Ashweetha Shetty: How education helped me rewrite my life
أشويثا شيتي: كيف ساعدني التعليم على إعادة كتابة حياتي
Through her nonprofit, Bodhi Tree Foundation, Ashweetha Shetty supports first-generation college students in rural India to explore their potential through education, life skills and opportunities. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
to sustain our family.
every day rolling bidis.
and showed me her bidi-rolling wage book.
وأرتنى كتاب أجور لفها للبيدى.
she has earned that week.
قد ربحت هذا الأسبوع.
were her thumbprints on each page.
كانت بصمات إبهامها علي كل صفحة.
instead of a signature
how to hold a pen and write her name.
كيفية مسك قلم وكتابة اسمها.
she wanted to give it a try.
من أنها أرادت أن تحاول.
and a lot of effort,
وكثير من المجهود،
and her face was beaming with pride.
وكان وجهها يشع بالفخر.
considered worthless.
تعتبر بلا قيمة.
keep the house clean
الحفاظ على المنزل نظيفًا
of my conservative Indian family,
the three identities that defined me --
الهويات الثلاث التي تعرِّفني -
of no voice and no choice.
as I rolled bidis alongside my mother,
بينما كنت ألف البيدي بجانب أمي،
with a lot of anxiety,
be different from yours?
did not mean to discourage me.
for a girl in my village.
على فتاة في قريتي.
the autobiography of Helen Keller.
وجدت السيرة الذاتية لهيلين كيلر.
a college degree like her,
and my relatives to be sent to college,
وأقربائي لكى يتم إرسالى إلي الجامعة،
of my undergraduate degree,
from being forced into marriage,
a fellowship program in Delhi,
away from my village.
I could fill out the application
التي مكنتني من ملء الطلب
a college junior's cell phone.
هاتف طالب جامعي أصغر.
be seen with a cell phone,
his phone under my shawl
هاتفه تحت الشال الخاص بي.
with a full scholarship.
my mother was worried --
كانت أمي قلقةً..
my mother was worried,
كانت أمي قلقةً،
to step out of my village
الذين اختيروا تلك السنة،
who looked like me or spoke like me.
and judged by many.
وبوجود نظرة مسبقة لدى الكثيرين.
a lot of coconut oil to my hair.
الكتير من زيت جوز الهند علي شعري.
I had learned to speak English,
تعلمت التحدث بالإنجليزية،
to have me on their assignment teams
أن أكون معهم في فرق الواجبات الخاصة بهم
to contribute to their discussion.
من المساهمة فى نقاشهم.
believed that a person from rural India
اعتقدوا أن شخصًا من ريف الهند
population today is rural.
were considered to be an exception
كانت تعد استثناءً
into a reality that we blindly accept
فى واقع نتقبله بشكل أعمي
and a new world opens up.
on her bidi-rolling wage book,
علي كتاب أجور لفها للبيدى،
Delhi air against my face
and let myself be,
وسمحت لنفسي بذلك،
of that new world I longed for,
من هذا العالم الجديد الذي اشتقت إليه،
is no longer a liability or a burden
my life had changed.
كانت حياتي قد تغيرت.
to make myself useful.
لجعل نفسي ذات فائدة.
to set up the Bodhi Tree Foundation,
لأنشئ "بودي تري فاونديشن"،
life skills and opportunities.
and to benefit our communities.
in a local college in Tirunelveli
في كلية محلية في تإرونلفلى
which you can never forget.
لن تتمكنوا أبدًا من نسيانها.
to study at Ashoka University, Delhi.
تدريب بجامعة أشوكا، دلهى.
she is now back at Bodhi Tree as a trainer
عادت الآن إلى "بودي تري" كمدربة
in the lives of others like her.
في حيوات الآخرين مثلها.
to feel like an exception.
to others in this world.
في هذا العالم.
from a remote, rural village,
in a prestigious undergraduate program
في برنامج بكالوريوس مرموق
with a full scholarship.
were reluctant to send her that far,
مترددين فى إرسالها إلى هذا البعد،
administration officials
to attend graduation.
على مستوى قريتها بالكامل.
to go to graduate school.
a liability or a burden to anyone
families and communities
الأكثر صعوبة
my usefulness in this world
their usefulness to this world.
على فائدتهم في هذا العالم.
does not happen overnight.
لا يحدث بين عشية وضحاها.
with families and communities
مع الأسر والمجتمعات المحلية
why getting an education
to convince them is by doing.
getting a real education,
يحصلون على تعليم حقيقي،
is what happened at my home.
in recognition of my social work
اعترافًا بعملي الاجتماعي
to be on television.
that morning, including my parents.
ذلك الصباح، بما فى ذلك والديَّ.
that seeing her daughter on television
أن رؤيتهم لابنتهم فى التلفزيون
pressuring me to get married now.
عن الضغط عليَّ للزواج الآن.
to break free from the identities
على التحرر من الهويات
to break free from being boxed,
على التحرر من كونى محاصرة
to find my voice,
أن أجد صوتي
your voice and your freedom.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ashweetha Shetty - Rural social workerThrough her nonprofit, Bodhi Tree Foundation, Ashweetha Shetty supports first-generation college students in rural India to explore their potential through education, life skills and opportunities.
Why you should listen
As a girl in a poor orthodox community in a south Indian village, Ashweetha Shetty was constantly told that her birth was not celebrated and that she would be a liability to her family. The social norms prescribed for her identity silenced her dreams, thoughts and aspirations. But through the power of education, she became a first-generation college graduate and had a chance to rewrite the possibilities for her life. As she says: "I always wanted to add my bit to their inspiring journey."
Ashweetha Shetty | Speaker | TED.com