Not weighed down by disabilities

Shamirpet: People born with disabilities develop strength from their childhood to fight against the odds. Vijaya Lakshmi Nara is one amongst those who have been fighting against these odds since childhood. Today, Vijaya Lakshmi, an artist, has proved the saying, "Nothing is impossible if you have passion for something."

Vijaya Lakshmi Nara has been residing in Turkapally village in Shamirpet. She grew up in a poor family. She has two brothers and one sister, of whom only her elder brother Nara Anand is normal and the other three siblings along with her are physically challenged. Theirs being a poor family, her elder brother Anand has taken it upon himself to care for his kin.

Speaking to Hans India, Vijaya said, "I'm not the only child who has been affected with this. My younger brother and sister are also physically-challenged. It's only my elder brother who is taking care of our family. My mother has always been my strength and she has always motivated me in my passion of drawing and painting."

She was never distressed because of her disability. Nevertheless, she was always a role model for the people with similar disabilities and the children of her village.

Her journey as an artist began when she was in Class 4. When children of her age used to go and play in grounds, she used to draw and paint the paintings of nature and had fun. Since then she understood that drawing and painting was her passion and gained happiness in it.

Along with her passion of drawing and painting, she has also been providing tuitions and applies mehendi designs, so that she can help her family in financial terms. She has also been conducting various exhibitions that have helped to build her self confidence.

Thanks to the government who helped in supporting her in conducting these exhibitions.

Recently, she, along with her team members at Padmavathi Institute for the Disabled, organised an exhibition called Telangana Divyang Kala Yathra by the wheel-chair using artists. At this exhibition, these artists visit zilla parishad schools and various other places to conduct programmes with an aim to inspire people of their ilk all over Telangana to achieve their desired goals.

Vijaya travelled to around five districts and is planning to cover another five in the upcoming weeks. She started her own YouTube channel in 2018 and till date she has uploaded more than 200 videos, which got her into limelight and that was when she decided to take this art as her career.