"I grew up in the small town of Jabalpur. My father worked in the Defence department of the government, but he passed away when I was 14 because of a glass piece which entered his foot and got infected. My mother and I moved into another Government quarter and she took up a job to support me and my education. Even though I was affected by his untimely death, I wanted to focus on my education and excel in my board exams. My mother and me have both been independent and forward thinking -- for instance, I was the first girl in the family to cremate her father. I studied hard and got a job after college.

At that point, I was dating someone and my only condition to marry him was that wherever we stayed, my mother would stay with me -- and he agreed. Even though I got married at the age of 21, I've always been independent and working. As soon as I got married, I asked my mother to take a voluntary retirement, and live with me. Even though she gets her pension, I love working and supporting my mother and keeping her financially independent. We've grown up together... for the first half she took care of me, and now I love taking care of her."