This is the story of Geeta Chouhan, who was born in a middle-class family of Mumbai. At the age of 6, polio took her into its grip and snatched away from her ability to walk. Due to her condition, she was denied admission to private schools, so she ultimately completed her education till SSC in a government school, after which her father was against her further education. He was of the view that it was no use wasting money on her studies as she was going to sit at home all her life. He believed that she will never be able to go out and work.
On the contrary, her mother had complete faith in her capabilities. So she got her admitted to a college. But sad about the constant lack of support from the family, she decided to look for a job in the newspaper. She gave 28 interviews in a month and was rejected in all. Reason?? Her disability. But she did not give up and after regular efforts, she got a job in marketing.
She was always committed to achieve something big in life. During her college, she met Sujit who directed her towards her dreams and inspired her to dream big. Love blossomed and they wanted to get married. But Geeta feared of becoming a burden on anyone, so decided to become independent first. Sujit wanted her to pursue C.A., for which he got her shifted to a better college. Fulfilling Sujit’s dream became Geeta’s dream which was financially supported by Sujit.
She devoted her time completely to her studies. Her career mattered to her over everything else. All this while she could feel getting distanced from Sujit who left Mumbai and shifted to Bangalore. She believed that everything will get back to how it used to be, once she becomes a C.A. And when that actually happened, she thought of going to Bangalore and surprising him. On reaching there, a bad news was waiting for her. Sujit had met with an accident and was hospitalized. Clueless about what to do next, she brought him back to Mumbai. But Sujit’s condition worsened and eventually, he passed away.
Geeta was shattered with this great loss and she spent 5 years in depression. With the help of her friend, she overcame her depression and even started her own garment business. Though life was getting back to normal, still she could feel a void. It was then when she met someone online and was introduced to wheelchair basketball. She needed a distraction, so she readily joined the wheelchair basketball team, and gradually she started liking it. She feels that she forgets everything else when she plays and that makes her happy.
In 2017, she played Nationals in Maharashtra team. She always put in her best efforts in the game due to which she got selected in the Chennai Basketball Camp. With all the sincere efforts, she further got selected in the Indian team and today is an international player. She could walk using crutches earlier but now she can only be in a wheelchair. But she is determined that wherever life takes her, she will never lose hope and will keep trying. She is in a constant battle with herself, to make herself better every day.
She has even started playing tennis as well and dreams of representing India in the Olympics to prove to the world that she is not weak and she still has the ability to achieve anything.
Her determination is quite evident in her words, as she says,
“ Mil sake aasani se,
Uski Khwaish kise hai?
Zid to uski hai,
Jo mukadar mein likha hi nahin…”
Team SwachhAbility believes that sky is the limit for this brave girl, who has gone through so much but even then had the resilience to achieve her goals. In every adversity, she came out stronger than before and proved that she is ABLE.
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