People of Value

Chennai

Madhya Pradesh

Mumbai

Cerebral palsy not a handicap: Abirama Sundari

Cerebral palsy has not deterred Abirama Sundari from continuing her studies in normal schools. Today, she is taking pride in the fact that she is one among the 1.67 lakh students, appearing for the Tamil Nadu Entrance Examination.

Her main goal in life is to become a doctor to save thousands of lives dying of cancer, like her schoolteacher Sivakami who died four years ago of uterus cancer.

A resident of West Mambalam, Sundari studied till standard 10 at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Ashok Nagar, before to G R T Mahalakshmi Vidyalaya, a State-board school in West Mambalam. "Though the school was willing to accept her, the Directorate of School Examination did not permit her a seat in pure science stream. It was only at the intervention of the Chief Minister's cell, we have come to this stage today said her father M Narayan, who us also additional Commissioner of Income Tax.

It was Sundari's brother Maharaja Subramanian, a second year student of Venkateshwara College of Homeopathy who reposed faith in her. Before the Board practical examinations, Subramanian, with the support from school authorities, visited the school to help his sister prepare for the practical.

Source: Cerebral Palsy not a handicap for Sundari, Indian Express, Chennai, 24 April 2005.

Top

Hriday ki Virattha: Baddruddin Pathan

Hriday ki Virattha (an auto rickshaw driver) in Harda Nagar, found an abandoned infant in a train about one and half year ago. This child was physically disabled. Although Baddruddin was not rich he took the child home and began a treatment regimen. Today, a year later the child at two and half year is well on the road to recovery. Do you know any other Baddruddin Pathan? If yes, then write to us about the person, for the world to know of their positive deeds.

Source: Hriday ki Virattha, Nai Duniya, Indore, 5 April 2005.

Top

Special tutor holds class: Anita Pinto

Anita Pinto An Arts graduate Anita Pinto is a teacher at Snehalaya Special School for the Mentally and Physically challenged, Mira Road, Mumbai. She has a razor sharp memory for telephone numbers and birth dates, volunteers for art and handicraft exhibitions of special children, and is proficient at computer applications.

So, how is this 25-year-old different from lakhs of other educating, office-going Mumbaikars? Anita has multiple congenital anomalies. "Just after her birth, the doctors who diagnosed her told her parents that she would never walk. Not only did she walk, this "special" girl also went on to complete her schooling at a "normal" school, Divine Child Convent School at Andheri.

This is despite the (erroneous?) diagnosis of an IQ of 50 points given by Cooper Hospital when Anita was 6 years old. Most IQ tests are heavily loaded in the verbal or spoken language factor - a probable reason for the faulty score.

Her sister Jennifer who studied in the same school with her, takes pride in the fact that Anita "hardly ever sought help in studies, even while appearing for the standard nine examinations, considered more difficult than the Board exams."

Source: Special tutor hold class, Asian Age, Mumbai, 21 April 2005.

Top