On the teacher’s day, when many of us are thanking our teachers for shaping our lives, there is one special teacher who needs to be celebrated for her courage. Ms. Basanti, who is a living example of persistence and determination.
Born with no hands but with guts and perseverance, Ms. Basanti has not only recreated her own life with persistence but also of her students.
When Basanti was born, her parents were shocked to see a lump of meat in place of hands of their newly born baby. They visited all kinds of physicians to rectify their daughter’s arms but in vain.
With no choice left, the parents gave up and resigned to the fact she would never go to school as she was unable to use her hands.
But, Basanti was not ready to give up.
Born with no hands but strong will, she started mastering daily activities with her legs. And, at the age of 6, Basanti’s progress gave full confidence to her parents to get her admitted to a regular school.
While speaking with the Telegraph, she shared how she feels about her profession of teaching:
“I consider it an honor that I can teach. And for that I thank my father, whose progressive thinking made me confident that I can study and have a career despite being born with a serious disability,”
Though she may have been born without hands, she shares how she never let it stop from achieving her dreams:
“I’m used to doing a lot of things with my feet and toes since childhood. I write on notebooks with my toes too. My father, till his death six years ago, never stopped encouraging me.”
Unlike many teachers who are only restricted to the exam syllabus, Basanti prefers to teach more than just the syllabus.
While sharing how she prefers to let her students learn values rather than just the syllabus, she adds:
“In a society where people kill the girl child in the womb, my parents loved and cherished me and my four sisters. I tell my students that girls and boys are equal in all respects.”
You can’t stop admiring Basanti’s persistence & determination as she shares how she passed her matriculation in 1993 with third division but excelled in intermediate with a first class in 1995. She went on to graduate with honors, second class, in political science in 1998.
And after waiting for 7 years, she finally secured a job as para-teacher in 2005.
Though many of her students have learned determination, persistence and much more from Basanti, on being asked, she shares a very simple piece of advice for her students:
“Just carry on. Be consistent and work hard,”
Watch Basanti in action in this video.
Basanti is one of those who teach by example. While sharing her moment of pride that she earned because of her consistent hard work, she shared:
“This year, I got the opportunity to see our grand Republic Day parade at Rajpath in Delhi. I was among the few women selected from Jharkhand associated with the Beti Bachao Beti Badhao scheme and so got this honour”
At I FOR HER, we are not only in awe of her courage but also wondering what a great impact she must be leaving on the young children in her classes.
We wish her story will inspire many others to fight against their life circumstances to turn their dreams into a reality.
In case you know of someone who is fighting against her life circumstances to make the best of her life, then please share their story here. Our society needs to hear those stories and seek inspiration from them.
