• A girl wearing a brown dress, white tights, and brown shoes standing on a rock outdoors with leaves and a background of a fence and trees.

    Me at age 6. India.

    Innocent, joyful, unaware.
    Before the secret. Before the silence.
    Just a little girl with big dreams and a bright heart.
    I didn’t know my world was about to change.

    But today, I honor her strength—and the voice she would one day reclaim.

  • A family of six standing outdoors in a garden or park, with a fountain and greenery in the background. The family includes two adults and four children.

    My family at Mount Abu, India.

    A moment frozen in time.
    I’m smiling in this photo, surrounded by family—safe on the outside, but on the edge of a world I couldn’t understand.

    I was just a child, trusting and unaware, not knowing that I was about to live with my abuser for the next seven years.

    This was the calm before everything changed.

    Looking back, I see the beginning of a secret no child should ever have to carry.

  • A young girl with dark hair, wearing a striped blue and white shirt with a panda graphic, smiling in front of a blue mottled background.

    Second Grade

    A school photo meant to show innocence and joy. I was smiling like I was supposed to—but inside, I was already carrying a secret I didn’t understand.

    The abuse had started.

    I didn’t know it was wrong. I just knew it felt scary… and that I had to stay quiet.