Through her selfless initiatives, Khushi has brought smiles and improved the lives of many people in need and her contribution to society is commendable and noteworthy.

Khushi Tilwani belongs to Ajmer, Rajasthan. She is the Founder of an NGO named ‘Kitashee’ where she has been working since 2019.  The NGO covers both the youth and the older generation with a focus on education and employment. Khushi’s organization supports the slum population who are not able to take admissions by themselves in government schools by educating them till 3rd standard.

Kitashee has a campaign called ‘Rangrez’ where they get in touch with artists trained in particular skills like poetry, embroidery, painting, art, handicraft, home decor etc. These artists work as mentors of Kitashee who teach the slum area women and the products made are resold through their social media page. Currently, the NGO is focusing on Bundi where women create home decor and scarves by weaving. Kitashee is also coming up with a website soon.

The idea behind Kitashee came from Khushi’s mother whom she is deeply connected with.Her mother told Kitashee that she always desired to help people through education and employment, but couldn't do so since she was not allowed to be on the streets and be a social servant. Khushi, to fulfill her mother’s vision, ventured into slum areas every Sunday with her friends. She named the NGO in her mother’s name.

Talking about her role in Kitashee, Khushi shares that initially she used to distribute food to the needy but since she realized that it was making people more dependent and they stopped working, she diverted her focus to educating them instead. Khushi also has a new team working in Jaipur, Beawar, Chandigarh and Mumbai.

Khushi says that starting something of your own is always challenging and she could collect only a few meals initially and was not able to feed many people. When her team members increased from two to twelve, she faced the problem of allocating them to different duties. Khushi also had funding issues while working on the education aspect for which she started collecting donations. However, it was not easy since people were reluctant to put in money as her NGO was in the initial stages. But when Kitashee got featured in newspapers, people started showing up. Then came the problem of sponsorships and communication with the expansion of her NGO in different cities. She also faced issues in registering her NGO since she was still not eighteen. Language was another barrier for Khushi while dealing with tribal people.

Sharing the memories of her childhood days, Khushi says that she was a notorious kid with a great sense of humor. She has done her schooling from Sophia College and has been a ranker throughout. Khushi joined various summer camps in her childhood, learning many skills. She has won dance awards and has also been in sports. Khushi has been a state-level Basketball player and has also played Badminton till the district level. She has even explored martial arts, yoga and is a writer by forte. Her books have also been featured on Amazon. She has written blogs as a freelancer for certain companies and then gradually got into content creation and digital marketing in her 11th standard.

Khushi shares a time of her 12th standard when she lost her friend and she regrets not spending enough time with her. If she is given an opportunity to go back in a Time Machine, she would spend each day with her.

Khushi’s biggest sense of achievement lies in witnessing the smile and happiness on people’s faces after delivering them the resources and celebrating their birthdays. She experiences peace within herself by helping people in need and mentions that her parents too take pride in her initiatives.

Talking about the pandemic, Khushi shares that the education work of Kitashee came to a standstill since now they could not teach children in person. She conducted drives for clothes and ration and performed surveys over weekends.

Khushi considers her father as her role model for his selfless demeanor. She also draws inspiration from her mother and is grateful for her support. Khushi mentions Joy Mendoza Sir who can make anyone laugh even in their darkest days and admires him for his unconditional motivation. She shares that her school Principal motivated her when she started Kitashee and admires her for bringing out the best talents in people.

In her free time, Khushi pens down both her happy and sad moments in a diary and listens to music. She is fond of the rock band The Beatles. She also likes to sleep and rest whenever not working. Her favorite writers are Saadat Hasan Manto, Haruki Murakami and Rabindranath Tagore. She also enjoys Victorian and classic novels like Pride and Prejudice and The Alchemist. Khushi loves the creations of Sahir Ludhianvi and Megha Rao as well.

For Khushi, Education is not just bookish knowledge but also understanding practicalities in life and learning from its experiences. She says that lack of knowledge can lead you to the wrong places.

Khushi believes in following her interests.  No matter what they may be, horse riding or swimming, she has pursued her every desire and hobby. She says that if you have started something, finish it and don’t leave it in between. Khushi suggests everyone to be determined and not think too much about what is happening around them.