Steadfastness, grit and determination worked wonders but the monk smiled on her as lady luck and changed the course of her life:

Amidst the sea of ‘inspirational’ stories we come across every day, the inspiring tale of Pinki Haryana is a truly motivational story of a woman who overcame extreme poverty, studied hard to change her station in life, and became a doctor.

 From begging on the streets of Mcleodganj and scavenging for food from garbage bins, Pinki overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to become a doctor and is now preparing to crack the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) to get a license to start her practice in India.

Pinki Haryana was born in an impoverished family in Mcleodganj in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. The family, which lived in a slum in Charan Khud, used to beg on the road and scavenge food from garbage bins to survive. Needless to say, Pinki’s early life was full of misery and hardships, however, the brave girl did not wallow in self-pity and instead transformed her destiny through

steadfastness, grit, and hard work.

A chance meeting with Lobsang Jamyang, a Tibetan refugee, in 2004 completely changed the direction of Pinki’s life as the Buddhist monk, who headed the Tong-Len Charitable Trust in Dharamshala, convinced her father, Kashmiri Lal, to allow Pinki to have an education.

 Lal was not convinced, but Jamyang finally persuaded him and enrolled Pinki in Dayanand Public School at Dharamshala where she became one of the first students to live in the trust’s hostel for destitute children.

From slums to doctor

After joining the school, Pinki excelled in her studies and showcased her academic prowess. After completing her class 12 exams, Pinki cracked the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) medical entrance test but could not secure a high enough rank to ensure a seat in a government medical college.

Unable to pay the exorbitant fees demanded by private medical colleges, it seemed Pinki’s dreams had met a hard dose of reality.

 However, in 2018, the Tong-Len Charitable Trust once again came to her rescue, as the organization’s UK chapter helped her secure admission to a renowned medical college in China.

After six years, Pinki earned an MBBS degree from a Chinese college and is now back in Dharamshala, preparing for the FMGE to obtain a medical license which is required to practice medicine in India.

Proud of her

Lobsang Jamyang, the monk who changed Pinki’s life says she’s proud of what the young woman has achieved. In a recent interview, Jamyang, who established the Tong-Len Trust to help children from downtrodden families, said he believes that kids must be encouraged to become good human beings, and not merely taught how to make money.

Jamyang’s charitable endeavor has changed the lives of hundreds of children like Pinki, who have become doctors, engineers, and government officials.

Pinki Haryana also talks fondly about Jamyang, describing him as a father figure who motivated and supported her throughout her life.