While most of us are busy with our daily household chores and office tasks, there is someone who is prepping up for a big day tomorrow. With a whirlwind of emotions going on inside her, she must be holding her breath before the crucial decision is made. Her belief in the beauty of her dreams made her cross miles and land in the aesthetic city of Warsaw in Poland to achieve something, majority of us can only dream of.
Pooja Bhargava is representing India among the 24 contenders from all across the globe to win the Miss Wheelchair World Title. She was chosen as India’s most popular woman in wheelchair to represent the country at the pageant. But it hasn’t been an easy journey for her. She was a teenager when she realized that she had a mild skin ailment which was actually lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body. Depressed by mistaken diagnosis and juggling between different hospitals, she took a firm decision of moving out of all this and taking control of her life.
With her legs bandaged, she started teaching at home with an unfinished physiotherapy degree. She went back to continue her education after being provoked by a comment of a student’s mother. She got the certificate course on the subject and further went on to do bachelor’s in computer science and post graduation later. She became financially independent by taking tuitions. But the life changing motivation came from Prabhat Ranjan, who has been working for the differently abled. He encouraged her to participate in Miss Wheelchair Pageant for which she would have to lose 15 kg of weight. She did it by strictly controlling her diet, learnt a lot from makeup tutorials on youtube and ultimately worked on her confidence.
Her dreams soon became bigger than her fears and her actions louder than her words. She was invited to deliver motivational lectures and share her experiences. She is the co-author of the book “Holding My Tears Close”. She feels that Divyang is a good initiative and wants to see it in practice as well so that it actually makes a difference in the society. She wants people to be more acceptable towards the those with special needs. Sharing about her encounters with the people she says that they asked her to offer prayers and to cry in front of God begging for forgiveness.
She accepted herself the way she is and wants the society to do the same. She thinks that the differently abled need to come out in open and not stay confined in the four walls of the house so that the people know how to treat them. They should be made familiar with the things they can excel in. Even after the pageant, she wants to look for ways by which the disabled can earn from home and become independent. She even wishes to take Miss Wheelchair Pageant to various other regions of India.
Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful. Priya Bhargava has always believed in herself and her capabilities. She has all our best wishes for tomorrow. Nevertheless, she has already won hearts of many with her confidence and positive outlook towards life.
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