“अब तो सब दीदी को ग्रेजुएट कर के ही जाऊँगी (I will leave no stone unturned until I graduate all didis)”

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Growing up, Manisha had always felt a strong calling to do something in the social development sector. Her interest in the sector developed during her graduation days when she joined the Rotaract club. As a member, she actively participated in liaising between state governments and schools to bring improvements in the education system, and to initiate conversations around women's empowerment. 

Manisha took a 1-year hiatus after her graduation, to understand her true calling. Her parents wanted her to make a career in the government sector and to respect their wishes, Manisha prepared for government jobs. Her inner intuition led her to prepare for the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and she cleared the entrance exam on her first attempt.

However, there was a hurdle ahead. She says, “ My parents were highly skeptical about my decision to pursue a career in the development sector. No one in my family had worked in this sector and they did not have any understanding of it. It took me a lot of time to gain their confidence and to make them understand that I will do just fine”, she smiles. 

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Her biggest hurdle lay ahead. During covid, she encountered self-doubt, regarding her decision to pursue a career in the development sector. Just when the world was coming to terms with the new reality of having classes online, it became almost impossible to gather any valuable exposure or insights in the absence of field visits. It was then, that she came in touch with Srikanta Routa from The/Nudge, who leads the End Ultra Poverty Program. Srikanta sent her to Lohardaga, Jharkhand where she undertook data collection, and gathered field insights. She also produced a video that serves as a basic guide for the Community Resource Persons (CRPs) on building relationships with the villagers. 

This internship extensively helped broaden her perspective and she got an opportunity to join the EUP program full-time. It has been a year since and she is now stationed at Palamu district of Jharkhand. 

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Talking about her experience she says, “Initially our work was to select the CRPs and then to do a CRP drive in the entire block so that we could identify 1000 households for our program. We had to do repeated field visits to push the CRP drive, be available 24x7 to support the didis, and travel to remote villages even during wee hours”.

She takes a sigh of relief as she says, “We completed it! But, it was a very challenging experience for me”.

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Manisha looks back at her experience and beams with joy and pride. "When I lived with my parents, I never went outside or visited any place alone. But as I transitioned into the social sector, I got the opportunity to move out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. For someone who didn't even know how to ride a bike, it is now a necessity for me. While it took me four days to learn how to ride, I can now travel anywhere, even through the difficult terrains in villages without any problem. I have fallen twice from my bike, but my overall confidence and skills got a major boost in this one-year period”.  She chuckles as she says, “I have bonded so well with my bike, that I have named her 'Jugnu'”.

As exciting as it sounds, this journey has had its share of challenges and it needs a lot more than just passion to keep going on. Manisha's spirits are uplifted when she shares her experiences with her colleagues She adds, “When the days are tough, we as a team call and motivate each other. It's so powerful how our shared experiences can actually uplift our spirits so much, as it becomes more and more relatable”. But when it's not her colleagues, it's music that helps her beat the blues. She specifically prefers listening to the empowering music of Sia and Rihanna. 

A tough job and a busy life haven't kept Manisha away from maintaining her self-care routine, which including frequenting the local makeshift gym (which she jokingly refers to as an ‘Akhada’). Just like her favorite song by Sia, Manisha is Unstoppable.