Sucharita Tyagi Will Restore Your Faith in Social Media Kindness #AtoZChallenge

At 21, Nikita Shukla was a third year college student studying to be a lawyer at the Government Law College in Mumbai, India. But her story was not an ordinary one. The suffering she had faced to study this far was something quite unimaginable.

You see, Nikita is blind. Keeping this in mind, her parents did not wish for her to continue her studies after she had completed high school. When she resisted their attempts to get her married, the blind girl was forced to leave her own house by her parents.

While her friends persuaded her to stay, their small donations helped pay for her accomodation at a hostel. Aided by compassionate professors and small scholarships, Nikita was barely surviving. What was worse, she did not have any money for food and was dependent on 20 free meals provided by the hostel mess. Yes, the college student who was getting 80% in her exams was surviving on less than one meal a day.

Nikita Shukla was overjoyed when she won a prize after calling Mumbai Masala, a show on a local radio channel, Radio City 91.1. It was when she went to the radio station to collect her prize that she got to meet the radio jockey, Sucharita Tyagi.

When she realized the plight of the prize winner in front of her, Sucharita was determined to do more. She took to Twitter and highlighted Nikita's story, asking for help. Sucharita's use of social media for good paid off in spades.

“Not ONE person asked for proof, not ONE person said ‘but what if she runs away with my money?’ No, people just opened their hearts and gave.” 

- Sucharita Tyagi. 

Image Source: @su4ita

Thanks to the donations that poured in from strangers, enough money was raised in no time so that not just that Nikita's tuition and hostel fees but also her entire canteen fees were covered, ensuring the blind lawyer-to-be (who broke down in tears when she realized what had happened) would finally get three whole meals a day.

I got to talking with Sucharita Tyagi.

I love how so many came forward in such a short time to help Nikita. Did you expect that?

I definitely expected to raise enough money to help Nikita out immediately, to cover her tuition and canteen fee. But I had no idea the campaign will blow up the way it did on twitter. Lakhs and Lakhs just poured in overnight.

Many today are disillusioned seeing the negativity on Twitter and Facebook. Your initiative stood out for me as a rare instance of using it for a selfless positive cause. Do you have any advice for others on making a positive difference on this tricky social media terrain?

You do anything with the honest truth in your heart, people will take note. If you want to make a change, you really have to believe in it. Twitter lets your voice be heard globally, and there is nothing more powerful than that.

You're certainly a Hero of Kindness in this form. Now show us the regular 'everyday human' alter ego of Sucharita Tyagi. What/who are your favourites when it comes to:

    1. Hobbies - Sleeping, eating, reading online (in that order)
    2. Movies - All of them, except horror and gore.
    3. TV shows - Whatever catches my fancy on Netflix to be honest. Currently obsessed with Shark Tank (Super weird I know.)
    4. Books - The Harry Potter series.
    5. Real life Personality - All the friends I've chosen to keep.
    6. Celebrity - All the ladies I follow on twitter. Find out @su4ita
    7. Food - Man I love food ! I can eat all day, everyday. Except pumpkin. I hate pumpkin.

To this day, Sucharita Tyagi still stays in touch with Nikita Shukla. You can follow the viral twitter thread that changed Nikita's life here.

Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.

The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.

Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.