KEEP RISING

Vinceya Edwin grew up in the Bangalore slums, the daughter of a rickshaw driver and housemaid who lived in a thatched hut with a roof made from coconut leaves that flooded when it rained. Shilpa Raj was born in a rural village to an uneducated father who counts digging graves, herding elephants and bootlegging moonshine among his jobs. Today, the former works for retail giant Amazon as a Product Investigator while the latter boasts a graduate degree and is about to embark on a book tour of her memoir.

Their journeys from poverty to a rising middle class were made possible by Shanti Bhavan, a school on the outskirts of Bangalore. Founded 20 years ago by Indian American social entrepreneur Abraham George, the residential school, whose name translates in Hindi as ‘haven of peace,’ takes in underprivileged kids from the age of 4 and raises and supports them through college. Its alumni have gone on to careers with Mercedes Benz, Goldman Sachs and Amazon and to work as a lawyer, psychologist and author.

108 of Shanti Bhavan’s alumni have graduated from college, a rate of 98% of all their students who’ve pursued a higher education. That’s a number made all the more remarkable by how the criteria for entry are that kids live below the Indian poverty line, agree to board at the school and have parents who promise not to prematurely withdraw them.

Raj recalls village elders telling her father that the school was run by kidnappers who wanted to harvest her organs. “But he’s endured hardships through his entire life and his inner instinct told him to be brave and let me go,” she says. And having completed a psychology graduate degree, she feels it’s worth it. “I dress differently and I carry myself differently,” says Raj, whose dream is to create another school just like the one she attended. “My community now sees me as a girl who’s completely empowered.”

But empowerment comes at a price. While Edwin’s closest co-workers know about her background, she doesn’t tell her most of her largely affluent colleagues about her past. She also finds it hard to enjoy the Bangalore high life the way they do, in part because she uses her money to support her family. “They’re always talking about big fancy hotels and I can’t connect with them,” she says. “I assume they won’t see me as an equal.”