When Vishal joined as Barefoot Researchers in PUKAR’s Flagship program of Youth Fellowship in 2014, he chose a very unusual topic for his research. “Kamathipura, The Name, Fame and Fortune”. His research on this most unfortunate community of Prostitutes in Mumbai’s Red-Light Area gave Vishal’s basic nature of care, empathy and sense of justice a great platform. Armed with an extensive experience in paraprofessional counselling Vishal worked with patients suffering from TB, HIV and Leprosy. He always worked with and worked for some of the most neglected and excluded people of his city. It is this proclivity for the poor and the excluded that makes Vishal an outstanding mentor and facilitator for the younger and marginalized youth. Vishal aspires to impart leaderships skills in himself as well as the youth he mentors.
