• At a Pratham village camp in Aurangabad, where I volunteered to teach english, digital literacy & arts for two weeks, I met a mother named Godavri, surrounded by women and children who had learned to live without medical support, abandoned by a system meant to protect them.
• The nearest clinic was hours away, and even a fever felt excruciatingly agonising.
• Her son Krishna sat beside her, his small hands gripping hers as he watched quietly, unsure why help never came. His silence spoke louder than any words, filled with fear, confusion, and a kind of acceptance no child should ever know.
• That moment changed me. It forced me to confront a painful truth: in a nation, like India, racing toward modernity, how can such inequity still define who lives and who suffers? Why do children like Krishna inherit helplessness, while children like me inherit opportunity?

• Wanting to understand why inequity persisted, I co-founded and led Team Crystal Clear, a student-run campaign raising awareness on more hygienic water storage/handling practices.
• Our mission became simple yet powerful: to reduce plastic dependence.
• We encouraged using clay pots instead of plastic bottles to prevent water-borne illnesses and conducted workshops that blended science with creativity through drawing, writing, and reflection.
• In Mumbai’s Dharavi community, we directly educated over 250 children, many sharing stories of illness caused by unsafe water.
• Over time, we observed reduced plastic bottle use and increased clay pot adoption, validating our impact.
• Beyond classrooms, our digital outreach amplified the message, garnering over one million social media impressions and earning an endorsement from the ITC Foundation.

• Still seeking answers, I applied for and received a highly selective internship at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• Under the mentorship of Dr. Rajani Ved, Director of Health, I analyzed the effectiveness of tuberculosis (TB) digital tools in improving treatment adherence and explored why inequities persisted.
• My findings revealed that government initiatives rarely provided or promoted such tools, resulting in a 76% awareness and adoption gap.
• To bridge this divide, I designed and nationally distributed an accessible TB digital infographic, simplifying how patients could track doses and access verified support platforms.
• I later presented policy recommendations to the Government of India, which were formally endorsed by Health Secretary Mr. Shubhanjan D. and the Gates Foundation.
• These insights are now being actively used in the Foundation’s advocacy and lobbying efforts, reaffirming my belief that research can directly influence systemic health equity.

• Building on this work, I began collaborating with Dr. Robert Fullilove, Associate Dean at Columbia University, who, after reviewing my policy recommendations to the Indian government, encouraged me to expand my TB adherence management report into a global model adaptable for other Global South contexts.
• This ongoing project, mentored by Dr. Fullilove, is being prepared for publication in the Biomedical Journal as a commentary.
• In parallel, I pursued an internship at the Columbia Global Centers, Mumbai, where under Ms. Puja Pednekar and Dr. Olajide Williams, I contributed to the Hip Hop Nutrition India pilot—an adaptation of Columbia’s music-based behavioral health model for underserved Indian students.
• My weekly deliverables included researching adolescent archetypes, developing focus group tools for teachers and parents, and mapping CSR donors like ITC, Britannia, and Sony Music—helping advance the project from concept note to funding and implementation readiness.