Shanti Bhavan A Spark That Ignited My Potential
[Applause]
[Music]
hi everyone my name is vijay lakshmi
with vegan and this is my story
i was born in a small village in tamil
nadu
but my family like many other families
decided to move to bangalore for a
chance at
living better we were a small but happy
family despite the poverty and hardships
we
faced every day living in a completely
different place
at least things appeared to me that way
as a young child
however it did not last long my mother
committed suicide when i was just three
years old leaving behind her husband and
my six-month-old sister
at my age i was unaware of the
complexities of her existence and what
she had gone through and how it shaped
her life
in a society where physical labor is
vital to have food on the table is
equated with having male offspring
though we were two daughters my dad
loved us deeply despite what society had
to say
my dad had a bad drinking habit however
and could not afford to look after us
both
so he did one of the greatest things our
family could have imagined which changed
my life forever
i guess it’s true when they say when you
lose something important you often gain
something else in return
while my entire family grieved the loss
of my mother
we found out about a school that took in
children from families who could not
afford an education
or good food or clothing for that matter
just to give them a shot at a better
future
this is how i joined my school shanti
baban before i knew what was happening
i moved into school and my grandmother
promised to look after my younger sister
it has now been six years since i’ve
graduated from
i still remember thinking that i was
going to be leaving home when i
graduated because
it was the one true family that happened
to me 18 years before
i never really went home during vacation
because no one in my family wanted to
look after us
girls my younger sister joined another
boarding school and i only saw her once
every year during summer vacation after
my aunt took pity on us and decided to
have us over breaks
my dad was around but he never really
got over my mom’s death and
died in the year 2017 due to bad health
through all of this i managed to
graduate school be accepted
into one be accepted into st joseph’s
college of commerce and
graduate with a bachelor’s degree in
business administration in the year
my aunt had financial problems of her
own so to ease the situation
i took up home tutoring for kids and
paid for my living while in college i
realized that i really loved working
with children
so i applied for a special summer
internship program that allowed me to
spend a summer working with children
after graduating from college i went
back to my home
and helped for six months until i landed
a job at mercedes-benz research and
development
i went back home meaning i went back to
my school shampoo bubble
i worked as a management human resource
business training
at mercedes-benz it’s been two years and
i’ve learned
so much i can see things have become
easier for my sister and i i live in
bangalore where my sister is studying to
become a nurse
as big hospital here i support her and
give money to my aunt as well for all
the years
she spent looking after us shanti bhavan
has taught me to be independent
take responsibility be accountable and
give back to others
this is only part of my journey i have a
long way to go still
i plan to work for another few years
until my sister is out of university and
can support herself
after that i aspire to get a master’s
degree either in communication or
psychology
i’m still thinking about and learning
what i really want to do for the rest of
my life
being exposed to an unparalleled
education from shanti bhavin and a top
tier college
yet facing and knowing about the
challenging situations that people face
in impoverished communities
gives me a perspective that not many
people have and will forever
affect the choices that i make i don’t
know how the
next few years are going to look for me
but i’m certain i possess the potential
to do great things
there’s so much more to learn and do and
i would love to be a part of someone
else’s story as well
when i’m able to give back to another
person
as much as what’s been given to me i
believe my journey has just begun
and there’s so many more things that are
yet to come
thank you
[Music]