“Have you heard of kerosine lamps? That was my source of light until I was in class 9. I come from a family that couldn’t afford a brick house to live in. My parents are farmers. We never had proper clothes to wear. I don’t remember playing with toys as a child.

My poverty didn’t stop me from dreaming big. I dreamt of working for a big MNC, earning a lucrative salary. I worked hard! I knew I wouldn’t have my dreams come true otherwise. I worked as a paperboy, delivering newspapers every morning. I used to take tuitions to earn some extra income. It is fair to say I have done several taxing jobs to fulfil my dreams. I don’t think I had a proper meal for years. I lived on ‘pachadi annam’ (pickle rice) for several years.

Having seen struggle from close-quarters, I emphatize with those who are battling to survive every single day. At a young age, I learnt that money is an incredibly powerful weapon. It can buy everything, including justice. Isn’t it baffling that justice is being ‘bought’? The poor never get their deserved justice because they don’t have that powerful weapon. Perhaps, that is exactly why I wanted to land a fancy-paying job, so that I could help them.

Talking about justice, growing up I saw women go through nerve-wracking atrocities, read about it and felt their pain in my own way. That’s when I had decided that I would pursue law to support them. I started sharing my knowledge through my YouTube channel, ‘Youth Vikas’. I started talking to women about their rights and ways to seek justice.

I wanted to be the bridge between women and their rights. Most women in India are not aware of their basic rights or law. Sometimes they fear too, because we don’t have a great history of underprivileged women winning their rightful justice. I now go around government schools and conduct workshops on legal rights awareness.

I have come across various cases where FIR’s were not filed immediately. One case that played a major role in my career was when a wife beaten black and blue by her husband was denied justice at the police station. She went bleeding to the station, only to find out that her financially strong and politically influential husband dictated the police to not take her seriously and instead asked them to persuade her to opt for the ‘compromise’ route.

Having said justice is often delayed or denied, I must also admit in the same breath that there is a lot of difference in the last 10 years. In fact, in 2017 when a 6-year-old girl was raped and killed by a young man, he was immediately sentenced to death. I feel we need a few fast-track codes such that the innocent get their justice sooner than later.

I am part of the Sanghamitra Programme by Cyberabad Police Commissionerate, through which I conduct awareness on domestic abuse and harassment. My aim is to not only educate women but also men. With my mother’s, wife’s and senior advocate Manjusha’a support, I wish to change many more lives.”

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