Ashweetha Shetty: How education helped me rewrite my life
Ashweetha Shetty: Comment l'éducation m'a aidée à réécrire ma vie
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
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to sustain our family.
pour nourrir notre famille.
every day rolling bidis.
à rouler des bidis.
and showed me her bidi-rolling wage book.
et m'a montré son carnet de paie.
she has earned that week.
elle avait gagné cette semaine.
were her thumbprints on each page.
l'empreinte de son pouce sur chaque page.
instead of a signature
au lieu d'une signature
how to hold a pen and write her name.
et à écrire son nom.
she wanted to give it a try.
qu'elle voulait essayer.
and a lot of effort,
et beaucoup d'efforts,
and her face was beaming with pride.
et son visage rayonnait de fierté.
pour être utile.
considered worthless.
considérées comme sans valeur.
soit un fardeau.
keep the house clean
de nettoyer la maison
of my conservative Indian family,
dans ma famille indienne conservatrice,
dès mon plus jeune âge
the three identities that defined me --
les trois identités qui me définissaient -
of no voice and no choice.
une vie sans voix, ni choix.
as I rolled bidis alongside my mother,
je roulais des bidis avec ma mère,
with a lot of anxiety,
avec beaucoup d'angoisse :
be different from yours?
différente de la tienne ?
de choisir ma vie ?
did not mean to discourage me.
n'avait aucune intention de me décourager.
for a girl in my village.
trop grands pour une fille de mon village.
the autobiography of Helen Keller.
une autobiographie d'Helen Keller.
a college degree like her,
universitaire comme elle,
and my relatives to be sent to college,
pour qu'on m'envoie à l'université,
of my undergraduate degree,
from being forced into marriage,
au mariage forcé,
a fellowship program in Delhi,
de bourse à Delhi,
away from my village.
I could fill out the application
était de remplir ma demande
a college junior's cell phone.
le portable d'un camarade.
be seen with a cell phone,
d'être vue avec un portable,
his phone under my shawl
sous mon châle
with a full scholarship.
avec une bourse complète.
my mother was worried --
ma mère était inquiète --
my mother was worried,
ma mère était inquiète,
to step out of my village
issue du milieu rural.
who looked like me or spoke like me.
ni ne parlait comme moi.
and judged by many.
et jugée par beaucoup.
a lot of coconut oil to my hair.
d'huile de coco dans mes cheveux.
I had learned to speak English,
comment j'avais appris l'anglais,
to have me on their assignment teams
dans leur groupe de travail
to contribute to their discussion.
capable de contribuer à la discussion.
believed that a person from rural India
pensaient qu'une personne de l'Inde rurale
population today is rural.
indienne est rurale.
were considered to be an exception
est considérée comme une exception,
into a reality that we blindly accept
qu'on accepte aveuglément,
and a new world opens up.
et qu'un nouveau monde s'ouvre.
on her bidi-rolling wage book,
de ma mère sur son carnet de salaire,
Delhi air against my face
sur mon visage
and let myself be,
et moi-même,
of that new world I longed for,
que je désirais,
is no longer a liability or a burden
n'est plus un fardeau,
my life had changed.
ma vie avait changé.
to make myself useful.
de me rendre utile.
to set up the Bodhi Tree Foundation,
pour créer la fondation Bodhi Tree,
la jeunesse rurale
life skills and opportunities.
des compétences et des opportunités.
and to benefit our communities.
et aider nos communautés.
mon institution fonctionne ?
nous a rejoints.
in a local college in Tirunelveli
de Tirunelveli
which you can never forget.
un sourire remarquable.
to study at Ashoka University, Delhi.
à l'université d'Ashoka, à Delhi.
she is now back at Bodhi Tree as a trainer
à Bodhi Tree en tant que formatrice
in the lives of others like her.
la vie d'autres comme elle.
to feel like an exception.
d'être une exception.
to others in this world.
dans ce monde.
from a remote, rural village,
in a prestigious undergraduate program
un prestigieux programme
with a full scholarship.
avec une bourse complète.
were reluctant to send her that far,
à l'envoyer aussi loin,
administration officials
du comité de district
to attend graduation.
de son village.
to go to graduate school.
à l'école supérieure.
a liability or a burden to anyone
pour qui que ce soit
families and communities
et familles
my usefulness in this world
their usefulness to this world.
pour ce monde.
does not happen overnight.
n'arrive pas soudainement.
with families and communities
avec les familles et communautés
why getting an education
pourquoi l'éducation
to convince them is by doing.
getting a real education,
s'instruire,
ils commencent à changer.
is what happened at my home.
en est un bon exemple.
in recognition of my social work
pour mon travail social
to be on television.
that morning, including my parents.
y compris mes parents.
that seeing her daughter on television
voir sa fille à la télé
de se sentir utile.
pressuring me to get married now.
de me forcer à me marier.
to break free from the identities
à me libérer des identités
to break free from being boxed,
de ne pas être mise en boîte,
to find my voice,
à trouver ma voix,
où vous sentez-vous utile à ce monde ?
your voice and your freedom.
et votre liberté.
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