"The sky is the limit": 28-year-old flower seller from Mumbai heads to US for PhD

New Delhi: For Sarita Mali, who had grown up in a slum in Mumbai's Ghatkopar and studied in a municipal school there, life has always been challenging.

There was a time when, the Class VI student, Mali used to accompany her father to sell flowers on pavements in Mumbai and even run after cars at the traffic signals with bouquets in her hand to try to boost the family's meager daily income.

However, Mali has always believed that the sky is the limit and today, the 28-year-old research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University is all set to pursue a PhD programme at the University of California.

She joined the JNU for her MA in Hindi and will now join the University of California for PhD in Hindi on the topic 'Subaltern Women's Writing During The Bhakti Period'.

Talking about the turning point of her life, Ms Mali said, "JNU is the turning point of my life. Getting admitted to JNU in MA is the turning point of my life. Had I not got admission here, I don't know where I would've been. A university like JNU gives abundant hope to people coming from the society where I belong to."

She further said, "I feel there are ups and downs in everyone's life. Everyone has his/her stories and sufferings. This is decided in which society one is born and what life you get. Unfortunately or fortunately in some sense, I was born in a society where problems were the most essential part of my life."

She further said that she learnt a lot from her day-to-day struggles.

"Sometimes it feels unbelievable that I am living in some dreams, but I feel there are more responsibilities for me now. When I turn back to look at that society from where I have come, that journey I can't believe it," she said.

Sarita Mali has 6 members in her family including her mother, father, elder sister, and two younger brothers.