"Love, Embrace Your Life Always" - Jyoti Srivastava

Jyoti Srivastava was born into a house with traditional roots while also maintaining its modernity in terms of lifestyle. Her family strongly advocated being in touch with your roots. Her father, even though he was the second of the seven siblings, was the most responsible one. While growing up, Jyoti always saw her mother, who, even though she belonged to a prosperous and affluent lawyer family, never shied away from taking one extra step to discharge her husband’s responsibilities. Jyoti is the eldest child of the family and, hence, has always been the most pampered one. She had been showered with immense love and trust by her family.

As soon as she turned 22, Jyoti was married to her husband, and she became the eldest daughter-in-law of her family. Unaware of her worldly affairs, she was still trying to get the hang of being married. Her in-laws helped her on all the steps, and she is very grateful to them for the same. She moved to the Tehri region of Uttarakhand after marriage. Soon after, she gave birth to a beautiful daughter who is the closest to Jyoti. With the support and help of her family, she was able to raise her daughter while also simultaneously practicing her proficiency in Tabla. Her music Guru, Shri Shambhunath Mishra ji, always supported her in her journey.

By this time, Jyoti’s father had been promoted to the respectable post of DIG (Stamps). She recalls it as one of the golden period of her life. Her second daughter was born in the year 1998. She is also a multi talented girl who never fails to make Jyoti proud. A brilliant student, she was the top ranker in class 12. Currently, she is at the National School of Drama in Delhi and is enrolled in a course related to direction and acting in movies.

Jyoti’s desire to study further never left her. With the support of her husband, she decided to get a doctorate in Sanskrit from Dr. Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. She became the gold medalist in Acharya from the same institute too, under the able guidance of Dr Rajeev Ranjan Singh.

The family moved to Dehradun in 2007, as they had to keep in mind the best interests of their children. Here, Mrs. Jyoti Srivastava decided to put her education to good use and took up the noble job of teaching. Her first institute as a teacher was Scholars’ Home School, where she spent three years teaching children. Along with the noble profession of teaching, she actively participated in social work. 75% of her salary started going to charity and social causes. Among a lot of noble services, Jyoti shouldered the responsibility of imparting education to underprivileged children in society as well as training the girls in self-defense.

During this period, Jyoti worked actively with many organizations, including national organizations: Uttarakhand State President of Rashtriya Shikshak Manch, National President Mahila Branch Narendra Modi Vichar Manch, National President Mahila Branch Mission New India, National President Bharatiya Gauraksha Vahini, Regional Organization: Mahila President Sangam Vichar Manch, Environment Convenor Bharat Vikas Parishad, and in the year 2020, she created Nav-Vihan Trust under the slogan “No one should remain hungry” during the Corona period, in collaboration with the Dehradun administration to provide rations to laborers and food. In 2021, she achieved 100% literacy in an entire slum under "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" and was rewarded.

Further, she collaborated with one of the parents to establish the Chitragupta Sabha in Dehradun. Then she joined Kasiga Vidyalaya as a teacher in 2010 and worked there till 2023. Gradually, the scope of social work increased, and she was appointed as the Uttarakhand State President of Narendra Modi Vichar Manch Bharat Shikshak Manch, then got the post of National General Secretary of Mahila Sakha. Currently, she is in the role of National President, Women Wing of Narendra Modi Vichar Manch Bharat.

In 2020, she founded the Nav-Vihan Trust, through which more humanitarian work has been carried out. In collaboration with the Dehradun administration, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the work of making a colony 100% literate was done, which took 8 months.

Whatever she is today, Jyoti gives all the credit to her father's inspiration, her mother's encouragement, and the support of her husband and children. All this motivation has been very important in this entire journey. Her best friend and life partner, her husband, always supported her as an advisor and companion.

Jyoti shares her favorite moments of her life. The first is when she became the mother of two beautiful daughters, and the second is when her father received the news of Jyoti bagging the gold medal in Acharya. Then, when her daughter became a gold medalist in her B.Tech. final year, she felt the same gush of happiness her father must have felt when he got the news.

Jyoti feels proud of herself for being able to help society with every ounce of her capabilities. She feels she has come a long way and still has a lot to do and a lot to change in society.

Even though her parents are not with her today, she still goes by their teachings and values and considers her family to be her pillar of strength. If not for her family, she would not have been able to make a mark in society. It was her family who pulled her out of every dark time in her life. They were the ones who stood through the thick and the thin of her life. She believes in living life to the fullest.

Her message is for all of us to invest one-tenth of our salaries in social work to help others. Imbibe the basic mantra of life, "Live and let live," and when you feel happy and self-satisfied by these actions, open both your hands, look towards the sky, and say, "Love your life." This will make your life easier and happier, and you will educate the next generation.