Jyoti Yadav is an Indian journalist who has been honored with numerous awards for her ground-breaking reporting, which covers the story of substantive issues such as unemployment, human rights, gender-based crimes, politics and policies framed for common people in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in India. He wrote an investigative piece about people in rural India. He was appreciated for highlighting the issues of areas affected by Covid.
Wiki/Biography
Jyoti Yadav was born on Saturday, 17 December 1994 (age 27 years; in 2021) in Haryana, India. He grew up in a village in Mahendragarh district of Haryana. He studied at a private school, which was 500 meters from his house. He felt shackled by the patriarchal order in his village, but he somehow managed to unlock the shackles and reached Delhi to further his education. He pursued a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature/Letterature at Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi (2011-2014). He was the first person in his family to graduate. Later, she completed her master’s degree in English and Literature/Letters at Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, India.
A picture of Jyoti Yadav from her college days when she was pursuing her masters in arts in 2016
According to Jyoti, she adapted the techniques of English writers to analyze the condition of rural women during her college days. According to him, he tries to combine urban and rural concepts in his reports and writings.
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 6″
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Family
Jyoti Yadav belongs to a BPL family in Mahendragarh, Haryana, India.
Parents & Siblings
Jyoti’s parents are farmers. He has a brother. According to Jyoti Yadav, she belongs to a simple family. He describes the ordinary days and the kind of life he lived in his childhood through photographs taken by his father. He described an image of a child wearing the school uniform of a private school where they were enrolled. She has given details of everything including the bag, the strap of which can be seen on her head hand-stitched by her mother. He also takes the audience away from the fact that he belongs to a poverty-stricken family through this picture. He wrote,
The picture is from my childhood. I don’t remember the exact year. Nothing special about this photo either. But I think my dad must have been in a really good mood to catch me and my brother on our worst dressed school day. We have enrolled in a small private school which is about 500 meters from our house. Ghee alooni with shakkar was a custom for breakfast at that time in families involved in agriculture. My brother was stung by a bee in his eye. I got one of my toes hurt. My mother wrapped him in a cloth as first aid. The cloth bag I carried on my head was also sewn by my mother. Now, I often hear cloth bag stories from first generation bureaucrats in the ministry. They remembered their mother sewing cloth bags for them. Hail! Back to the picture. I was wearing yellow slippers and my eyes were swollen. As I said that there is nothing special about the photo but then life is the most ordinary thing.
Childhood photo of Jyoti Yadav and her brother in school uniform – captured by her father
Jyoti Yadav with her mother (left) and grandmother (right)
Jyoti with her grandparents in Mahendragarh, Haryana
religion
Jyoti Yadav is a Hindu.
Career
Reporter
In July 2016, Jyoti joined ‘The Lallantop’ as a trainee for three months. In 2019, he worked at ‘ThePrint’ as a full-time Correspondent for two years. In May 2020, he spent 25 days where he filed 15 basic reports on migrant workers, quarantine centers, deliveries on highways, etc., covering the states of UP and Bihar in India. According to Jyoti, she spent more than 60 days during the second wave of life-threatening Covid-19, covering cremation, health infrastructure, Covid wards, underreported Covid deaths, etc., in April and May of 2021. In July 2021, he started working as a Senior Correspondent in the same organization. From August 2021 to December 2021, Jyoti extensively covered the aftermath of the second wave of Covid-19. The report focuses on mental health, suicide, gender gaps in education, interrupted lunches, etc. In August 2022, he was promoted to Chief Correspondent at ‘ThePrint.’ He made field reports in rural areas and small towns to highlight the cost of human life during the rapid growth of the Coronavirus in the world. Jyoti has also covered drug issues, women empowerment, politics, and more in small towns and rural areas especially in Bihar, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in her writings.
Jyoti Yadav on the basis of an investigation report on drugs in Purnea district of Bihar. The face of the addict continues to be obscured in the image
Picture of Aruna Srivastava crying next to her husband Vinay Srivastava who died of Covid-like symptoms without test results or medical treatment in Lucknow – captured by Jyoti Yadav
Content Writer
Jyoti Yadav joined ‘Inshorts’ as a content writer in 2018.
Sub Editor
In April 2017, Jyoti Yadav worked at ‘News18 India’ as a Sub-editor for nine months.
Award
- In 2020, Jyoti Yadav won the UN National Laadli Media Award supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for her report in the Gender Sensitivity (Regional) category. Her report ‘Mol ki bahuein,’ the truth about Sushila and other women like her who were bought from other parts of India as bridegrooms in Haryana, won a national award the same year.
A picture of a woman Sushila from the article ‘Mol ki bahuein’ bought from Jharkhand to marry a man in Haryana with her children – captured by Jyoti Yadav
- In 2021, he won the 11th edition of the Laadli Media Award supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for his article on rape culture that referred to the ‘Bois Locker Room’ incident, an Instagram group chat of Delhi school boys where they personally planned to rape minor girls; the incident took place in 2020. Two of Jyoti’s land reports, namely, about Ramrati, a woman who was rescued after a year in Panipat who was locked in a toilet by her husband, and a report about how the digital world looks from inside the veil received a ‘Jury Appreciation Citation.’
- In December 2021, Jyoti received the Red Ink Special Mention Award for reporting on domestic violence during the Covid Pandemic.
- In 2021, one of his reports from the second wave of Covid titled ‘A day in the life of a doctor in rural Bihar: A journey of 80 km, overcoming doubt, fighting the infra poor’ was awarded a Special Mention award at the 15th PII-ICRC Annual Awards. The report is about Dr Pankaj Kumar, who is stationed at the Madhubani Covid Care Hospital in Bihar, and how he faces the challenges of new cases of Coronavirus and poor infrastructure in his respective area.
Facts/Trivia
- Jyoti loves desi Indian food including Desi Ghee, chaas, chutney and roti.
- She writes a weekly blog called ‘Meri Jaan Mujhe Khabar Hai,’ an open space created in September 2019 to discuss issues of gender equality, caste atrocities and political discourse apart from land reporting.
- According to Jyoti, he has adapted the method of using a mobile phone to record videos and take pictures just like MOJO reporters when reporting. Jyoti describes it as challenging, and she believes that it makes one a multi-tasker. While he was interviewing a reader at Assi Ghat, Varanasi, he was asked about his team to which he replied,
I am my team. This is how digital journalism works. You are a photographer, videographer and journalist too.”
- He found the vegetable market interesting.
- In 2018, Jyoti did a Republic Day shoot with Hindustan Times.
Photo from Jyoti Yadav’s photo shoot with Hindustan Times in 2018
- According to Jyoti Yadav, she grew up hearing stories of marital crisis and joint family issues from her mother and grandmother because they themselves were the victims. He believes that he understands human relationships better because of the stories they share. He said,
I have grown up sitting next to the chulha with my mother/buaa all my life. It is one of my fondest memories where my mother or my buaa used to share their problems living with the family next door and their married life crisis. Sometimes I can’t believe that I sit in a corporate office and write reports about women like them. My understanding of women, men and human relationships stems from those stories.”
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
