I was fourteen when Baaji’s (older Sister) husband returned her to our home for having delivered two daughters. The agony of my sister was unbearable for me but I was more troubled by the blatant declaration that not only was a woman deferential to her purpose, her birth was an obstruction in the birth of a boy, her arrival was an opportunity wasted.

I jumped into a new puddle of prospects- was dignity an option for my gender? Right then, began my odyssey to become the celebration of a girl child. The glory of womanhood must begin with financial independence, by earning a place at the table of decision makers. The stories of my life and the directions my life expanded in were all set in motion by that one simple aspiration.