“LIFE STORIES – TRUE TALES” by Dr. Jyothi Reddy & Screening of movie “Kajal”

Difficult roads often lead to Beautiful destinations.’

We welcomed everyone to a untold story of sheer grit & determination, to identify with to discover a true story a humble human being. She has proven that existence always honors hard-work & perseverance. Her journey from being a field laborer to owning her own software company, she has traveled time !Friends, We had with us DrJyothi Reddy, from the U.S.A , apart from being the President CEO of her software development company, She has authored a book titled ‘ YET I AM NOT DEFEATED’

Also we had with us Ms. SalonyLuthra, Actress, Producers Sidhart Jain &SonaliShekhavat ,Presenters PragyaRathoure&SnighdaBihan ,of a short film ‘Kajal ‘ , which was screened. Some of us may identify with the movie & some of us may not, but this certainly throws upon the society, it’s own under belly dotted with centuries of bias. It’s a film about inner strength & self-realization.

To conclude, Ms. Jain said “ Let’s redefine, let’s identify our real rags in the form of inhibitions & limitations and fully harness our riches of inner strengths & beauty. Let’s bloom. Let’s try something new it’s called originality.

Synopsis of Jyothi Reddy’s talk:

Nothing can stop a human being from becoming what he/she wants to achieve in life.DrJyothi Reddy commenced her talk by saying that the pain which comes from hurdles is a blessing. She was the second child amongst five siblings – 2 girls and 3 boys in an extremely poor family. It was a very tough journey for her. They would all sleep on the same mat on the ground and would go to bed without dinner. She remembers her mother would cry a lot during those days. At the age of 9, due to her family’s financial situation, she was admitted into a welfare orphanage. To get the admission, she had to become a motherless child. It was a heart breaking situation for her as she could not see her mother during the days when she was in the orphanage.She attended the government school while at the orphanage. She was always seated at the last bench as she could not afford wearing proper uniform and had no slippers on her feet. Instead of suffering and losing hope, she developed a strong will to make her future bright.

She highlights the importance of education and employment throughout her life’s journey, and became a first class student with her grit and determination.
In the Hostel, they were always short of water and bed sheetsand did not even have anything to cover their bodies during winter. She remembers that she had marked Nov 14 on the calendar, because a family would come and give 1 chocolate and 1 blanket to every child in the orphanage on that day. She promised herself that one day she too would look after the orphanage kids.At age of 16, she was married to her cousin 10 years older and being uneducated regarding marital matters, had the children by the time of her second anniversary. To take care of her children, she had to work in the paddy fields for a daily wage of Rs. 5. Even after such hard work, she had no independence to spend even this amount.She started working as a school teacher, where she was paid 120 Rs per month. She used to fight with her husband and he used to beat her. She knew whatever she was doing was right for her family and she wanted to do it for her family. Everyone said it was wrong and she was insulted. She could not divorce her husband because everyone told her that nobody would marry her daughters if she did so. She was going through a lot of struggle in her life and in her mind – Why do men decide women’s life?
One day she decided to commit suicide. She took her daughters and wanted to jump into the well with her daughters. Her daughter was sleeping and she got up and said Amma. When she heard this word, she realized that this was a turning point for her. She took her kids in her arms and she decided that she will do whatever it takes to give a good life to her children.

Then came the opportunity in the form of NYK (Nehru Yuva Kendra), a Central Government scheme which sought to create awareness among the youth. She took the opportunity and became a NYK Volunteer and later started teaching. But the money she was making was not sufficient to run the family. She used to stitch petticoats at night to make more money. She also learned typewriting. Apart from her bad financial situation, she also had to fight with family and society to do what she wanted to do. She studied and obtained a BA from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University in 1994 and studied for a postgraduate degree from the Kakatiya University on weekends and obtained it in 1997. This made her get a special teacher job for a salary of Rs. 398 per month. She would wake up at 3.30 am to catch a 6.30 am bus to travel for two hours to reach her school. Yet, everyone in the village opposed her leaving the village for work. She stood tall against the world and decided that since what she is doing is good for her and for her children, she will not allow anything to come in her way. Even then, her travelling expenses were more than her income. She devised a strategy to utilise the travel time to sell sarees to her co-passengers which gave her the extra income to sustain. Her struggle for life made her become conscious about the value of time and it showed her ways to utilize the time available creatively.

She attained the job of a regular teacher after 2 years and started making Rs 3000. But she did not want to settle for anything, as her passion to reach a higher level was always haunting her to find her next step. A relative’s visit from the US made her think about going to the land of dreams, United States. She went to many consultancies and asked for help to go to USA. At the beginning, she did not even know that she needed a passport or how to apply for one. Her innocence allowed people to help her and guide her. She studied computer courses to get the eligibility to work in the US and then finally she got all her documents and education for travel to the USA. She was even rejected for her visas many times. She finally went to the US on a 6 month visa, leaving her two daughters in a residential hostel

On the way to USA while travelling in a Cathay Pacific flight , she remembers that many years earlier while working in the paddy fields, she had told her friend when she spotted a plane flying over her head, that one day she would also fly in a plane. That day, a 13 year old dream was finally coming true.

Even though her husband was always telling her not to go – not to work, not to travel, she always found a way – sometime by pulling his leg and sometimes by touching his feet, it did not matter what the way was, she always found the will and the determination to make her dreams come true.

It was not an easy journey for her to settle in the US. She said that the pain has always taught her something new. All her money was finished on tickets and other things and she was asked by her relative to help at the house instead of finding work outside. She finally became a paying guest and found work at a video shop. She then joined a company and worked as a recruiter with the aid of an Indian. That was the beginning of her dreams.

In her own words she says – doors may be locked and windows may be closed, but one must not be scared to break the walls and break the rules!
She also taught us that it may take years, but life comes back and fulfills your dreams if you follow them with hard work and dedication.

Her life is a living story of many such examples:
1. Where one day Bhagwati University rejected her application for admission, today they have a case study on her life as part of their curriculum.
2. Once a child living in an orphanage, she now does social work looking after children in orphanages and has spent much time speaking to these children, inspiring them to study and even looking after their expenses.
3. At a point in time, she had to borrow 500 Rs for her child’s admission. After 14 years, she was able to commit to paying 0.5 million USD for her children’s admission on her own with no outside help.
4. She shared that she out of her own respect and pride, she never even took 100 Rs from anyone free of cost, and till today, she looks after her own self and her own expenses.

She ended by these inspiring words:

1. No compromise – she said if I would have compromised, I would still be working in the paddy fields.
2. No condition is permanent – Abdul Kalam was a paper boy where he used to get only 40rs a month and today everyone takes his name as an example. So, remember always no condition is permanent
3. Nothing is impossible – Oprah Winfrey was rejected by many channels because of her dressing and her color. And now, she is the richest woman in the world. Everyone looks for an opportunity to interview her. She is a perfect example that nothing is impossible
4. Dedication
5. Discipline
6. Determination

She further said that the fear of failure doesn’t change my mind set.
Failure is a milestone for everyone, it’s an experience.
Grabbing opportunity is a must at Right time …Right place …Right choice…

She ended with saying at one point, where her whole family was against her, today she is a speaker sharing her journey to 250 members or so who look up to her with utmost respect- Dr. Jyothi Reddy