Robin Chaurasiya, an Indian-American woman, founded the Kranti School in India.  She grew up in a home in the US where her parents would burn each other with irons and had suffered from mental illnesses.   Although the American dream is to find success in life, she felt as if this version of success did not bring an end result that she thought was good, as her family was “successful” in appearance.  She saw a lack of happiness around her and sought out making others happy.  This brought her to the red light districts of Kamathipura, Chaurasiya, India, where Kranti School is.
Robin was very interested in learning about psychology, and went to school for it.  She also learned about political science.  After receiving her degree she went to the United States Air Force and also volunteered with an anti-trafficking NGO in Uganda before going to India.  It was after her experience there that she went back to school for her masters degree in gender studies in order to learn more about how she could help those suffering from sex trafficking.
She met her co-founder Bani Das who had been helping children of sex workers in Mumbai, more specifically the daughters, in hopes they would not become future sex workers.
Those at Kranti School  have often been abused themselves and felt as if there was no hope for their lives.  While in Kranti School, there are only about 18 students.  Each one learns about caste, religion, health, creative thinking, yoga, meditation, geography and music.  They also have a theater group.
Robin Chaurasiya says that she wants to make all of her students’ dreams come true and help them gain empowerment so they can have a future outside of the streets.  She believes in healing their pasts and helping them grow.
She states, “The education in our country has all the wrong approaches and priorities.  Essentially, they are just training you to make money. Education must be about helping one find what their passion is in life. Kranti School is structured to help one get to know themselves best.”
We shared this video on our Facebook page, but love it so much, we wanted to include it in a blog post as well! In the video, the young women in Kranti School share a little bit about their own pasts and why they love the school.