Ms. Nitya Rathi, Author- PurpleFlame
Nitya Rathi, a 15 year-old teen author, studies in Grade 10,Vasant Valley School, New Delhi. She was diagnosed with Dyslexia at a young ageand had low self-esteem and morale for being “slow” in school. However, with the power of diagnosis in hand, and the support of her school, teachers, friends and family, she decided to push back and advocate for her rights and those like her.
She is the author of the Purple Flame comicseries, starring the world’s first Dyslexic superhero - PurpleFlame. The first comic was launched on International Women’s Day in 2021. The stories take inspiration from Nitya’s life and aim to bring awareness around Learning Disabilities like Dyslexia and other disabilities
She may be young, but she hasstrong opinions and is not scared to voice them. You will often hear her say“I may be young, but I strongly believe in defending those who cannot speak up for themselves-whether an animal or a child being bullied. I want people to become aware of the strengths of people with disabilities and that we should include them in everything.”
In 2017, sheco-founded the Rebel Girls platform, with her brother, where girls and boys interact with gender-norms-busting women leaders.
In 2021, UN Women- the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women recognised Nitya as a Generation Equality Champion andrecently featured her in their Global Annual Report for 2020-21.
She loves animals, especially dogs, and it is more likely that she will remember the name, age and breed of your pet and then you. Dancing is her passion- she has been training in ballet since the age of 6 years. When not playing with her pets, you will find her on her toes trying to perfect her“pirouettes”.
If you are wondering, yes, she does find time to study!
Purple Flame is the world’s first Dyslexic Girl Superhero who advocates for an inclusive society, anduses her scientific instincts and magical art to save people.
Through her adventures, Purple Flame, builds awareness around the needs of Dyslexics and other learning disabilities, breaking stereotypes, engaging with readers, and inspiring them to learn about neurodiversity and other disabilities, encouraging them to take action to build an inclusive society.This unique comic book series is being used by child, teacher, and parents, around the country, as a tool tobetter understand the world of disabilities, inspiring them to become part of building an inclusive society.
Currently the series is available in English and Hindi- efforts are underway to make it available in other local languages.
The Government of India has made it available on two of its leading educational portals-the National Digital Library as well as Manodarpan. States like Bihar and Nagaland, have made this tool available at their SCERTs and to their faculty members to sensitize them towards inclusion.
In addition to the comic series, a larger advocacy programme is being launched to build awareness around the various challenges and opportunities for inclusion of people with neurodiversity. More information can be found on: www.purpleflame.in.