CHENNAI: At the tender age of three, she was thrown out of a moving train near Avadi by her own parents because she was a girl. In the incident, she broke her right leg, which was amputated just below the knee.
But that was hardly a deterrent for Vaatsalya, now 18 years old, soft spoken and an obedient student, says Udavum Karangal founder S Vidyaakar. So soft spoken that Vidyaakar had to egg her on to speak.
After securing 914 marks in her Class XII examinations, she now interns at an ortho clinic trying to learn the knack of geriatric orthopaedics. “She is very gentle by nature and patient as well. She believes in the service of people and that is why she wants to try physiotherapy,” says Vidyaakar, speaking for Vaatsalya.
After enduring so much pain so early in her life, what was it that made her push on? “I have never let go of any opportunity. I grasp each and every one that comes my way,” says Vaatsalya, breaking her silence.
Rejection is not an issue for her, even if it was her parents who threw her at the mercy of the world.
With little memory of her biological parents, will she recognise them if she ran into them? “Why? My father is here,” she says, pointing at Vidyaakar. “Why would I go look for anyone else?”