Maharashtra HSC results: Visually-challenged students in Pune make their mark

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Gaurav is visually-challenged since his birth. He hails from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh and stays in Khadki with his parents and his younger brother. Earlier, he would stay in a hostel for visually-challenged in Koregaon Park. His father works for a private firm. When he is not studying, Gaurav indulges in classical music and plays harmonium. “I’m happy with life and there is nothing that I miss. I don’t even think about my blindness,” he says, adding that he appeared for the BCA entrance examination last month and is awaiting its results.

Another visually-challenged student who has done well this year is Satish Jadhav, who has scored 70.62 per cent. A students of arts in Fergusson College, Satish, who has also been visually-challenged since birth, says he is satisfied with his performance. “Though I feel I could have done better in English with little more efforts,” he says. While he finds English a tough subject, his favourite subject is political science. The reason he opted for Arts is that he aims to be an IAS officer. The son of a truck driver, Satish hails from Nira village in Satara district, where his parents stay. He himself stays in a hostel in Pune.

Aarti Tarekh, a teacher at Niwant, says, “All the visually-challenged students who come to Niwant have different stories behind them. All of them come from financially weak families. What’s common among them is their strong will do hard work and achieve their goals. They attend colleges, travel from one place to another in PMT buses, come here for classes. They know that life will never be normal for them and yet they live life with the same zeal and smile on their faces.”

As many as 15 students who had come to Niwant appeared for the HSC exam and have passed.