I was the first child at Aarti Home. After my father brutally killed my mother in a drunken rage, my sisters and I had nowhere to go; our father had stolen whatever little money and jewelry my mother kept hidden and had fled, leaving us alone and inevitably in the care of neighbors and whoever would stop by.

Sandhyamma took me in after that and we stayed with her for many months until she decided to start Aarti Home. So we were, in essence, Aarti Home’s first girls.

I’ve come a long way at Aarti Home. I’m in the 12th grade now and I’m passionate about civil service! I want to work towards becoming a police officer to improve the conditions with which women are treated by the police force.

After my mother’s death, my grandmother gave what little family gold my father hadn’t taken with the police for safekeeping but when she went t retrieve it, after we were safe with Sandhyamma, they denied having it at all.  As a police officer, I want the people I serve to trust me and to feel safe under my command. That’s the true job of a police officer and I want to uphold that!