DEEPTI SONTH
“You make a living with what you get. You make a life by what you give.” Deepti Sonth says this is a quote that she tries to live by. She believes “When you finally realize that nothing is permanent in life, you become more tolerant, more forgiving and less judgmental” Deepti has a calm and grounded mannerism, and she says this has come to her after she travelled around India and saw poignant scenes of poverty, abuse and despair.
Her first tryst with seeing a different realm of society was when her father accompanied her to an evening school for underprivileged kids. When she brought some of her own books to share with the kids there, it was met with a lot of enthusiasm and keen interest. She recollects one boy in this class who was so artistic that he drew a picture of her when she was teaching. She saw another student write down what she was saying in her own language and draw a picture next to it to understand what the word means; something Deepti adopted in her own study.
Deepti taught kids at a school named Gurukul. She has spent many a birthday at a hostel (Swanthana) for differently abled girls bringing them stuff she collected. She took a year off to travel solo around India and was met with heart wrenching realities. A dancer friend of hers teaches dance to underprivileged kids. Deepti learnt dance from one of these kids. She says “One girl in this class had injection marks on her hand, and had a history of having been abused. When a man entered a room, she always ran and hid behind a curtain” Incidents like this broke her heart, but Deepti has always bounced back with renewed resolve.
Deepti also draws inspirational from her maternal grandfather and hopes she can imbibe his selflessness in herself. She wants to start a school for underprivileged kids. In this school, she hopes that the elderly folks who don’t have a home can share the experiences and lessons they have learnt in life. She says that interacting with these kids has shown her that she should find happiness from the little things in life. Deepti, people like you make the world a better place to live.