21.11.2018
Nishtha Dudeja, 23, has a 100% hearing disability and is an international para-athlete; and she’s won a National Award and an international beauty pageant.
From enthralling an audience with a dance recital, to winning an international beauty pageant and competing as a para-athlete in multiple sports, Nishtha Dudeja has decided she wants to do it all.
Dudeja, 23, who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Economics at Mithibai College, has had a 100 per cent hearing disability since childhood and uses a hearing aid. Her speech, which was previously affected, was developed after seven years of therapy, and she now speaks clearly.
Originally from Delhi, she became the first Indian to win the title of Miss Deaf Asia 2018 at the Miss and Mister Deaf World Pageant held in Prague in September.
In yet another feather in her cap, the 23-year old was recently selected for the national award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, 2018, in the Role Model category, awarded by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Dudeja will be presented with the award at a function scheduled to be held in Delhi on December 3.
In an email interview to Mirror, Dudeja said, “The letter (from the ministry) came on November 9. When I read it, I screamed and ran to my mom. ‘Look, we are getting a National Award!’ I told her. My dad was in the office, and I called him like an excited child and broke the news. It is a great honour for me, and I am really very happy I was selected for this award this year. No disability can stop you from realising your dreams. You should keep your targets high and achieve them through hard work and dedication. Let your disability become a special ability.”
Dudeja decided to come to Mumbai for further studies. “I find Economics very interesting, and have always wanted to do my post-graduation from Mumbai. I think the Master’s course will enhance my understanding of economic issues at micro and macro levels, and help me in my goal of working for the welfare of deprived and disabled people.”
Since Dudeja stays in a hostel near the college, commuting is not a problem. She is able to follow lectures with the help of the hearing aid, and sometimes takes the help of classmates.
However, she recalled the early struggles her family and she experienced after her hearing disability was detected at age three.
“My mother would take me to a speech therapist daily, and would teach me after we returned home. I was sent to a regular school (not a school for the hearing disabled). Since then, it has been an interesting and challenging journey to develop speech and linguistic skills. My family took it up as a mission to bring me at par with other children. The initial years were the most difficult,” Dudeja said.
She pointed out that though reservation in education is available for disabled students, more needs to be done to plug the dropout rate.
“A large chunk of reserved seats in higher education remain vacant. There is a need to facilitate education at the primary and secondary levels, to bring down the dropout rates of disabled students. There is also a lack of awareness about the treatment available for various disabilities,” she said.
Despite her youth, Dudeja’s list of laurels seems unending. An international tennis player, she has represented India thrice at the Deaflympics 2013 (Bulgaria), World Deaf Tennis Championship 2015 (Nottingham, UK) and Deaflympics 2017 (Turkey). She practised judo for five years (from ages 7 to 12) and won numerous medals at the state and national levels. And in the Class XII CBSE board exam, she had topped her school in Hindi.
“I want to break the barriers in various fields where differently abled people have not been considered suitable,” she said.
Her father VP Dudeja is a chief engineer (construction) with the Northern Railway, and mother Punam Dudeja is a homemaker. The family is from Haryana.
“Dudeja is a very good student, attentive and good at her studies. She has reached this level through her sincerity and dedication. We are really proud of her. The award [given] to her is a great honour for the college,” Mithibai College
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