‘I have waited for long. I will start living now’

Lucknow: “I am looking for a book that I had read on Mahatma Gandhi while preparing for a quiz. I don't remember its name though,” says Zahira. As she looks thorough a pile of papers, nothing about her suggests the pain and ordeal that she went through to get her rapists behind the bars. Instead, you find a strong, confident woman who is done with being called a ‘survivor’ and is instead focusing on a fresh start.“I want to visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah with my parents after all this is over. I have been trying start my life again as I would have wanted it to be, and I will succeed,” she says with keenness learn more about Gandhi’s struggles.
Much like Mahatma Gandhi, who encouraged people to be the change that they wanted to see in the world, Zahira wants to set an example for other rape victims with her 11-year long struggle. “I don't want to hide my identity anymore. The world should know that I taught a lesson to those who wronged me,” she says.
She aspires to become a judge but is also aware that the road ahead would be tough given her lack of education. Not the one to lose hope easily, the 24-year-old says she would complete her computer training to secure a job.
Zahira’s teachers bear testimony to her transformation from a diffident girl to a mature woman. Her teacher, Pooja Rai, says that earlier she couldn’t even hold a pencil, but now makes only a few mistakes. “If I give her 10 sentences for translating into English, only two would need minor corrections,” she added.
Zahira, who completed high school through the National Institute of Open Schooling last year, admits she used to be scared when she was forced to stay alone at Nari Niketan. “I used to wonder that my childhood has not even passed and I have been trapped in such a pathetic life. I have waited for long and I will start living now. My real story begins now,” she asserts confidently.