She never let me feel handicapped

Today I am working as an engineer for the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Centre. Born a physically challenged person, I never thought that I would be able to reach this level in my career.

Whatever I am today is because of my mother and values instilled by her. My younger brother and I were both born physically handicapped, with 65 and 60 percent disabilities. But she never let us feel like we were handicapped or dependent on someone. She instilled courage, hard work, will power, determination and more in us so that we could live a normal life. Because of her faith I was able to complete my BE in Information Technology.

I remember one incident that burned the fire within me to do something extraordinary. It was my twelfth birthday and we never had birthday parties or celebrations at our house as we belonged to a humble family. But as a child, I was curious as to why my birthday was not celebrated like other children in my neighbourhood. So I asked my mother and she replied, "Yeh kya -- khud ka janamdin khud se manana. Kuch aisa kaam karo ki desh wale aap ka janamdin manayein!" ("What is this -- celebrating your own birthday. Work hard and do something that has the whole country celebrating your birthday!"). After that, I never bothered about my birthday party.

Last year I went in for lumbar spine surgery. I was hospitalised for 10 days and given bed rest for two months. During that time, my mother gave me the courage to know that I would be alright. Because of her positive attitude, I overcame the fear of surgery. Then in mid-June 2010, I lost my father. At that time too, my mother stood firm and gave us the strength to deal with this unexpected crisis.

I can just say I owe my whole life to my mother. Maa, I want to be your son only every time I take birth.