{"id":9018,"date":"2013-08-13T14:41:49","date_gmt":"2013-08-13T09:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.barusahib.org\/?p=9018"},"modified":"2025-10-24T15:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:31:10","slug":"the-girl-that-grew-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Girl that Grew Wings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#A_Village_Shadowed_by_Challenges\" >A Village Shadowed by Challenges<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#Defying_the_Odds\" >Defying the Odds<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#When_Destiny_Connects_the_Dots\" >When Destiny Connects the Dots<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#Breaking_Barriers_and_Building_Faith\" >Breaking Barriers and Building Faith<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#Living_the_True_Spirit_of_Learning\" >Living the True Spirit of Learning<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#A_Future_Shaped_by_Purpose\" >A Future Shaped by Purpose<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/the-girl-that-grew-wings\/#Lighting_the_Path_for_Others\" >Lighting the Path for Others<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Village_Shadowed_by_Challenges\"><\/span>A Village Shadowed by Challenges<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Khiala Kalan<\/strong> is a sleepy village in the gender-critical <strong>District of Mansa,<\/strong> with its own sets of challenges like patriarchal mindset, female feticide, discrimination against girls, drug abuse, and rampant alcohol abuse.&#8217;<br \/>\n<strong>Happy&#8217; a.k.a Harpreet,<\/strong> a bubbly, effervescent young girl from <strong>Khiala Kalan,<\/strong> lived a childhood no different from other girls of her time. She came from a conservative lower-middle-class Hindu family, in a society typically infamous for its gender inequality.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Defying_the_Odds\"><\/span>Defying the Odds<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>She is one of the few rural girls who managed to get through schooling, proving her competence to her family maintaining singular focus and motivation throughout, defying all the odds and pressures that pull down most others mid-way.<br \/>\nShe scored a decent <strong>75%<\/strong> in her <strong>12th Board examinations,<\/strong> which earned her respect in her village. But being a knowledge lover, Happy seemed fascinated with the goals that she silently carried in her heart.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_Destiny_Connects_the_Dots\"><\/span>When Destiny Connects the Dots<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>They say, <em>\u201cIf you desire for something with pure and whole-hearted intent, then the entire nature conspires towards carving the path for you.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\nJust as <strong>Harpreet<\/strong> had begun to nurture her fervent desire for learning further, destiny revealed the next piece of the puzzle. A random friend happened to tell her about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airwe.in\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong>Free Teachers Training Program<\/strong><\/a> run by <strong>The Kalgidhar Trust, Baru Sahib.<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>\u201cThough the dots seemed to be connecting, it was not at all as easy as it sounds,\u201d<\/em> tells us <strong>Harpreet<\/strong> breathlessly and fluently, as she confidently goes through a feedback interview with us.<br \/>\nWe were fascinated to arrange this interview after noticing her superlative proficiency in English, which she acquired in just four months of her three-year training program despite having no significant prior knowledge of the language.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Breaking_Barriers_and_Building_Faith\"><\/span>Breaking Barriers and Building Faith<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Harpreet<\/strong> reveals that her parents were initially opposed to the idea of letting her go away from home for further education. They also had reservations about her joining <strong>Baru Sahib,<\/strong> being a Hindu herself.<br \/>\nBut once they visited <strong>Baru Sahib,<\/strong> saw the environment with their own eyes, and understood Sikhism as an epitome of all religions, their doubts vanished. They felt comfortable, secure, and proud to see her pursue her dreams there.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Living_the_True_Spirit_of_Learning\"><\/span>Living the True Spirit of Learning<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Harpreet,<\/strong> though not baptized into the Sikh way of life, loves and lives by the ways of a true <strong>\u201clearner\u201d<\/strong> a Sikh. She is part of reciting the five divine routine scriptures of the faith.<br \/>\nShe voluntarily asked to be renamed <strong>Harpreet Kaur<\/strong> and carries herself piously in the uniform attire respected at the institute.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Future_Shaped_by_Purpose\"><\/span>A Future Shaped by Purpose<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Harpreet Kaur<\/strong> is observed to be an exceptional student at the <a href=\"https:\/\/educatetosave.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>ETS program<\/strong> <\/a>and a prospective teacher at an <strong>Akal Academy.<\/strong> Her enthusiasm, capacity to learn, and absorption levels are enormous\u00a0 and she is surely set to soar high with the wings she has grown.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lighting_the_Path_for_Others\"><\/span>Lighting the Path for Others<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Commendable is the work of unassuming organizations like <strong>Baru Sahib,<\/strong> which continue to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots and the benefactors who choose to sponsor deprived girls like <strong>Harpreet.<\/strong><br \/>\nHer journey is a living testament that with courage, faith, and opportunity, even a girl from the most humble beginnings can rise above all odds and shine like the brightest star.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Article by: Ramandeep Singh, Student, 6th Aug 2013, Rohini, New Delhi<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Village Shadowed by Challenges Khiala Kalan is a sleepy village in the gender-critical District of Mansa, with its own sets of challenges like patriarchal mindset, female feticide, discrimination against girls, drug abuse, and rampant alcohol abuse.&#8217; Happy&#8217; a.k.a Harpreet, a bubbly, effervescent young girl from Khiala Kalan, lived a childhood no different from other [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[91,88],"tags":[82,83,112],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-9018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-story","tag-ets-news","tag-ets-stories-of-change","tag-women-empowerment","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9018"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9031,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9018\/revisions\/9031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9018"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barusahib.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=9018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}