Our heartfelt thanks to Mr. Siddarth Baliga, who agreed to share this positive story with KnowYourStar.com, with a humble intention of helping someone else get inspired by Ashish’s story of success, just like he did!
“There was a man who cried because he had no shoes, until the day he met a man who had no feet”- so goes the old adage. There is no dearth of people who crib, complain and find excuses to not get up and try.
My first tryst with positive thinking came way back in 2001 when I met a smart young man, in his late teens, at a scholarship rewards event in New Delhi. Although I did ask his name, it just slipped out of my mind as easily as I slipped into an awe of admiration and respect for him. He was seated next to me, dressed in formal wear and was smiling cheerfully. What I did not notice was his missing legs. The thought still sends a chill down my spine, but always bounces me back whenever I have mood swings. The old adage mentioned in the beginning still reverberates in my head.
Fast forward circa 2016, I met Ashish Patel– another physically challenged person. He became my new found source of energy and motivation. I met him on May 13, 2016, when I got to know of his scholastic achievements despite his physical challenge since birth. He was born with a defect in his hand.
He has cleared JEE mains which implies he is amongst the top 1.5 lakh candidates from the 12 lakh odd candidates who took the test. He is also among the top 2% of the test takers in the Chattisgarh Pre Entrance Test (CPET) and has topped (Rank 1) in the physically challenged category. Ashish, born to a farming family, hails from a small hamlet named Kabarapali in the interiors of Chhattisgarh. Rising above all odds and social stigma, he has made it till here. He aspires to crack the IIT-JEE Advanced too.
Ashish did his schooling until Class X at DPS and then joined Vikas Vidyaniketan for Class XI/XII- South India’s oldest residential school offering integrated training in CBSE and IIT-JEE/PMT. I’m happy to also mention that Vikas Vidyaniketan encourages students irrespective of religion, caste, gender and physical status, and also offers need and merit based fee-waivers.
Fifteen years on, I find myself re-energized after meeting this six-foot tall 17-something boy who misses only the opportunity to ride a bike. He says he is pretty happy otherwise and spends time working on things he can do rather than crib about things he cannot.
Way to go Mr. Patel, hope others read about you and start seeing their glasses as half-full rather than half-empty!
Team KYS wishes Ashish the best of luck and wishes to see him soar to newer heights in the near future.
Source – LinkedIn post by Siddarth Baliga