Originally from Pakistan’s Sindh, Sarla Ahuja moved to India’s Rajasthan during the Partition. Married at the age of 16, the child bride did not like spending her days managing household chores from cooking to cleaning home. While she could only study till Class 10, she remembered the stitching work her mother had taught her. At the age of 18, she decided to supplement her family’s income by working as a sewing machine operator in the neighbourhood. But within a few months, she had to quit the job to look after her children.  It took Sarla two years to save and eventually begin what is to ..read more

A thin yet no less than prominent part of the metaphorical glass ceiling prevails. While women pioneer across fields and industries — from filmmaking and space sciences to entrepreneurship — there is a long way to go.  But Jammu’s 44-year-old Reetu Siathia has made a massive dent in this ceiling, and that by opting for a career option unknown to many.  Every day in the morning, she completes her daily puja, cooking, and cleaning of the house. And then, precisely at 8 o’ clock, she sits in front of her computer screen. Ready to go live with her gameplay, with thousands of people waiti ..read more

Through his YouTube channel and mobile application, former government officer Abhinay Sharma has embarked on a noble cause — to provide affordable education to millions of government job aspirants.  Named Abhinay Maths, the platform targets the majority of government job seekers, who come from Tier II, III, and IV cities, where affordability is a major concern. He says that so far, he has provided free education to over 10 million students from small towns and cities across the country, with over 10,000 students passing the government exams he teaches for. The decision to embark on this j ..read more

As you scroll through Samriddhi Malhotra’s Instagram page, it is almost like watching a movie in frames — one whose plot revolves around self-love, being kind to your past and hopeful towards the future. A reel catches my eye as I scroll past. A girl around 25 years of age is in front of a laptop screen, quizzically looking at the screen, perhaps in the middle of another corporate day. This image bears little resemblance with the 32-year-old Samriddhi of the present day with her hair shaved off, living the beach life. As she tells me, the last five years are what transformed her from the corpo ..read more

“Life is unpredictable,” says 38-year-old Jaikishaan Sharma from Ahmedabad. Now a mindset coach, an international speaker, and founder of the DreamChair Club — a foundation that helps people find motivation in their lives to overcome mental hurdles — this sales professional had no idea this was the trajectory his life would follow. His statement about the unpredictability of life stems from his own tussle with fate, which all began in the year 2006 when he went home following his graduation in Delhi. Jaikishaan’s father wanted him to pursue his master’s degree in Australia, a dream he had for ..read more

We’ve heard fictional stories of star-crossed lovers and how destiny made their paths cross. But, here is a real-life story which is no less romantic than a fictional one. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Better India (@thebetterindia) Nehal Thakkar and Anup Chandran met at a medical convention over a decade ago and found that they shared a tragedy with details that were uncanny! They both were in a similar car accident on the same road at the same spot in the same car model. The only difference was that the accidents happened two years apart. Anup was in an accident on 22 ..read more

This article has been sponsored by Buda Jeans Co.  For the youth, success is often defined by the hustle culture. Their careers are built on the foundation that life is short and that in order to be successful, one needs a massive push. Buda Jeans Co. — a premium denim and lifestyle brand from the house of AJIO — is challenging the idea of hustle. It promotes the idea of living in the moment and working on the philosophy of ‘Planet Easy’ [the brand’s tagline], where everyone is welcome. A world that has peace at its core, where minimalism is valued, and simplicity of design is fashionable ..read more

At the age of 26 years, Aditya Vashisht discovered he had a rare illness. All of a sudden, the right side of his body was paralysed.  He was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves, resulting in full body paralysis. Doctors informed the family that it was difficult to recover from the disorder. “I did not want to ruin my wife’s life. So, I asked her to leave. But she chose to stay,” he recalls. The couple was married roughly two years before the incident. Aditya made several attempts to move hi ..read more

Rahul Khadtare first discovered hip-hop at age 13, when his friend found a phone lying around inside an auto rickshaw.    “We just took the phone someone had left behind inside the auto rickshaw and kept it in our pockets,” recalls the Mumbai resident, who is now more popularly known as Kidshot.  “After opening the phone, we found that it had about 60 to 70 songs from artists like Nas, 50 Cent, Lil Wayne…Initially, we couldn’t really understand what these rappers were saying and knew nothing about them. So, we went to the local cyber cafe, did a little research and printed ..read more

In a state infamous for female foeticide and child marriages, all five daughters of a farmer have cracked the Rajasthan Administrative Service Exam. The secret behind their success, they say, is their progressive father. Sahdev Saharan and his illiterate wife Luxmi, parents to five girls, hail from the small village of Bherusari in the Hanumangarh District of Rajasthan. A farmer by profession, Sahdev relied on agriculture to make ends meet, but due to constant water logging, it was difficult to good yields from his farm. However, he did not let his poor financial conditions hinder his daughter ..read more