Barefoot Empress

Discover the life of the remarkable Karthyayani Amma, who went to school for the first time at the age of 96 and surprised the entire country by topping the Kerala government's literacy examination with a record-breaking score of 98 out of 100. Amma hails from Haripad in Alappuzha district, where she swept the streets outside temples in her village for a living. One day, she met Sathi, an educationist, who enrolled her in school. Amma studied hard and stood first, ahead of 43,300 students who appeared for the examination. In 2019 she became a Commonwealth of Learning Goodwill Ambassador. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind on Women's Day in March 2020. Her inspirational story is proof that it is never too late to realise your dreams.