The time is always right to re discover talents
Ashish Sharma, 19 yr old, had never dribbled before. A phone call from the SO Bharat local office got him doing it , a few days back. His mother wondered how he would do that. Ashish got the ball, dribbled and won a Silver Medal at the SNF supported Virtual Unified dribbling Competition held on 27 June 2020. He partnered with Riddhi Karki
The event opened a new avenue for Ashish , extracting a new sporting talent. Ashish has participated in a National level Powerlifting Camp held earlier this year in Delhi
Not expecting him to do so well in a sport that he had never attempted before, makes his mother , Ms Pratibha Sharma, think that ‘Nothing is impossible’ and that her son deserves every opportunity.
She feels a change in her son , unfolding gradually over the past two years. “Sport definitely builds your confidence, and competition strengthens your resolve” Against the multiple cruel tides in her life, Ashish shows her a glimmer of light and hope.
Barely a month old, Ashish got meningitis that led to developmental delays manifesting in a learning disability. Losing her husband soon after, facing yet another medical complication with Ashish and facing a turbulent period of her older son meeting with a severe road accident, strengthened her power to overcome. Working in the New Business department of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) since the demise of her husband stabilized her to face the challenges thrown by her family. They considered it a taboo to send Ashish to a Special School. But Ms Pratibha Sharma was prepared to do so as in it lied the development of her child.
In his entire academic career Ashish has changed 10-12 Schools. He finally settled very well in Disha, which is a Special school in Meerut. With Ms Pratibha getting re-located to Bareilly, he found his way to the Jeevandhara School.
Ashish has been working as an assistant for about two years now. Ashish was so excited about the Virtual Unified Dribblng event that, despite a boil in his hand and with the dressing on, he continued to dribble. It brought in him a sense of achievement and joy. He finds a strong support in his sister who is doing B. Tech and is simultaneously, teaching in a school. Ashish is independent to a great extent. He travels inter-city by himself too. His coach, Sheeba Aslam says that Ashish is self disciplined and has a great skill of learning on his own.
According to his current employer, Saswati Nanda, Executive Director of Jeevandhara Rehabilitation Research Institute says that Ashish has learnt the skill of managing various jobs in the front office. Now she feels that as Ashish is independently managing assigned jobs, and she could consider withdrawing the mentoring support.
