Last year, a 37-year-old Jogeshwari resident, Jyoti Shivarulu missed a train as she was unable to read the destination written on the Mumbai local. Reason? She does not know how to read or write. Having never been to school before, Jyoti, who works as a housemaid always wanted to go to school but due to financial problems, she was never enrolled in school.

Facing difficulties to read and write in day-to-day work made her feel helpless and dependent on others. But now at the age of 37, she took up the challenge to make herself independent by learning the basics to read and write Marathi. Within a gap of a year, Jyoti, a mother of two, not only knows how to read and write but is also helping other women to learn the same. “Until last year, if someone asked for my signature on documents, I always gave a thumbprint, but now, reading the document and using a pen to sign, gives me a sense of being educated,” she smilingly expressed.