A MIRACULOUS RECOVERY, AND A DREAM COME TRUE

Sunita Kulkarni overcame a chronic disorder through nutrition, and is now a role model and guide for others seeking holistic health

- Manvi Pant

Sunita Kulkarni was in class nine when she was detect-ed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic autoimmune disorder that impaired her walking ability and left her with shattering pain for the next 14 years. But after studying and following the right nutrition and lifestyle, she not only healed herself, she also became a successful wellness consultant and this year fulfilled her childhood dream of winning a beauty pageant.

Based in Pune, the 39-year-old looks back at the first time she was diagnosed with RA: “It was Christmas day in 1996. I felt as if all my dreams and ambitions died that day.” Anxiety, depression seeped into Sunita’s heart, and she feared for the future. “Then eventually, I stopped making any long-term plans, and instead I started planning short term six-to-10 month goals, like focusing on clearing my exams,” she shares. She also trained her mind to “stop thinking anything” if she couldn’t think positive thoughts.

All that while, Sunita’s family stood by her like a motivating force and kept her hopeful. Both her parents were from a small town of Chhapra in Bihar, and later moved to Ranchi where Sunita was born and raised. Her father worked in a public-sector company and Sunita and her two siblings spent their childhood with minimal resources but received the best of education. With brilliant academic credentials, Sunita took up chartered accountancy (CA) and got an all-India rank of seven at the foundation level. Soon, however, she fell severely ill and her condition rendered her incapacitated for three years. Her “so-called well-wishers” suggested she leave her CA exams as she wasn’t likely to pass them and even if she did, who would marry her or give her a job, anyway?