A different kind of success story

KOLKATA: At birth, she weighed a precarious 1.2kg. She survived, but has had to live with the legacy of that flawed beginning. With her hearing all but totally impaired and the resultant speech impediment posing serious setbacks in communication capabilities, struggle is a companion AparajitaMukherjee has learnt to take in her stride.
The 27-year-old is now pursuing MPhil in Women’s Studies from Burdwan University.Aparajita sailed through her graduate and the post-graduate examinations under Odisha’s Utkal University with the ‘first-class first’ tag on both occasions.
“Having seen her fight to live, we named her Aparajita, the ‘indomitable one’. She continues to live up to that name,” her father Tapas told TOI. “She faced seemingly insurmountable hurdles at every stage of her life but she keeps overcoming them and moving ahead,” the retired medical salesman added.
“In Sambalpur, where I was posted, her school headmistress asked me to put her in a special school for the deaf-and-dumb. I told her that doctors have said she is capable of functioning in a normal school,” recalled Tapas, adding, “When she topped the class, the headmistress actually apologized for what she had suggested.”
Aparajita joined Cambridge School in Cuttack as a Class-V student following her father’s transfer there. Her sister Nivedita, two years her junior, said, “In Cuttack, some classmates would mimic and poke fun at her speech, but they became helpful after I spoke to them.”
At Burdwan University, Aparajita divided the board during her interview for the MPhil course.
“She had a brilliant CV but had problems at the viva. Some felt that the class would suffer because of her but I was strongly against such a conclusion,” said Dr Syed Tanveer Nasreen, the coordinator of Women’s Studies at the university. “She has difficulty communicating, but why can’t we make an effort to understand her? She is a bright student and we’ve decided that she’ll not have to do a seminar presentation. Instead, she’ll be allowed to submit a term paper,” said Nasreen.
Speaking about her involvement with the Centre for Human Rights of Differently Abled People, Nasreen said, “She (Aparajita) is the reason why I joined such a movement.”
Nivedita said it was from the second year in college that her sister was able to navigate own her own reasonably well.
“Among family members, I have the least problem in understanding her. We always stopped her from using sign language and encouraged her to speak. Doctors said she will keep improving and we always want to nudge her towards that goal,” she added. Aparajita, her sister points out, can sketch, cook, make soft toys and other handicrafts too.
Aparajita’s next big hurdle is landing a job, but those who have been witness to her fight know that it will be another milestone on her remarkable journey.