----- Forwarded Message -----
>From: вιкαѕн <bikash.abys...@gmail.com>
>Subject: Bhavna becomes World’s first graduate using ‘eye – pointing’ system
>
>
>Bhavna becomes World’s first graduate using ‘eye – pointing’ system
>The first thing that strikes you when you meet
Bhavna Botta is how full of smiles she is. Not surprisingly, she was
voted Miss Smiley — and Miss Final Year — at her B.A. Corporate
Secretaryship department farewell party in Ethiraj College this year.
>It has been a remarkable journey. Bhavna was born
with Athetoid Cerebral Palsy, which means she is unable to walk, write
by hand, or communicate verbally. Yet, she has defied all odds to
complete her Class XII exams from a mainstream institution, Lady Andal
Venkatasubba Rao Matriculation Higher Secondary School, and now her
Bachelor’s degree from Ethiraj, all using a unique system of
communication by ‘eye-pointing’.
>“She is definitely the first person in India — and possibly in the world —
to have finished a college degree using the eye-pointing system,” says
Kalpana, her mother. With this system, Bhavana communicates — and writes her
exams — using a chart of alphabets in numbered columns, spelling
out what she wants to say by pointing at the columns with her eyes. The
chart was developed specially for her at Vidyasagar (a voluntary
organisation that works with children and young adults with cerebral
palsy and other neurological disabilities), where she studied until
Class X. That’s what she uses during this interview as well, spelling
out her answers so rapidly at times that Kalpana can’t keep up.
>Foremost on her mind is her emotional parting with M. Thavamani, her principal
>at Ethiraj College who retired recently, and
whom she went to college to say goodbye to. “It was a very unique
feeling,” says Bhavna, “something I’ve never experienced before.”
>Thavamani describes the meeting in touchingly similar terms: “It was a very
>emotional moment for both of us; I can’t begin to express the kind of
>affection Bhavna’s shown me, the department and her classmates.”
>She adds: “When I first met the child, I did wonder
if she would be able to manage. But today I can say that having been
Bhavna’s teacher — I taught her accountancy in her first year — is
something I’m truly proud of in my career of 35 years.”
>Like any youngster, Bhavna’s fondest memories of her
three years in college are of the friendships she formed and of all the
fun she’s had. The word she spells out most often is ‘fun’, amidst
plenty of laughter, as her mother talks about her adventures in learning to
wear a sari and her insistence on going to the beach even though the salt water
plays havoc with her wheelchair.
>Is she signing up for a postgraduate degree? Her
family is trying to convince her to do so. But her mind’s made up and it has
been since she was in Class VIII — Bhavna plans to start her own
business. “She’s geared all her decisions towards this, whether it was
taking accountancy in Class XI or choosing Entrepreneurial Development
as her elective in college,” says Meenakshi Subramanian, member of
Vidyasagar’s Disability Legislation Unit (DLU), and Bhavna’s close
friend and scribe.
>She’s already decided on the sort of business she’s
like to do — a socially responsible venture selling organic cotton and
ahimsa silk saris and dress materials — and she has friends and family
collecting information for her on different aspects.
>But when Kalpana talks about family funding the
venture, Bhavna protests vehemently — she’s determined to start her
business with a loan from the National Handicapped Finance and
Development Corporation (NHFDC) instead. Her answer to my question “Why
business?” was simply to spell out “independence”.
>“What’s the next step?” earns a similarly simple
response: “Launching the business.” With this plucky young woman’s track
record, you’ve got to believe it will happen, sooner rather than later.
>
>
>Cheers.. !!!
>"Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow..."
> Bik@sh...
>
>
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