TREND SETTER

Born and raised in a small village called Deulwada situated in the Arambol, Pernem in North Goa, Krunal is a differently-abled youth who defied all the odds to become a winner. He is a law graduate and is working towards the well-being of the society in which he lives and he also wanted to help others by getting into politics soon. Our team has covered this inspiring story for you.

NEVER GIVE UP!

By IG Team

IG Team - Please tell us a little bit about yourself & your background. Krunal - Let me formally introduce myself: I am Krunal Kiran Thakur, residing at Deulwada, Arambol, Pernem, Goa. I am the first child of Kiran & Karishma Thakur, born specially-abled on 09th June 2001 I am 21 now and though I was born in Goa, due to the service of my father, who was a military man, I had spent the first 2 years of my life in Gujarat. During the first 2 years of my life, I grew up in a c o m p l e t e l y d i f f e r e n t atmosphere/environment. I used to interact in the Hindi language with others & my e n t i r e e n v i r o n m e n t w a s completely different from our home-state. IG Team - Talk us through your childhood, how you dealt with your disabilities and what you did to ensure they didn't affect you too much. Krunal - After spending two years in Gujarat, when I returned to Goa, I found it really tough to cope with the first-ever change in life, as I couldn't speak or understand Konkani & therefore, I literally became dumb. But I slowly overcame my problems & learned Konkani to interact with others. When my mother took me to Harmal Panchakroshi School for primary admission, the then principal, Mr Dabholkar sir was kind enough to welcome me with open arms. He took a test to assess my knowledge & was pleased after realizing that I am mentally sound. He was very supportive, instructed all his staff to cooperate with my parents & also very alert to solve any difficulty which c r e a t e d h u r d l e s i n m y education. Let me make one thing very clear here, though I am a disabled person, I was never treated separately/differently b y m y s c h o o l / c o l l e g e teachers-staff, my friends & their parents, or my relatives. IG Team - What are the challenges you faced during your childhood while growing up & how did you manage them? Krunal - My life is full of challenges, so you can 't differentiate challenges in c h i l d h o o d o r a t o t h e r p a r t i c u l a r a g e s . I s t i l l remember how my parents, particularly my mother, used to carry me & run from one place to another to take me to school, to the doctor's clinic etc. As a disabled person, I personally went through a lot of physical stress as coping with a hectic schedule is not very easy & often difficult for abled people also. Apart from that, I witnessed two radical changes in my body, i.e., after 9 years & after 16 years. Both these bodily changes were difficult to cope with & made a strong physical impact on me but I managed to survive anyhow. I am involved in a number of activities, like social work, my business, education, and politics & therefore my mind is working more than my body. Due to my hectic schedule, I need to travel a lot & have met a n u m b e r o f p r o m i n e n t personalities, like toll leaders i n p o l i t i c s , e m i n e n t personalities in the medical field & other prominent wakes of life. IG Team - How challenging was it to getting admission into Law College? Krunal - God has not given me a fully functional body but he has given me will power abundantly. I have strong willpower & therefore I never h e s i t a t e t o a c c e p t a n y challenge. From the beginning becoming a lawyer was my dream. So, after completing my H.S.S.C. I applied for the B.A. L.L.B. at V.M. Salgaocar College of Law. The principal was kind & more willing to accept me as a law student. But still I went through the e n t r a n c e e x a m t o g e t admission for B.A. L.L.B. & I cracked the top 20 in that, so you can understand that I got admission to Law college on sheer merit. IG Team - Has your physical condition become a hurdle in your journey at any time? If so,

then how do you manage to deal with them? Krunal - Though my body has changed as per my growth, I n e v e r f e l t m y p h y s i c a l conditions become a hurdle in my journey. Yes, these bodily changes presented some problems before me, but due to my strong willpower, I often overcame them. When I was 9years-old, due to a change in my body posture and weight, I w a s f o r c e d t o u s e a wheelchair but I quickly adjusted to it & therefore I was successful in completing my High School level, College level education. Even now while pursuing my B.A.L.L.B. education, wheelchairs help m e t o a c q u i r e knowledge/education with more comfort, and more smoothly. IG Team - When & how do you get the title of a “Wheelchair person” & how do you feel about it? Krunal - As I narrated earlier, when I was nine years old, my parents found it difficult to carry me due to the growth of my body, my weight and the posture of my body. So, they decided to use a wheelchair to carry me to school & other places. Though the wheelchair is another burden for them, it helped them to carry me easily & thus I got the title of a ”wheelchair person”. IG Team - You are perhaps the first person from Goa to file a nomination for the panchayat elections. Do you have any plans to enter into politics? And how will you be able to manage yourself in this field? Krunal - Yes, I am the first disabled person in Pernem Taluka, more precisely the first w h e e l c h a i r e d p e r s o n i n Pernem Taluka who filed nomination for recently held p a n c h a y a t e l e c t i o n s . I presented work done by me, a n d m y v i s i o n f o r t h e development of my ward to my voters. IG Team - What are the future plans you have if politics isn't so successful? K r u n a l - I e n j o y e v e r y opportunity presented by life hence even if I don't succeed in politics, I will not feel bad. In fact, my decision to enter politics is completely based on a broad aim, to do something b e t t e r f o r m y d i s a b l e d community through politics. As politics is associated with decision making, framing policies, I decided to try my luck in politics. If I fail in politics, I will try some other option to pursue my goals, but will never leave my quest for s o c i a l w o r k , a n d s o c i a l responsibility. IG Team - Do you have a m e s s a g e f o r a l l t h o s e differently-abled people? Krunal - I don't think I have achieved anything significant yet nor am I old enough to give wise messages. But still, whatever I have gone through in life, I would like to advise my disabled brethren that don't get nervous due to hurdles presented by life & perceive t h e i r d i s a b i l i t i e s . Yo u r shortcomings as a challenge before you & try to overcome them. I am stuck in one place from birth but it never deters me from thinking big and achieving big. I have enjoyed life & still moving ahead without any grudge, or any ill feelings & have achieved at least something in life. So, my advice is just to move ahead, decide your goals & you will get a way to achieve your goals in life. Life is beautiful & try to enjoy it without any prejudice.