Bhairavi is a social initiative (founded in 2013) with a mission to empower underprivileged children in India with the tools and techniques to lead lives of confidence, dignity and health. We engage with children via the martial art of Taekwondo to help them develop the skills and qualities for confidence and discipline, fitness and health, and self-defense and courage. After the ‘Nirbhaya’ traged
y in Delhi in December 2012, we were drawn to introspect on how we could help young girls develop skills and qualities to better prepare themselves for life. We are trained in the martial arts of Taekwondo and decided to leverage Taekwondo to help children develop the skills and qualities for discipline, fitness and courage. Martial arts training is about toughening the body, tightening the slack, and polishing the spirit. Self-defense is not just a set of techniques; it is a state of mind, and it begins with the belief that you are worth defending. We realized that we should include all children into our efforts, not just girls. Because the fundamental challenges faced by underprivileged children in India cross boundaries of gender. We work in collaboration with NGO’s who are like-minded in purpose and passion and are currently working with Makkala Jagriti (makkalajagriti.org). By the time the pandemic struck in 2020, Bhairavi was working across 10 centers and schools in low-income neighborhoods in Bangalore. Starting August 2021, we became part of a Government of Karnataka program to help children in the Government’s Child Care Institutions (CCI) across the state of Karnataka. We reached out to hundreds of underprivileged children in CCIs across Karnataka via online weekly sessions on Zoom. After almost 2 years of online sessions, starting January 2024, we are back to in-person classes held at Makkala Jagriti's Community and Learning Centers in Bangalore. These Community and Learning centers serve children from underprivileged and low-income communities, who have limited resources for holistic development.
