Dear Ms. Dubey,

Thank you so much for your extraordinary and deeply moving performance in Houston today. Your words, your presence, and the truth you carried onto that stage at the Gandhi museum, stirred something profound within me.

I am a social worker originally from Mumbai, still Bombay in my heart, and your performance transported me back to the late 1980s when I regularly visited King Edward Memorial Hospital and stood alongside others protesting rape, gender violence, and the painful injustices surrounding accountability for perpetrators. It was duriing that time that I met Aruna.  

Those experiences shaped not only my work, but my understanding of courage, dignity, and humanity.

I also worked closely with Prerna in Kamathipura, advocating for women impacted by human trafficking and for the children born into cycles of exploitation; fighting to ensure they were seen not as statistics, but as human beings deserving of safety, opportunity, and basic rights.

Life, bureaucracy, and the responsibilities of family eventually led me to pursue my Master’s degree in the United States, and I have now lived here since 1990. For the past 36 years, I have continued my work in the nonprofit sector, committed to serving vulnerable communities and building spaces rooted in compassion and dignity. Today, I serve as President of IM Houston, where we work with refugees rebuilding their lives and seniors who rely on us daily for meals, care, and human connection.

And yet, despite all these years in America, despite Houston becoming my chosen home, a part of my soul still lives in Bombay. It lives in its chaos and resilience, in its pain and beauty, and in the people who taught me what it means to fight for justice while holding onto hope.

Your performance reminded me that the work may evolve, the geography may change, but the calling never leaves us. Thank you for awakening memories, emotions, and convictions that remain deeply woven into who I am.

With profound gratitude and admiration,

Sheroo Mukhtiar
Activist