates in foreign universities. But each of them is a reflection of the change we want to see in society. With a little support and direction, we have seen them escape their trappings to chart destinies of dignity.
Some are the first in their village to escape the shackles of an impending marriage. They take wing to pursue careers of their own powered by education.
Many have escaped the compulsion to find a manual labour job just to augment family income. They explore their interests and flourish in chosen fields.
All of them serve as an embodiment of the word ‘inspiring’ – not only do they secure their dreams but also give back to society. The scholarship requires each girl to give back 50 hours in social work to their community.
The Udayan Shalini Fellowship Programme
I have witnessed some of these girls see a mall, an office or a movie theatre for the first time in their lives. Our simple aim is to ensure that they continue high school, college and get all the skills they need to a secure career of their choice. That is our script to build a different India in the 21st century.
Rising Against Odds
A crisis like the current COVID-19 pandemic is particularly crippling for girl students from weaker socio-economic backgrounds. Many of the girl scholars under USF are from single parent households. Many of their families have a single wage earner who is now out of work. For a family that could never prioritise its girl child’s education, this is indeed a very difficult time.
It was painful to see that these girls – with dreams in their eyes and fire in their hearts – did not have access to bare essentials like food and water. Many of their parents had started to take small loans to tide them over this tough time. In many cases, they had groceries for less than two days at best. It was truly eye opening to see our girls, who are usually so positive and cheerful, with tears in their eyes. Our young, blooming minds were back to being insecure and close to the economic trappings of their parents. We would have failed if we did not intervene.
Keeping Dreams Alive
We started a drive to collect funds (Udayan Care Emergency Response Fund) to provide our scholars and their families with basic needs. It was heartening to see that we were not alone.
To see a 12-year old donate his piggy bank, an 87-year old donate part of his pension, a 20-year old donate his first salary, made us realise that no calamity can bring us down if we stand together. When we transcend barriers of age, religion, and gender and give with the sole purpose of making someone’s life better, we can be the light in this sea of darkness.
People joined hands to support the cause because they believed in it. In Chennai alone, 250 micro donations have ensured that the first tranche of relief reached all girls supported by USF as of early April 2020. We provided staples, vegetables, medicines and other essentials to around 500 people. What we are providing beyond the materials is hope for these talented girls who have secured their fellowship through sheer grit and the power of their dreams. We cannot let those dreams die.
We can be the reason these girls don’t stay hungry, the reason these parents aren’t heartbroken because they can’t provide.
You may think that your contribution is small, but to the family you help, you are their whole world. To each girl, it is the gift of her future.
Let us be the light that helps someone see. That gives life its deepest meaning.
Author Naveen Narayanan
The author is the convenor of Udayan Shalini Fellowship Programme Chennai and works with an IT firm. To donate to the Udayan Care Emergency Response Fund, write to naveennarayanan@hotmail.com), call 9600095367 or click here.