Jyoti and her elder sister had a very rough life. She has spent a good part of her life in a society where girls are still considered as a burden; where exorbitant dowries are essential to get married, and where girls are always considered inferior to the men. Her father was in the Army and was away from home most of the time. Her elder brother played the role of the guardian and the relation between him and Jyoti was not the best one. He always criticized her for one reason or another, basically for being a girl. Some of the abuses were – you are a burden on the family, what’s the point of studying, why roaming outside, and so on. There were too many whys and what’s; which Jyoti could never understand. Whole conversation would come to the point that since heavy dowry will be paid in the future to marry her off, there is no point in spending too much money on education. Jyoti hated this kind of toxic environment where verbal abuses were part of the daily routine and every single minute she was reminded of being a girl (burden?).
Limits were crossed one day when physical abuse replaced the verbal abuses. Jyoti and her sister, both were beaten mercilessly by their brother. Helpless mother couldn’t do much apart from begging him to leave them alone. He didn’t stop – shoes, broom, stick – he used whatever he could grab to beat them with full fury. Jyoti still has the scars of that day, not the physical one, but the mental scars. She knew that the horrible physical attack was the price they were paying for being girls in a society which regard them as the unwanted – a burden.
In spite of such depressing environment, Jyoti kept her focus on studies. She knew that if she wants to get out of this place, she must study hard and do something on her own. She also started to take tuitions to divert her mind. Every day she used to commute 20Kms to teach students, but of course, all the earned money was given to the family. With her hard work and dedication she managed to secure scholarship and joined a hotel management college here in the Udaipur. Cooking was favorite activity which provided her relief from all the stress and bad memories. While studying she joined a five star hotel as an intern. When she thought that life is back on right track, she faced immense trouble. According to her, verbal abuses were common there and she always feared for her safety, especially after encountering some very scary situation.
She decided not to continue in this stream and started looking for another job. In 2017 she came to know about Arcgate and joined the company after giving interview. It was like a dream came true for her. She was pleasantly surprised with the infrastructure, the professional environment, and above all an extremely safe environment. Today, she is a strong and independent woman, and gives huge credit to Udaipur city and Arcgate for her new life. She believes this is the happiest phase of her life and she just wants to forget all the difficulties she has endured. Jyoti has one mantra for all other women facing difficulties- “She is able who thinks she is able”. Problems are going to come, but one must fight hard and overcome them by showing extreme internal strength.