GUTSY GIRLS CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Gutsy is a quality that makes any challenge look small. As probably the only Indian lady participant so far, in India, on a wheel chair to have won a prestigious beauty pageant while competing with the fully abled, walking contestants, Ankita Yadav is sure an icon for all, as the most gritty of them all, writes Dr. Namrata S. Tiwari.

Life was sailing smooth like a perfect dream or a divine blessing for young Ankita, a Bio tech graduate and a medalist MBA. Married in a respectable & caring family, her husband Yogesh is a successful advocate and her in laws are quite supportive to her. Her father in law Shri Ram Lakhan Yadav, who retired from Maharashtra Police as Deputy Superintendent of Police, has been known as a fearless officer with integrity. She was guiding her students as a lecturer in an MBA college and later looking after the responsibilities of Public relations as the PR officer in a financial firm. Back home, attending to her duties as a daughter in law and a housewife. Life indeed resembled a fairytale till the day, it struck at her quite hard.

June 21st, 2018. She found she couldn’t move. Yes, as if her life had come to a stand still. All of a sudden, she had found herself in a bizarre state, paralyzed neck down. The doctors attributed it to a rare neurological disorder called ‘Transverse Myelitis’. Or, TM for short. And it was life threatening. She had to spend two months in ICU, bed ridden and away from her two daughters, the youngest being a two and half month old.

Life suddenly seemed full of fear, anxiety and depression. The medical world looked at her sympathetically while admitting that it had no perfect cure in the world and that, she may have to lead her life with that condition. The future looked blank. As if, it didn’t exist anymore.

Trying times, such as these, test your mental strength and will power. These are the times, when those, with steely resolve, demonstrate how the tougher get going in tough circumstances.

She then decided to give life a second chance. To bounce back. By now, she was only able to move her right hand. So, she decided to search more about the enemy.. the rare condition that had struck her. She began scrolling the internet on her smartphone. She also began to contact people with TM, in India and abroad.

The only hope seemed from rehabilitation efforts. She came to know about a rehab center for TM in Surat. It was time to give life another chance. She left her two daughters with her parents and travelled to Surat with her caring husband who had decided to support her, come what may. Five months of rigorous Physiotherapy regimen later, her hard-work & will power launched the recovery. She could regain her upper body completely.

On her return to the hometown Nagpur, she decided to lead her second innings of life in a new way. though in a wheel chair. As a theater artiste on a wheel chair, she featured in several plays. Her performance received standing ovations and accolades.
Next, she participated in a beauty pageant. She came out among the finalists.

The series of successes grew the appetite for more. Her determination, confidence and her witty answers finally fetched her what looked unthinkable. She was crowned ‘Celebrity Mrs. India 2021’ in the prestigious contest, along with titles of ‘Mrs. Talented’
and ‘Mrs. Inspirational’. The achievement sparks even more brightly, on the face of the fact that, all her co contestants were fully abled, walking women.

This was followed by a prestigious award named after the former president Late Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalaam, besides several others.

Today, as among the most coveted motivational speakers, whenever Ankita, 33, takes the center stage on her wheel chair, the audience feels naturally inspired to rise up on its own, for a standing ovation. The hall reverberates in multiple claps reminding her the hours of struggle she spent to reach there.

From a bed ridden patient in the ICU with bleak future, to a winner and an inspiring icon, Ankita has made life take a grand U turn. Something that makes her family extremely proud about her.

We tossed this question at her, ‘What mattered the most for her during the battle for recovery?’

She replied, ‘It doesn’t matter how many battles you win or lose. What matters most is that you fought, survived and didn’t give up !’

And what was that one defining moment that made her fight, we asked her. She replied, ‘It was the thought, that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams and the best way to predict the future, is to create it.’

Indiainput.com salutes her indomitable spirit and of those millions of women in India, who have defeated the odds in their lives and emerged victorious.

(All images: Mrs. Ankita Yadav)

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