Dream. Dream is what keeps us going. A dream doesn’t become a reality through magic. It demands lots of sweat, determination, hard work and sacrifices. One such dream was also seen by Soni Kumari, a girl who comes from the village of Bodhi Sthaan, situated in Bihar. Far away from city lights, towns and opportunities, the village is situated in an extremely cult rural area. Famous for its religious site, and places for pilgrimage is what attracted people to this area. The people of this village have their own lifestyle and social culture. They are very puritanical, have strict moral, and religious beliefs and show disapproval of any change. This ideology has often sparked gender discrimination in this area and has hindered the lives of many girls living in there.

Born as a natural optimist and bestowed with talents and ideas, ever since Soni was young she had that drive in her, the drive to do something beyond her imagination, that was curbed by the wishes of her father. So, she enrolled herself in the local government school in her area and from there finished her higher secondary education. She lives in a joint family and has a large family of 12 siblings out of which seven are sisters and five are brothers and she is the youngest of all. Her father came from very conservative family background and was a cow-keeper and a milkman and her mother is a simple homemaker. Soni is very close to her mother because, unlike her father, Soni’s mother has always supported her in the things that she wanted to do and never forced her to do otherwise. As we know, being the youngest child comes with its own sets of privileges and drawbacks, and Soni has definitely lived it. Soni’s mother was also like a friend to her, the only friend she could trust blindly and share her every little victory and every big loss.

Due to a lack of proper earnings, all her siblings were married at a very young age. Soni’s mother is totally illiterate and that is the reason why she always wanted, at least her youngest daughter, Soni to have a proper education so as not to lead a life like her mother and siblings. But her father belonging to cult village tradition did not favour her education. He always tried to stop Soni from pursuing her interest by using all sorts of violence. Her tears expressed and withheld the horrors and miseries of her life. It took her days to get through these chapters of her life. Even after going through so much when Soni did not stop, her father stopped providing her with the means of living thinking that by taking the very last bit of hope from her, he will be able to control her and mould her but he was absolutely wrong. Even this couldn’t break Soni’s willpower, in fact, strengthened her even more, because now she had nothing more to lose.

Being left all alone with her miseries she decided to venture onto a new journey and rewrite the story of her life all by herself only to make her mother proud and to prove to her that all the efforts she made towards her were not in vain. So, she squared her shoulders and walked forward to meet her fate by her destiny solidly at her side. Soni left her house and came to Jamshedpur, where she tried her luck in all sorts of work to survive and support herself. After a while, living in Jamshedpur she came to know about ALIG and the kinds of verticals it is working on to help empower women. She walked into the skill centre and enrolled herself in the ongoing course of stitching. In a very less time, she gained recognition due to her brilliant artwork and hard work. After she completed her advanced course in stitching, she became a part of our trained women SHG group where she worked day and night to fulfil the bulk orders that we received and started earning her own money every month. From her first salary, she saved herself a few bucks and the rest of the money she used to send to her mother, proving where there is a will, there is a way. She did not stop here but also enrolled herself in the local college of Jamshedpur to continue with her education and fulfil her dream of becoming a lawyer who would fight for the rights of the people just like she fought for her own rights.

Soni’s life has never been easy but she says that she will bring change in her village and in the lives of the girls living in Bodhi Sthaan, slowly, gradually but certainly and the change starts with her.