This is the story of Maleesha Kharwa — a 15-year-old girl from Dharavi, Mumbai. Read along to know how Forest Essentials became the wind beneath her wings and with one campaign, changed her life.
Mumbai, often hailed as the ‘City of Dreams,’ is home to countless dreamers. The charm of Mumbai lies in how it has countless opportunities for all to break free from their limitations. It is truly a melting pot of dreams, passions, perseverance, and a dash of luck that can change the path of one’s life. That’s what happened to Maleesha Khawra, the new face of Forest Essentials.
Who is Maleesha Kharwa?
She is a 15-year-old from Dharavi, Mumbai. In 2020, she was discovered by American actor Robert Hoffman who fondly calls her “The princess from the slum.” Kharwa was recently chosen as the face of a new campaign by Forest Essentials. After this campaign went live, she went viral in the social media space. In no time, she caught the eye of people for her natural beauty, and she bagged several modelling projects — changing her life, only for the better.
The campaign with Forest Essentials
The luxury Ayurveda brand runs several initiatives from time to time for women’s empowerment. This recent campaign also aims to enhance the confidence of young girls in the country.
As a celebration of Maleesha’s dreams and to enable her to break free of all stigmas, in April Forest Essentials launched the campaign ‘Yuvati Selection’. The prime goal of the campaign is to bring the female adolescent experience to the fore and help young girls find and embrace their identities. In Ayurvedic terms, ‘yuvati’ itself means the stage when a girl takes her first steps into womanhood. The brand says that it is the time for physical and mental growth. It is where a female moves forward to navigate the world around her and gather experiences.
Forest Essentials believes that Maleesha Kharwa personifies this journey of transformation and finding oneself. Her fierce determination to challenge the norms and find a path for herself in the modelling world is a “remarkable journey.” “Driven by a desire for better education and economic freedom for her family, Maleesha’s dreams extend far beyond the runway.”
Maleesha as the face of the campaign also furthers the cause of inspiring those who wish to break away and forge their own path. Forest Essential explains this campaign as, “A Forest Essentials initiative to give wings to Maleesha’s dreams and enable her to break through the glass ceiling of societal stigma and limitations.”
Under this campaign, with an assortment of its best-selling products, Forest Essential has curated several kits, such as ‘Yuvati First Ritual Mini Kit’ and ‘Yuvati First Ritual Box’.10% of the proceeds from the campaign will be donated to Project Paathshala. These proceeds will help underprivileged children gain access to education.
Where she comes from
Maleesha comes from a very humble background. What may be essential to many was luxury for her. To empower her to lead a better life and afford the basic necessities, Hoffman helped her set up a GoFundMe page. “People often ask me if living in a slum makes me sad and this question always confuses me because I love my home so much! Here is where I live,” Maleesha says on her page.
On the page she explains, “The only thing I don’t like is that many times my brother and I don’t have enough to eat and it can be hard for me to get water. Also, in a month, the monsoons will come. It’s hard for us to sleep when it rains because we do not have a roof. We use a plastic tarp but the winds can be very strong in the Monsoon season,”
The way forward for Maleesha Kharwa
With the launch of this video, Maleesha caught the eyes of several people and rose to popularity in no time. She hopes to become a supermodel one day. More than fame and fortune, it is her strong will to transform the lives of her family members that drives her with grit. She also wants to lead from the front and help empower other children from underprivileged backgrounds. She wants to let all know that no one needs to be victimised by their circumstances. Realising one’s potential is the first step to changing one’s life.
With 225,000 followers, her Instagram bio reads “People say I live in a slum but I ❤️ my life! I hope to be a supermodel to help my family eat.”
Article by – Vidhi Arya
