Moga, June 10
Sandeep Kaur and her mother were kicked out of the house by her father when she was just 18 months old for bearing the burden of a genetic disorder of weak eyesight.
Recently, she turned 17 but has not lost the hope of leading the brighter side of life despite the sufferings she and her mother had to face all these years.
Her mother Jaswinder Kaur, who also suffers from the same disease, is working as a class IV employee in the panchayat department at Kot-ise-Khan town in Moga district. She has always supported her daughter who has just cleared her Class XII from the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre, Ludhiana, in first division.
But apart from this, Sandeep has an aptitude for sports. With less than 20 per cent visibility, she has won many gold, silver and bronze medals in the national and state-level sports meet for the blind. .
At the National Sports Meet for Blind held at New Delhi in December 2012, she got a gold medal in shot-put event besides a silver medal in discus throw and a bronze medal in long jump. In the 2010 national games, she got a bronze medal in discus throw.
In 2011, in Punjab State Sports Meet for Blind, she got three gold medals in shotput, discus throw and long jump. She has also got many medals at various other national and sports events for the blind in the last five years.
Determination and perseverance are the key factors for her success. "People think that physical disability limits you from doing certain things but I think success comes to those who believe in their strengths," she told The Tribune while sitting at her maternal uncle's house in Moga city.
Recalling some of the challenges, she said, "My father Jagroop Singh is a truck driver at Kila Raipur in Ludhiana district. All these years, he never looked at us. In the early days of separation, my maternal grandfather supported us. After his death, my maternal uncle brought us to Moga and since then, we have been living here". She said aiming high and making tough decisions, particularly, to live in a hostel and move out alone for taking part in sports events was never easy for her. But she did not lose hope at any stage of her life. Now, she plans to continue her studies aiming to join the civil services and serve society.
