[Survivor Series] Despite being physically disabled and poor, my parents encourage me to forge my own path

My name is Apoorva. I am a motivated and artistically inclined student from a village in Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka. My parents are both differently abled, having suffered from the after-effects of polio on different limbs.

My father is a farmer trying to grow ragi on his small rain-dependent field, and my mother is into tailoring to augment our family income. We also rear a few sheep.

My parents always had profound respect for education and thus encouraged me and my younger sister to study and score well. I have studied in a government school in my village in Kannada medium, and later in a government college nearby.

My parents and teachers are my cheerleaders having encouraged me to pursue extra-curricular activities, which I did successfully. I was also a district-level prize winner for Ghazal singing, and a taluk level winner for dance and drama. In sports, I have aced Javelin throw at taluk level. The pandemic put paid to further competitions and prizes, however my efforts were profiled on the UNICEF India Facebook page with a video clip of my talk on the occasion of Girl Child Day celebrations.

I have also been supported by Vidyadhan- a flagship higher education scholarship programme of the Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives. Financial problems hinder the growth of several people, so I am especially thankful to Vidyadhan for removing this barrier from my path.

I have a great interest in art and design. I have taken the advice given to me that my career should ideally be built on my best skills. I am now studying BSc Animation and VFX at Alva’s College, Moodabidri. I feel there are vast job opportunities for me in illustration, gaming, advertising and film and TV, and I am looking forward to using my natural talents.