Giving sweet hope

Meet Dhishana Kidambi, the 18-year-old, who hopes to inspire children suffering with Type-1 diabetes and raise awareness
The first thing she does when she wakes up is prick a needle in her finger to check the glucose level in her blood. After that, depending on the count, she takes out a pager like device that is permanently attached to her body and presses some buttons to give herself a dose of insulin.This has to be repeated every time she eats something. Meet 18-year-old Dhishana Kidambi, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was just 12.She isn't complaining though. “It is part of my life now. All I need to do is make certain adjustments in life and have a specific routine," she says, with a smile.
But smiling her way through the disease didn't come easy , which is why Dhishana has decided to take a gap year and start a not-for-profit organisation, Sweet Souls to help others like her. “When I was first diagnosed, I took inspiration from a family friend's daughter who suffered from this disease but did everything she wanted to do. Similarly ,I want to inspire children who are battling with the disease now. My desire is to develop a support community kids with type 1 diabetes. It is a multifaceted issue and not many people come up and talk about it. I feel medical help isn't enough. We need a lot more than that."
Prod her how the idea struck her, and she says, “I grew up in a family where everyone is associated with some cause or the other.When my turn came to `give back', I knew this was the cause closest to my heart. I want to tell everyone that although we have to live with it, nothing is impossible."
She makes it all look so easy , but we know things are not that simple when Dhishana says that she can't just eat everything she feels like mindlessly . “I have to take insulin shots before every meal. If I feel like eating piece of cake or chocolate then, I make sure I eat it before I exercise. And everything has to be in small portions,“ says the teenager, who has been a Kathak exponent for more than eight years now. And she's found her support system in her family who've made many adjustments. “The kind of food that's made at my house has changed over the years.Sometimes, my brother cribs that he longs to eat junk food," says the 18-yearold, whose favourite foods are mom-made rice and pasta.
Though she has lived with the disease for more than six years and coped brilliantly , she does have her low moments, Dhishana confesses.“A lot of calculation goes into keeping the glucose levels right and there are times when it shoots up and I feel depressed. But that's only for those few minutes. Otherwise, I don't think I am less than any other kid in anyway . In fact, I even stayed in a hostel for two months. Initially, there were some hiccups but later, I managed very well and it has made me much more confident. I even played football," says Dhishana, who wants to pursue philosophy .