Nikita spent most of her growing years reading Enid Blyton and Jhumpa Lahiri at the Oxford Book Store, playing polo at the Race Course or eating ‘sandesh’ at the local sweet shop. Perhaps, Bengal’s close association with the Indian independence drew her closer to her history textbooks. Beyond Spanish classes and conducting heritage walks, Nikita used every opportunity to travel. From exploring the Ghats of Varanasi to boating on the canals of Amsterdam, she says to travel is to really live. However, life was hard on her. What was tougher than losing her brother, she says was coping with the deep-rooted hold of patriarchy both in the family and society. It was this transformative phase in her life that inspired her to work for the cause of higher education for Indian women. She hopes to design a system that isn’t rigid, one that has a multidisciplinary approach and breaks away from rote learning. It is for an education of this quality that she applied to the Young India Fellowship and amongst other things, cannot wait to hear Urvashi Butalia!
