Latest news with #Baani
Hindustan Times
10-05-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Mothers' day: Supermoms embrace challenges to care for kids with special needs
: Mothers with nerves of steel and hearts of gold have taken on the challenge of raising children with special needs and redefined their lives with a never say die spirit, not letting the difficulties deter or shatter them. Putting their careers aside, some of them became homemakers to give complete attention to their children. Others began learning about various therapies and conditions. They are now helping other such mothers through social initiatives. Take the case of Swati Sharma whose priorities changed when her son Antriksh was diagnosed with the rarest combination of congenital abnormalities which made him deal with autism and cerebral palsy. 'After Antriksh was born, I believe I received a re-birth when I discovered several new things. However, when life felt like a struggle, I chose to be a survivor instead of being a victim. When I enrolled Antriksh into a special school, I joined the school myself to also learn therapies and later worked as in-charge and principal before starting a society for differently abled kids. I studied again after quitting formal education long back just to provide the utmost care and fulfill requirements of my child,' said Sharma. Antriksh passed away about a year back, but Sharma continues to run the society in his memory. Dr Garima Verma, who was a paediatrician at a government hospital in Chandigarh and a gold medallist throughout her academic career, gave up her dreams and plans just to provide all her attention and care to her son Krishang, now 13-years'-old, who is dealing with autism spectrum disorder. 'I prioritised Krishang over everything. The support from my family helped me give all my attention to him. Initially, I used to sit outside his classroom just to see he did not get engaged with himself, which could have been harmful at his age and condition,' said Verma, who now works as a medical consultant at Reserve Bank of India. Shweta Chawla was a teacher but became a homemaker just to support her daughter Baani who deals with vision impairment. 'I was carrying twin daughters, and we lost Baani's sister at the time of their birth. Doctors had kept Baani under active oxygen for 25 days which led to Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) which led to her losing vision. I chose to be with my daughter and got her admitted in a normal school. From nursery to class 10, I used to sit by her side after she returned from school and read out all the chapters and notes for her – as if I studied with her all over again,' said Chawla. She said she enjoyed working hard with her daughter. Mala Nigam was a teacher till her son Rakshit was born with autism. Her life changed forever and eventually she become a special educator. 'We were questioned and judged at times. I had a financial crunch at home. Affording expensive therapies was difficult. So I chose to volunteer at various organisations just to learn them for my son. Now, I work as a full-time special educator,' Nigam said.
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Visually impaired girl lights up ICSE results with 94% marks
Lucknow: Ruk jana nahin tu kahin haar ke, kaanton pe chalke milenge saaye bahaar ke. It was this inspirational song from the 1974 movie 'Imtihan' that kept visually impaired Baani Chawla motivated during her ICSE preparation. And the fruits of labour were visible on Wednesday when the Class 10 girl scored 94% marks in her imtihan. Baani, also a talented singer, is visually impaired since birth. The Lucknow girl has performed in more than 1,000 musical stage shows across the country. If one is hardworking then complaining about one's physical constraints is merely an excuse, says the student of Lucknow Public College , Jankipuram, who aspires to become a civil servant. "I was confident of a good score. Studies are my only enjoyment and music my stress buster. Of all the subjects, I found it challenging to let my scribe write mathematics and physics because while dictating the answers I would often get mental calculations wrong," said the eleated girl who will now pursue humanities. Asked about the success mantra, she said it was thorough revision of every chapter until all concepts were clear."Baani has been a fighter since birth. We had premature twins but we lost one of them. Baani was put on ventilator for 1.5 months after birth; she fought and survived. But unfortunately she suffered from Retinopathy of Prematurity and lost vision in eyes," said Baani's father Vishal Chawla, who is into construction business. "My wife Shweta and I always knew that our daughter could turn the impossible into possible through her grit and diligence. We got her admitted to Lucknow Public College. With the support of the school, she used to attend classes, and then her mother, her younger sister Guneet and her tutor Anju Mishra used to read text to help her memorise subjects. The National Association for the Blind in Indiranagar also guided us on how to teach her," shared Vishal. "This is not the first time she has surprised us with her excellence. She is gifted with a beautiful voice. She became interested in music from the age of three. We got her a keyboard and without any formal training, she began doing stage shows at the age of 8. She has won over 100 awards and has even been felicitated by Governor Anandiben Patel," said the proud father. Though overwhelmed with their daughter's academic feat, Baani's parents profusely thanked her paper writer Ridhima Sharma, a Class 9 student, calling her an angel, who agreed to write the examination for Baani. Vishal said the biggest challenge for them to find a scribe as parents usually don't allow their wards to be a writer since they have to write for over 4 hours for students like Baani, as the board gives extra 90 minutes to specially-abled students. But Ridhima did it for us, after writing her Class 9 exams she would write pre-board and then board examinations of Baani, said Vishal.
