LUCKNOW: Being a teacher with physical disability was tough but these teachers overcame the barrier to pursue their dreams of spreading knowledge. On Teachers' Day, TOI talks to teachers who achieved their goals despite odds and continue to inspire their students.

Though she is sight impaired, she has been shaping the future of many students. Meet Manjari Shukla, a teacher at a government blind school on Mohan road. Due to illness, she started losing her eye-sight during childhood. After passing class XII, Shukla lost vision completely.

"I was shattered as I had to start a new journey altogether," she said. It was probably because of her strong will that she rose above the odds to complete her education and became a teacher.

Today, she guides and inspires her students by sharing her experiences with them. "I don't feel like a disabled. I tell my students they are equal to others, so should never let disability come in their way to scale heights," said Shukla.

Former head of the education department at Mahila Mahavidyala, Rani Jewsani, agrees. With more than 90% debilitating loco-motor disability, she needs help at every step to move out of her house. "I cannot walk even with calipers," said Jeswani, hence, she took help of her servant whenever she wanted to move out of her house. Though Jeswani got retired a couple of months ago, she continues to ignite young minds. "I am going to start free tuitions for poor children at my home soon," she said.

Her courage as a teacher has been acknowledged with the Best Teacher Award and Efficient Handicapped Person Award by a number of government and social organisations.

Similarly, Aruni Sharma, a senior lecturer with the department of political science at Sri Jai Narayan Post Graduate Degree College lost vision at the age of 3.

"It was tough but it failed to break my will power. I faced big difficulties in writing every exam. After computer was introduced in India, I started reading and writing with the help of computer," he said.

Sharma shares a friendly bond with his students. "Unlike other classes, my students never create any kind of disturbance during the lecture. They respect and appreciate me," he said. Besides teaching at college, Sharma also trains other visually-impaired children on how they can read and write with the help of latest technology.

Like Sharma, Munni Kasera gathered herself despite losing vision when she was 18 years old due to retinitis pigmentosa. Kasera went on to do MA and BEd and works as a resource teacher for various projects of basic education department. She searches blind students in every district of the state and gets them enrolled in government schools. As her work involves field work, she takes the help of a servant. "My students get better understanding of concepts as I have seen both worlds (before and after losing eye-sight) and teach them accordingly," she said.

On the 16th death anniversary of Mother Teresa, special prayers will be held at the Missionaries of Charity, Sapru Marg on Thursday. The prayers will start from 6 am and continue during the day. Mother Teresa founded Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation which is active across the world.

SOURCE: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Rising-above-odds-they-i...