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Hello! My name is Arjun Joshi and I am from India. I recently have been accepted into the MSc program in Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Oxford, and I need your help to attend! 🙂
My Story:
2 years ago, I was told I might never be able to walk again.
I was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy and then an Autoimmune Syndrome.
I was put on the strongest steroids and other innumerable medications, but none of it made my pain go away.
Chronic pain had become my best friend, I could not move my hands and legs.
I was in constant fear of never being able to walk again.
I wanted nothing more than to die.
The worst year of my life - was happening to me right after the best year of my life -
I had just finished my Chevening Awards and my Masters at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
I was ready to do so much, so much I had aspired for, so many plans, all of them down the drain...
I was a 27-year-old told by the best doctors in the country that I might never lead a normal life again.
Then I made a choice, after suffering for the first 5 months of this year, I made a choice that changed my life.
I chose to optimise my circumstances, find happiness and make the most of what I was given by the Universe.
I chose to read. While, I couldn’t go work for governments, do politics or formulate policy - things that drive me the most. I chose to ignore my pain and read. And then I read, I read extensively.
I ended up reading 51 Books in 7 months. Right from self-help books, finance books, anthropological/history books, literature, old school literature, AI/technology and gender to leftist and anarchist books.
I read books in 3 languages - English, Hindi and Spanish.
Reading transformed my life, I read a book about my autoimmune condition that helped me to put my disease into remission by changing my diet extensively into gluten-free and vegan.
I found willpower and imagination again, in abundance, through reading,
to the point that I not only started walking in a matter of weeks and got back to a 100% in a few months and have never looked back!
And as luck and fortune favoured me, I was selected for the German Chancellor Fellowship and not only did I reverse my disease, I was able to get my life back on track and continue my work, research and activism.
My Story:
- Tryst with Death: Doctor's told me I will never walk again.
2 years ago, I was told I might never be able to walk again.
I was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy and then an Autoimmune Syndrome.
I was put on the strongest steroids and other innumerable medications, but none of it made my pain go away.
Chronic pain had become my best friend, I could not move my hands and legs.
I was in constant fear of never being able to walk again.
I wanted nothing more than to die.
The worst year of my life - was happening to me right after the best year of my life -
I had just finished my Chevening Awards and my Masters at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
I was ready to do so much, so much I had aspired for, so many plans, all of them down the drain...
I was a 27-year-old told by the best doctors in the country that I might never lead a normal life again.
Then I made a choice, after suffering for the first 5 months of this year, I made a choice that changed my life.
I chose to optimise my circumstances, find happiness and make the most of what I was given by the Universe.
I chose to read. While, I couldn’t go work for governments, do politics or formulate policy - things that drive me the most. I chose to ignore my pain and read. And then I read, I read extensively.
I ended up reading 51 Books in 7 months. Right from self-help books, finance books, anthropological/history books, literature, old school literature, AI/technology and gender to leftist and anarchist books.
I read books in 3 languages - English, Hindi and Spanish.
Reading transformed my life, I read a book about my autoimmune condition that helped me to put my disease into remission by changing my diet extensively into gluten-free and vegan.
I found willpower and imagination again, in abundance, through reading,
to the point that I not only started walking in a matter of weeks and got back to a 100% in a few months and have never looked back!
And as luck and fortune favoured me, I was selected for the German Chancellor Fellowship and not only did I reverse my disease, I was able to get my life back on track and continue my work, research and activism.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184441567112232961/
Since the age of 17, I had the luck and the fortune to get into activism by being a part of a country-wide anti-establishment movement called the India Against Corruption Movement (IAC)
Subsequently, over nine years, I immersed myself in grassroot politics with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - political party , that came out of this movement, working closely with politicians, bureaucrats, ministers and civil society leaders to address critical issues such as access to clean water, education, and gender equality. In 2013, I helped set-up the MLA office for the then-newly elected MLA, Saurabh Bharadwaj, currently serving as Delhi's Health Minister, where I helped manage public grievances in his constituency, and led his election campaigns in both 2015 and 2020. As the founder of AAP's think-tank in 2017, I assumed the role of National Head of the Research Cell, overseeing a team of around 500 individuals and reported to ministers and even the Chief Minister of Delhi - Arvind Kejriwal.
In 2018, an 8 month old baby was raped by her own 27-year old uncle and as I was working Swati Maliwal - The Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), we started a countrywide movement called - The Rape Roko (Stop Rape) Movement and collected 5,50,000 petitions to submit to the President of India to change rape laws. The Delhi commission for women has worked on more than 55,000 crimes against women in Delhi and it was life-changing to be able to be a part of this work.
