Daughter of Destiny

A four-episode documentary on Netflix follows the journey of five girls from India's lowest caste as they grow up in a boarding school that provides them with 14 years of free education (2 years of preschool + 12 years of schooling). It has been filmed intermittently for eight or nine years; some girls were followed from preschool through middle school, while others were tracked from middle school into the workforce. The school, called Shanti Bhavan, was founded by an Indian-American businessman who, at the age of 49 in 1997, decided to return to India to establish a school for the poorest families in the area. These children, who have the opportunity to receive free education, have a responsibility: after securing a job, they must help their families and communities instead of abandoning them. The growth of these children is filled with contradictions as they constantly shift between the safe and stable environment of the school and the impoverished family settings, struggling between modern values and traditional Indian values, thereby shaping an independent self. Although it is free education, for these families, believing in their child’s potential to improve family circumstances after 14, or even 17 years (including 3 years of university, also funded by the school), is a long-term investment. Despite India's poverty, inequality, and various customs that seem unfathomable (for example, one girl’s grandmother was waiting for her to grow up and marry her son, who is the girl’s uncle. Because of the education opportunity, the girl refused her grandmother’s demand and has now become a journalist and published a book), in India, the community can focus on running such a school, without worrying about anything other than funding, allowing the education of these children to proceed uninterrupted. The school practices co-education, and the documentary focuses on the girls because they face not only caste discrimination but also gender inequality.