By Debasish Lodh (ICAT)

Udaipur December 22: For the aspirants, sky is the limit. Determined persons convert their ability into reality. There are too many such examples where physically handicapped persons conquering Mount Everest and crossing English channel . For example, Taranath Shenoy conquered English Channel despite being an handicapped. Jonty Rhodes overcame epileptic problems before giving a new definition to modern day cricket. Afterall, it has been proved that successful man does inspite of problems. In a small hamlet of North Maharani under Matabari rural development block, Gouranga Das, a daily wage earner lives with his four siblings. Kalpana Das, the eldest of them is physically handicapped since birt. Though she has two deformed hands but she took life as it was offered to her. She has never allowed frustration of being handicapped to engulf her. Instead, her impairment impelled her to carry daily routine like any other person. This 24 year old daughter from a poor scheduled caste family is now the main source of inspiration for Gouranga's family. She cooks, she cleans, she fills and takes the pitcher in her lap like any other women flawlessly. She is the mother to her brothers and sisters. What if she do not have hands? She believes, she has eyes and so she is keen on studies too. Even she writes with her leg. She studied up to fifth standard. In the presence of this reporter, she wrote "Kalpana Das" with her leg in her note book. Kalpana says, "I had to quit school due to poverty and to devote time to my ailing father". Though she is getting handicapped allowances but that is not enough. Few days back, panchayat has sanctioned a tin roofed house for them. Some says, her sheer determination is a lesson for those even educated youths who took to unfair means or even think of committing suicide. May be some day, she may find a job in any government office or can do any business with the funds made available for them. As for Kalpana, she has no past. What she knows is she lives in the present and looks for the brighter days ahead.