Muskaan puts Pathankot on international map

Ravi Dhaliwal

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, July 1

Pathankot girl Muskaan Kohli (23) knows a strong woman stands up for herself while a stronger woman stands up for everybody else even as her work in the field of helping distressed women has fetched her the coveted Diana award.

She is among 30 youngsters chosen from India and 300 globally in the 9-25 years age group. The award was given to her through a virtual ceremony held recently.

Established in memory of Diana, the Princess of Wales, the prize is considered to be the highest accolade a young person can get for social action or humanitarian efforts. It is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of her two sons-the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.

Muskaan, a post-graduate in Sociology from the prestigious Delhi School of Economics, works for a NGO-Ladli Foundation Trust-which aims to empower underprivileged women and needy children.

These days her foundation and the Delhi police are jointly working on ‘Project Roshan’ wherein aimless youth, who have the potential to be hooked on drugs, are identified and are shown the proper path in life.

“I try to cloth women belonging to the lower strata of society with the strength of dignity. My woman lives for the present, has plans for the future and laughs without fear of anyone or anything. I always tell them that I want a woman who overcomes obstacles by tackling them with faith instead of tiptoeing around them in fear,” she says.

Muskaan, after completing her matriculation from St Joseph’s convent school here, shifted to New Delhi for her graduation. It was then where she met oppressed women and children living a life of hell just because they were underprivileged. “I used to wake up every morning asking myself why can’t I reach out to them. The Ladli Foundation gave me a perfect springboard to do so. Actually, they are not underprivileged. In other words they are ‘Children of a Lesser God.’ Slowly I started mingling with these women. I steadily turned their can’ts into cans and their dreams into plans,” Muskaan quipped.

Working for Ladli she manages to make a little money too which, in her words, is enough to sustain herself in a big city like Delhi.

These days, apart from turning the wheels of fortune of needy women, Muskaan has also started preparations for the civil services exam.

How will she like to be remembered? “I want to be a social change maker. I would like to be remembered as an educated woman, a courageous woman, a loving woman and above all a woman who practices what she preaches,” says Muskaan as she gets ready for yet another tough day on the streets of Delhi.