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Meet Jyoti Bawa, Padma Shri nominee, TEDx speaker, social activist, writer and director leading Punjabi Samvad.
Jyoti Bawa is a Padma Shri nominee, TEDx speaker, social activist, writer and director based in Amritsar. Since 2004, she has worked with women, children and communities on education, health, gender equality, substance-abuse prevention and Punjabi culture.
She helped build Punjabi Samvad with Amit Bawa and continued their work after his death in 2014. Her leadership combines field programmes with theatre, writing, film and public dialogue.
Jyoti leads Punjabi Samvad's work across girls' education, women's skills, menstrual health, mental well-being, HIV/AIDS awareness and anti-drug outreach. She works with schools, communities, specialists and institutional partners to make difficult subjects easier to discuss.
She wrote and directed Khooh Bolda Hai, a theatre production about female foeticide, gender discrimination and the rights of girls. She has also directed documentary work on social concerns, including substance abuse.
Jyoti has taken responsibility for several children whose families could not afford to keep them in school. She treats each child as part of her own extended family and arranges scholarships for fees, books, uniforms and other study costs.
Her support does not end with a payment. She speaks with families, follows each child's progress and stays close when illness, loss of work or another crisis puts education at risk. The children know they have someone to call.
For a child living with financial hardship, one uninterrupted school year can open the way to another. Jyoti's aim is practical: keep that child learning until poverty no longer decides what they may become.
Jyoti's third book draws from two decades of work with women, children and communities. It addresses old age homes, menstrual awareness, mental health and substance abuse, and was launched at the Sharjah International Book Fair in 2025.
She has pledged all profits from the book to programmes for underprivileged girls, community welfare and public awareness.
Buy the book on Amazon
Jyoti treats internships as a place for students to observe community work, ask questions and exchange ideas. Punjabi Samvad has hosted young people from schools and universities, including IIM Amritsar, for practical exposure to research and social programmes.
