For 18-year-old Shweta Katti, who grew up as the daughter of a Devdasi in the infamous red-light area of Kamathipura in the city, getting a scholarship to study in the United States is a dream come true.

Shweta, who once studied in a civic school, flew to New York last week to pursue a course in psychology at Bard College in Red Hook, N.Y.

"Shweta has got the opportunity to study in the U.S. I don't know what she would be studying there. But I feel proud of her," her mother Vandana.

Devdasis are girls who have “dedicated” their life to sex work in the name of religion.

"Since childhood Shweta had been good at studies. Earlier, she studied in the municipality school. From class 8, she started going to a private school in south Mumbai," Vandana said.

After Shweta completed higher secondary school, she approached Apne Aap, an organization in Kamathipura to which she was associated since she was in class 4.

 Apne Aap then took her to Kranti, an NGO that educates and empowers trafficked girls, to help her pursue further education.

When asked about the funding of Shweta's education abroad, Robin of Kranti said, "Around 200 people from all over the world have contributed towards her education in the U.S. She would be studying psychology there. She had told us about her dream and we promised that we will make it happen."

Her mother says Shweta would come back only after four years.