It is said that there is no shortcut to success, for this one has to work hard. 28-year-old Sarita Mali has also traveled from the slum of Mumbai to American University on the basis of her hard work.
Sarita’s childhood was spent in a slum in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. He had to face many challenges of life while studying in a municipal school. Sarita helped her father in his business every day till the completion of his graduation. Sarita used to help her father in selling garlands of flowers on the streets of Mumbai.
After completing her Master’s from Jawaharlal Nehru University, she is now all set to pursue a PhD in Hindi Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Sarita considers her admission to JNU as a ‘turning point’ for which she had prepared for three years.
He says, “I had decided to come to JNU in class 12 itself. When I went to my grandmother’s house, my cousin was preparing for admission in JNU. My uncle asked my mother to send me to JNU too. He said that whoever goes to JNU, he turns out to be something. That’s what kept swirling in my mind. I didn’t know what JNU was, but it was in my mind that I wanted to be something. After that I prepared for it for the next three years. I got the last OBC seat and that was the biggest turning point of my life.”
Sarita used to make garlands daily for several hours till she went to JNU. He told, “My father used to go to Parel flower market everyday by local train and the family would sit together and make garlands for four to five hours then he used to sell them at the signal in the morning. During festivals, we had to work more. I used to help her sell till class 5th, but when I reached class 9th, I started making garlands.”