Women's Day: How these women realised their dreams

Lucknow, March 8 Komal Rani, Ishrat and Vibhuti belong to Uttar Pradesh's hinterlands where they studied in government primary schools and had grim chances of pursuing higher education.

However, their destinies changed when they enrolled at VidyaGyan Leadership Academy which provides free world-class education to underprivileged meritorious students from families with an annual income of less than a lakh.

Komal Rani from Rasoolpur Madhi village of Meerut district could have never imagined that she would one day work as a Manager with Kinara Capital, a digital lending company in the vibrant city of Bengaluru.

Till the age of 12, she worked in the local village to earn a measly income to support her family of seven members financially.

However, she was always passionate about education, and it was this passion that helped her secure admission at VidyaGyan.

Komal went on to study the B. Com programme at Gargi College of Delhi University for her undergraduate studies and pursued an MBA from Vedica Scholars Programme for women. As an independent young woman, she hopes to help uplift her family out of poverty and be the change agent that she always aspired to be.

Ishrat's story is no different. Daughter of a daily wager from the Sirsali village of Baghpat district, Ishrat comes from an extremely conservative background where education for girl children is frowned upon.

Seeing her zest for learning, her parents allowed her to take admission at VidyaGyan and eventually study at Gargi College in Delhi University.

Ishrat has now secured a job with

Her success has made her a role model and torchbearer of women empowerment within her community.

Another inspiring story is of Vibhuti who lost her father at a very young age.

Brought up single-handedly by her mother, she was encouraged to pursue education and study at a residential school despite strong opposition from her village community.

Vibhuti has secured an engineering degree in Computer Science, and works with IBM as an Application Developer in Gurugram.

From dreamers to achievers, these women represent the larger community of young women of rural India who are talented and ready to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with their urban counterparts.