KOCHI: A strong and determined mind will always be in search of possibilities despite all the adversities life brings. Polio-stricken Nafeesathul Mizriya, whose left leg was paralysed at the age of two, overcame her setbacks to set up a construction company. “Your physical disabilities cannot make you weak, but your mental disabilities sure can,” says Mizriya.
According to Mizriya, her paralysis left her father disheartened.
“It was to make him happy that I started doing all kinds of activities which seemed impossible to me at first,” says Mizriya. “I couldn’t always move with my friends and siblings when I was young. That left me feeling isolated. The thought pricked me was that my disabilities would leave me helpless and dependent throughout my life. This taught me to do many things alone.”
After completing her Class 10, she joined Victoria College in Palakkad for pre-degree, but couldn’t complete it as she was laid low by pneumonia. After that, she did the two-year ITC Draughtman’s Course at Malabar Engineering.
As soon as she finished the course, family and friends encouraged her to start a company. She did so and called it KAM Builders. Meanwhile, she got a job as a municipal employee but it was on a temporary basis at the Thrissur Corporation. Along with her job, she also did a course in civil engineering from Maharaja’s Technological Institute, Thrissur.
“I initially started drawing plans for the people from my hometown and later my work extended outside,” she says. “I wasn’t reluctant to make plans, so this helped in boosting my confidence and contributed to my learning.” At the age of 22, she got married to Shafi K M, who lives abroad.With sheer confidence and passion, she resigned from her municipal job and devoted herself wholeheartedly to her new company.
Her company was renamed Minhaj Builders after the birth of her first son. The first office was opened in Vaduthala near Kunnamkulam in Thrissur.
Later she opened offices at Thrissur and Palakkad. She also started another company named Minhaj Cement Product in Parakulam. So far, she has completed 2000 plans and 500 projects. Her company is also famous for Vaastu-based constructions. “I also do the design and construction of small-scale projects,” says Mizriya, who also takes motivational classes for people with physical and mental disabilities.