My work with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) involved interacting with rape survivers, acid attack survivers and women who have faced various crimes agains them. It changed my perspective completely on society and life and I was even more motivated to bring a change in society by my work and research.
From this background, I aim to take the next step in my academic journey by doing an MSc in Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Oxford.
After which I want to do a PhD to further delve into the topic of my country and society.
In the long run, I aim to return to India to engage in active grassroots-level political action to foster positive social change bridging gaps across caste and religious lines. I want to contribtue to getting education and health care, clean drinking water and access to basic amenities at the grassroots level.
I have also decided that from today onwards, I will give 1 hour of my time in a day every day to council a person from across the world for free - whether it is career counselling, college and university counselling - help with writing SOPs, selecting colleges, building academic frameworks or it is mental health counselling. 365 hours in 365 days.
So in a way once you will decide to fund me, you will also be funding many other people and not just me 🙂
So today, I reach out to you because I have run out of options to pay for this opportunity.
I have spent all my early late teens and early 20s working at the grassroots and not accumulating wealth and now I have spent late 20s in academics. I do not have the finances to reach Oxford with your help!
Any contribution will help, and I sincerely thank you if you can spread this campaign, move it through your networks or help in any other way.
Fees & Living Expenses
The total sum of course fees: £33,970 pounds
Visa costs: £490
International Health Surcharge: £776 for one year
Living expenses: £20000 (based on data from scholarships)
Emergency expenses incl. rent insurance: £1000
Total = £56,236
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184441567112232961/
- My Activism and involvement in Politics and Governance:
Since the age of 17, I had the luck and the fortune to get into activism by being a part of a country-wide anti-establishment movement called the India Against Corruption Movement (IAC)
Subsequently, over nine years, I immersed myself in grassroot politics with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - political party , that came out of this movement, working closely with politicians, bureaucrats, ministers and civil society leaders to address critical issues such as access to clean water, education, and gender equality. In 2013, I helped set-up the MLA office for the then-newly elected MLA, Saurabh Bharadwaj, currently serving as Delhi's Health Minister, where I helped manage public grievances in his constituency, and led his election campaigns in both 2015 and 2020. As the founder of AAP's think-tank in 2017, I assumed the role of National Head of the Research Cell, overseeing a team of around 500 individuals and reported to ministers and even the Chief Minister of Delhi - Arvind Kejriwal.
In 2018, an 8 month old baby was raped by her own 27-year old uncle and as I was working Swati Maliwal - The Chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), we started a countrywide movement called - The Rape Roko (Stop Rape) Movement and collected 5,50,000 petitions to submit to the President of India to change rape laws. The Delhi commission for women has worked on more than 55,000 crimes against women in Delhi and it was life-changing to be able to be a part of this work.
My work with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) involved interacting with rape survivers, acid attack survivers and women who have faced various crimes agains them. It changed my perspective completely on society and life and I was even more motivated to bring a change in society by my work and research.
- Research Interest & Goals:
From this background, I aim to take the next step in my academic journey by doing an MSc in Modern South Asian Studies at the University of Oxford.
After which I want to do a PhD to further delve into the topic of my country and society.
In the long run, I aim to return to India to engage in active grassroots-level political action to foster positive social change bridging gaps across caste and religious lines. I want to contribtue to getting education and health care, clean drinking water and access to basic amenities at the grassroots level.
I have also decided that from today onwards, I will give 1 hour of my time in a day every day to council a person from across the world for free - whether it is career counselling, college and university counselling - help with writing SOPs, selecting colleges, building academic frameworks or it is mental health counselling. 365 hours in 365 days.
So in a way once you will decide to fund me, you will also be funding many other people and not just me 🙂
So today, I reach out to you because I have run out of options to pay for this opportunity.
I have spent all my early late teens and early 20s working at the grassroots and not accumulating wealth and now I have spent late 20s in academics. I do not have the finances to reach Oxford with your help!
Any contribution will help, and I sincerely thank you if you can spread this campaign, move it through your networks or help in any other way.
Fees & Living Expenses
The total sum of course fees: £33,970 pounds
Visa costs: £490
International Health Surcharge: £776 for one year
Living expenses: £20000 (based on data from scholarships)
Emergency expenses incl. rent insurance: £1000
Total = £56,236
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7184441567112232961/
