Anushka Prabhat Rout
Won 3rd place in our June 2025 Essay Contest with “She Lives Once: A Daughter’s Right to Dream,” a powerful call to action to protect girls’ futures. Inspired by the harsh realities faced by young girls forced into early marriage, her vision focuses on breaking cycles of injustice through education, leadership, and advocacy. By amplifying girls’ voices and creating opportunities for them to learn, lead, and dream freely, she reminds us that one girl’s courage can spark change for many. Her essay stands as a testament to resilience, hope, and the fight for every girl’s right to choose her own future.
She Lives Once: A Daughter's Right to Dream
“When a girl is born in my village, some say, ‘Don’t get too attached—she’ll belong to another house.’ But I say: she belongs to herself first.”
Today, I speak for the brave — the girls who face injustice daily, showing courage beyond their years. And for the brilliant — the ones who still dare to dream.
I’ve seen girls wear school uniforms one day and bridal sarees the next. I’ve seen textbooks replaced by toddler cries. Their laughter fade into veils.
And their dreams? Buried beneath silence.
They were 14. Maybe 16.
Too young to vote.
But old enough, they were told, to be wives.
Mothers. Silent sufferers.
“The chains that bind women are often woven with tradition.” In my village, and many like it, tradition says: “A girl must marry young.”
“Her place is in the kitchen.”
“She must adjust.”
But no one talks about the bruises under her bangles.
No one hears her screams behind closed doors.
We’ve normalized it.
Early marriage.
Domestic violence.
Lost education.
And silenced voices.
“You educate a man, you educate an individual. You educate a woman, you educate a nation.” This matters to me because I’ve seen these stories unfold — not on TV, but in my own neighborhood.
Friends who suddenly disappeared from school. Bright minds dimmed by silence. I refuse to be another bystander.
So I started speaking up. I founded LabVerse, a virtual lab platform to make science accessible for school girls everywhere, even those who drop out early. I’m launching awareness campaigns and building a leadership program to educate girls about their rights and futures.
Because I believe entrepreneurship isn’t just about startups. It’s about starting change.
And my bold idea?
That one girl can create ripples — through education, technology, and courage. “The world suffers not from the violence of bad people but from the silence of good people.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
I don’t speak against culture. I speak against the parts that kill our daughters’ futures.
It is not okay to stay quiet.
It is not okay to think, “It’s not my problem.”
Every girl is a daughter of Mother India. She is our responsibility.
So I ask you—every youth, every adult, every human: If you see a girl being forced into marriage, If you hear of abuse, Speak up.
Call 1091.
Save her life.
Because silence is not love.
Obedience is not peace.
And tradition should never be stronger than justice.
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“A bird born in a cage thinks flying is a crime.”
Let us break the cages. Let us be the wind beneath her wings.
She lives once.
Let her live safe.
Let her live free.
Let her live fully — not as someone’s property but as someone with purpose.