A Helping Hand
Reader's Digest India|August 2023
By writing exams for persons with disabilities, one woman hopes to help them realize their dreams
Anu Prabhakar
A Helping Hand

PUSHPA HATES TEARS but when she narrates incidents from her childhood, which she spent battling poverty, she can’t help feeling overwhelmed. “We used to be able to afford only one meal every day,” she says. But as challenging as those early years were, they would lead to her remarkable life as a scribe for people with special needs.

Pushpa remembers enjoying a blissfully normal childhood, peppered with “toys, dinners out and movies at the theatre”, until around grade 4. But life as she knew it vanished when a freak accident left her father paralyzed.

“My mother, who wasn’t well-educated, had to work for `500 per month.” They struggled to stay afloat. But what hit her hardest was her struggle to continue her education. The memory of her grade 7 teacher refusing to allow her to attend classes over unpaid school fees still rankles.

“We never had textbooks. My brother and I shared notebooks by writing from opposite ends of the same one,” she says. In a desperate scramble to save the family from slipping into absolute poverty, the children took up temporary jobs at garment stores, STD booths and even factories. Pushpa cleared her grade 10 exams but dropped out soon after to work to supplement her mother’s meagre income.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من Reader's Digest India.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2023 من Reader's Digest India.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من READER'S DIGEST INDIA مشاهدة الكل
ME & MY SHELF
Reader's Digest India

ME & MY SHELF

Former director-general of the Delhi Policy Group, Radha Kumar is an academic, author and policy analyst. Her most recent book, The Republic Relearnt: Renewing Indian Democracy (1947-2024), explores the triumphs and the democratic decay of the Indian Republic.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2024
The Journey Of The Kon-Tiki
Reader's Digest India

The Journey Of The Kon-Tiki

Is it possible to cross the Pacific on a wooden raft? Natural scientist Thor Heyerdahl risks everything to prove it

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 2024
Hot and (Un)bothered
Reader's Digest India

Hot and (Un)bothered

Not that anyone in India needs to be reminded, but summer is here, and the collective energy dissipated by people complaining about the heat is making climate change even worse.

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2024
GOTCHA!
Reader's Digest India

GOTCHA!

We asked for it: What’s the best prank you ever pulled?

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2024
NEXT STOP: WHO KNOWS?
Reader's Digest India

NEXT STOP: WHO KNOWS?

We wanted to do a once-in-a-lifetime trek in northern Laos. Just getting there became the adventure

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 2024
Do More With Your Tech
Reader's Digest India

Do More With Your Tech

You're undoubtedly missing out on cool features that can help make life easier, safer and even more fun

time-read
10 mins  |
June 2024
Why Water Workouts Work
Reader's Digest India

Why Water Workouts Work

Swimming and other aquatic exercises have special benefits

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2024
Surf's Up... Again
Reader's Digest India

Surf's Up... Again

A Hawaiian helps victims of a devastating fire in the most Hawaiian way possible

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2024
HUMOUR in UNIFORM
Reader's Digest India

HUMOUR in UNIFORM

I got sloppy with my shaving one morning and nicked my skin.

time-read
1 min  |
June 2024
Leave the WILD Things Be
Reader's Digest India

Leave the WILD Things Be

Wild animals have been made to serve a variety of human needs, including recreational ones. It’s up to everyday folk to decry the use of animals for entertainment

time-read
6 mins  |
June 2024