Empower Future Leaders from Mumbai Red-Light Areas

Hello, my name is Danish and I’m 17. This time it’s my turn to write about what’s happening at Kranti, so I wanted to tell you more about me first. :) I’ve been at Kranti for one year and I study in NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) where I get to choose my subjects and do exams when I’m ready. Before NIOS, I used to go to high school but I really don’t like the education system there because if I am interested in an arts subject as well as business, I can’t study both, I have to choose either arts, science, or commerce. That’s why I quit high school and decided to do NIOS. Now I can take many different subjects, like sociology, business, and environmental science. I am really happy that I quit regular school and decide to do NIOS. Now also I don’t feel pressure about passing my exams right away so I can actually learn, not memorize.

So now I got a holiday from my class because Diwali is coming and we are all traveling to Mussoorie, a small town in the mountains in Uttarakhand, which is the bottom of the Himalayas. In our day to day life we girls are so very very busy with our own schedules and don’t get to spend so much time together. So going to Mussoorie our purpose is that we will spend quality family time together. When we come together and spend time together that’s when we realize how much it is important to spend time together and share our own different experiences and stories...we live in the same house but we live such different lives! Does that happen to you and your family too or is it just in Kranti?!?

So this is why almost every Diwali or Christmas we travel somewhere fun and spend time together. Like last year we went to Andaman Islands which was a very different experience for us, we did snorkeling and other new things. I love to travel to different places and eat different food, meet different people, observe new things, etc. Not all Kranti girls like travel, but *I* am very excited about traveling. Just in my one year at Kranti, I have traveled to Rajasthan, Himachal and West Bengal for workshops like acting, storytelling, and non violent communication. Before joining Kranti I had never left my homestate. Because of this travel, I am confident enough to go anywhere in India alone now! Sometimes my mom looks at me with so much shock. One because I am a girl, but two because before I was quiet and shy and not so confident, but now I know how to go anywhere, I know all the good places in Mumbai, I travel without a ticket and hide from the ticket checkers. :D

I also think travel is important because if we Krantikaris really want to change the world, we have to see it first! And the world is different thorugh every person’s eyes. I like the world through my eyes, it is very big, new and interesting! :) Anyway, sorry I am saying soooo much. But basically the last few months I have spent learning and traveling. This is not everyone’s story in Kranti, but this is my story. I hope you enjoyed reading. I wanted to share all of this with you because you are the people who make my life possible - my food, my clothes, my home, my education, my therapy, my travel, and all my other life experiences. So thank you very, very, very much.

Love,

Danish