Ashweetha Shetty: How education helped me rewrite my life
Ashweetha Shetty: Cómo la educación me ayudó a reescribir mi vida
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.
para sostener a nuestra familia.
every day rolling bidis.
cada día liando bidis.
and showed me her bidi-rolling wage book.
mostró su libro de salarios.
she has earned that week.
había ganado esa semana.
were her thumbprints on each page.
sus huellas en cada página.
instead of a signature
en lugar de una firma
de sus ganancias.
how to hold a pen and write her name.
un bolígrafo y escribir su nombre.
she wanted to give it a try.
de que ella quería intentarlo.
and a lot of effort,
y mucho esfuerzo,
para escribir su nombre.
and her face was beaming with pride.
y su rostro estaba lleno de orgullo.
de alguna utilidad a este mundo.
considered worthless.
generalmente se consideran sin valor.
keep the house clean
mantener la casa limpia
of my conservative Indian family,
de mi familia india conservadora,
desde muy temprana edad.
the three identities that defined me --
las tres identidades que me definían,
of no voice and no choice.
una vida sin voz y sin elección.
me obligaron a pensar.
as I rolled bidis alongside my mother,
rodaba los bidis junto a mi madre,
with a lot of anxiety,
con mucha ansiedad,
be different from yours?
la escuela secundaria primero".
did not mean to discourage me.
no quiso desanimarme.
for a girl in my village.
grandes para una niña en mi pueblo.
the autobiography of Helen Keller.
la autobiografía de Helen Keller.
a college degree like her,
universitario como ella,
and my relatives to be sent to college,
para que me enviaran a la universidad,
of my undergraduate degree,
from being forced into marriage,
de ser obligada a casarme,
a un programa de becas en Delhi,
a fellowship program in Delhi,
away from my village.
I could fill out the application
en que podría llenar la solicitud
a college junior's cell phone.
celular de un joven universitario.
be seen with a cell phone,
no podían verme con un celular,
his phone under my shawl
debajo de mi chal
with a full scholarship.
con una beca completa.
my mother was worried --
mi madre estaba preocupada...
my mother was worried,
mi madre estaba preocupada,
to step out of my village
de una universidad rural.
who looked like me or spoke like me.
o que hablara como yo.
and judged by many.
intimidada y juzgada por muchos.
a lot of coconut oil to my hair.
mucho aceite de coco en el pelo.
I had learned to speak English,
dónde había aprendido a hablar inglés,
to have me on their assignment teams
no tenerme en sus equipos asignados
to contribute to their discussion.
no podría contribuir a su discusión.
believed that a person from rural India
creían que una persona de la India rural
population today is rural.
la población india es hoy rural.
were considered to be an exception
se consideraban una excepción.
into a reality that we blindly accept
que aceptamos ciegamente
and a new world opens up.
y se abre un nuevo mundo.
on her bidi-rolling wage book,
en su libro de salarios de liadora,
Delhi air against my face
de Delhi en mi cara.
and let myself be,
me sentí libre y me dejé ser,
of that new world I longed for,
que anhelaba,
is no longer a liability or a burden
ya no es una responsabilidad o una carga,
una persona de valor
my life had changed.
mi vida había cambiado.
to make myself useful.
de hacerme útil.
to set up the Bodhi Tree Foundation,
la Fundación Bodhi Tree,
a la juventud rural
life skills and opportunities.
habilidades para la vida y oportunidades.
con nuestra juventud rural.
and to benefit our communities.
y beneficiar a nuestras comunidades.
está funcionando?
teníamos una nueva miembro.
in a local college in Tirunelveli
en una universidad local en Tirunelveli
de capacitación.
which you can never forget.
que nunca puedes olvidar.
to study at Ashoka University, Delhi.
en la Universidad de Ashoka, Delhi.
she is now back at Bodhi Tree as a trainer
de vuelta en Bodhi Tree como entrenadora
in the lives of others like her.
un cambio en las vidas de otros como ella.
to feel like an exception.
como una excepción.
to others in this world.
para otros en este mundo.
Kaviarasi fue mentora de Anitha,
from a remote, rural village,
de un pueblo remoto, rural,
in a prestigious undergraduate program
a asegurar la admisión
with a full scholarship.
con una beca completa.
were reluctant to send her that far,
se mostraron reacios a enviarla tan lejos,
administration officials
funcionarios del distrito
to attend graduation.
todo su pueblo en graduarse.
conmigo en Bodhi Tree.
to go to graduate school.
ir a la escuela de posgrado.
a liability or a burden to anyone
o una carga para nadie
families and communities
y comunidades más duras
my usefulness in this world
mi utilidad en este mundo.
their usefulness to this world.
su utilidad para este mundo.
no ocurre de la noche a la mañana.
does not happen overnight.
with families and communities
trabajar con familias y comunidades
por qué lograr una educación
why getting an education
to convince them is by doing.
de convencerlos es haciendo.
getting a real education,
recibir una verdadera educación,
empiezan a cambiar.
is what happened at my home.
es lo que sucedió en mi casa.
in recognition of my social work
en reconocimiento a mi trabajo social
to be on television.
a estar en la televisión.
that morning, including my parents.
esa mañana, incluidos mis padres.
that seeing her daughter on television
al ver a su hija en la televisión.
se sintiera útil también.
pressuring me to get married now.
ahora para que me case.
to break free from the identities
a liberarme de las identidades.
to break free from being boxed,
a liberarme de mi caja,
to find my voice,
ha ayudado a encontrar mi voz,
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