Resilient women bag laurels

MANGALORE: The resilience of two women who overcame physical and personal challenges and went on to achieve academic excellence, came as a breath of fresh air at the 29th annual convocation of Mangalore University held at its new Mangala auditorium here on Saturday. While one overcame physical handicap induced by post-polio vaccination attack of polio to complete her PhD, the other put aside loss of her mother to complete her PG studies.
It came as little surprise that these two women drew the loudest applause when they went up to governor H R Bhardwaj, also chancellor of the university, to receive their academic laurels.These two achievers are Latha Rajendra Kumar, who prior to her present PhD has completed her MD (physiology) and presently teaches in Yenepoya Medical College, and Yasha K, working as a lecturer in Rosa Mystica PU College, Kinnikambala.
Latha, a victim of post-polio vaccination attack of polio who uses crutches to walk, has now set her sights on obtaining a DSc degree. "There is no end to learning," Latha told STOI. Winner of six gold medals as a graduate student of Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai, Latha says her achievement is all due to the encouragement given by her mother Alli (means a nice flower in Tamil), her father K Subramaniam, and husband Rajendra Kumar K P.
Latha, who registered for her PhD in bio-sciences under Chandrakala Shenoy at the university five years ago, completed her research work in four years. A recipient of Rashtriya Gaurav Award given by a NGO at Delhi in December last, Latha says her physical condition has never stopped her from achieving her aim. "The support that I get from my family also pushes me to goad others like me to realize their dreams," Latha adds.
Yasha, daughter of Surendra Shetty was on the brink of giving up her post-graduate studies mid-way when she lost her mother 15-days prior to the second semester examinations. "At a point when I was mentally upset with this loss and wanted to give up studies, it was people such as K Chinappa Gowda, (currently registrar of the university) who then taught me, and my college lecturer Na Da Shetty, who encouraged me to soldier on," she says.
Yasha buoyed by this encouragement and braving the loss went on to score 381 out of 500 in the second semester, the highest marks that she scored in all four semesters put together. Her achievement fetched her one gold medal and six cash awards at the convocation. While three students bagged two gold medals each, Yasha was the single most successful candidate in terms of her overall academic achievement. She too wants to pursue her doctoral studies.