Days after her image standing in front of a police van during student protests in Mumbai became one of the defining visuals of the movement, Rhiya Ahir says she is still coming to terms with the attention the moment has brought her.
Speaking to NDTV Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2026, Ahir said the response she received from people across India and abroad had been overwhelming
"Thank you so much for all the motivation and courage. I'm still trying to get over the fact that something which is so natural to me was extraordinary for almost the entire world. Honestly, I'm still overwhelmed. It's just so surreal," she said.
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Ahir shot to prominence on July 22 after she was seen blocking a police van carrying detained students during protests near Mumbai's Shivaji Park in Dadar.
The demonstrations, led by the newly formed political group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanded the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities. Videos of Ahir's act quickly went viral across social media, drawing widespread praise.
"Whatever has happened is deeply saddening and in a way it did break us and our faith. But now, we have come together and we are trying to pick up all the pieces one by one and put them all together. It's a New India movement, I can say, in a way," she added.
Asked how life had changed after the incident, Ahir said she now finds herself being recognised by strangers.
"I walk two miles and someone says, 'Hey, you're that girl. I kind of know you.' I'm like, 'Yes, I'm that girl'," she said.
She added that messages had poured in from countries including Kenya, Australia and the United Kingdom, but said the visibility also brought a sense of responsibility.
"The response has been overwhelming but at the same time, if I have been given a platform, it comes with a responsibility. So I am trying to abide by the law and play by the books. It is our nation and we are going to work for the nation as the voice," she said.
"I would like to always say that the face of the movement are the students who are not with us anymore, the lives who were impacted, the families who were impacted, who are still impacted and they are waiting for the cause to be fulfilled. They are the face. I was just a little helping hand," Ahir concluded.
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