Being raised in a Kashmiri Pandit-Manipuri Meitei household in Rajasthan helped me achieve a pan-India outlook towards community development and inculcated in me the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbhkam – the world is but one family. I am strongly committed to human rights, sustainable ways of living, peaceful conflict resolution, gender equality, and I firmly believe that education is a powerful tool to overcome structural violence.
I hold a Bachlor’s degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi & a Master’s degree in Conflict Management & Development from Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University.
I found my calling when I joined the National Service Scheme in 2012 and have since continued my journey in the development sector. Over the period of six years, I was extremely fortunate to have worked on varied projects ranging from livelihood generation, tribal welfare, menstrual health management and social justice with government and non-government organizations like ONGC Foundation, Child Rights & You, and district administrations and PRIs. During my time in rural Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, I trained to manage the projects in a timely manner and deepen my research skills. Adolescent-empowerment, child rights and womens socio-economic status in a predominantly patriarchal setup intrigued me particularly.
During the 2015 Hum Kadam Dialogue between the youth of Kashmir & Delhi organized by Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), I presented a co-authored paper titled “Militarization and conflict in ‘paradise on earth’: prospects and role of tourism in peacebuilding in Kashmir”. I was also a youth speaker-panellist at the Yuva Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and Government of Uttar Pradesh at Banaras Hindu University in 2019. Until recently, I was serving as a Project Associate at ONGC Foundation, New Delhi while currently, I am a NextGen Networker at Youth Conflict Management & Mediation Initiative (YCM).