Even to think of a life without vision is frightening, yet there are those who not only live such a life but also excel in their academic and professional fields to emerge as big-time achievers. Uncomfortable as it may sound to be without vision, only those who shed their inhibitions, find a way to maneuver through life with discomforts, and face challenges strongly, become victorious in the end. Similar is the story of Maharashtra’s Pooja Kadam, who took up every challenge that came her way gracefully and cracked UPSC CSE 2020 while battling visual impairment.
Today, Indian Masterminds presents the story of this young girl who finally achieved her dream, even though it took her a long time and five attempts to do so.
EARLY LIFE
Pooja is the youngest among four sisters, who are highly educated and well-settled in life. Their father is a retired school teacher while their mother is a housewife.
A resident of Taka village in Ausa taluka of Latur district, Pooja has been living in the Hadapsar area of Pune since her Class XII. She studied up to Class X in Keshavraj Vidyalaya, Latur, and further completed Classes XI and XII from Dayanand College, Latur.
After completing her schooling, Pooja enrolled herself in Pune’s Fergusson College, where she completed her graduation in Arts. She further did her post-graduation in Political Science from Indira Gandhi National Open University.
LOSING HER EYESIGHT
The journey to the top was never easy and was paved with hurdles and nightmares for Pooja, the biggest being her loss of vision.
In 2014, while she was pursuing graduation from Fergusson College, she started losing vision in her eyes. After 2015, it became worse. Initially, she found it difficult to see at night. Gradually, it became a struggle for her to spot people or see things clearly even in the daytime. Reading and writing had become even more difficult for her. By the time, she appeared for her UPSC examination, she had lost 75 percent of the vision in both her eyes due to a rare retinal disease.
“I spent hours going to doctors who said it was a rare disease which happens to one in one lakh people. I kept taking medical treatment. However, there was no improvement in my eyesight. It kept falling regularly. Now, I am left only with around 25 percent vision in my eyes,” she said in an interview with the media, adding that her only hope to regain her eyesight remains with UK doctors.
“We have been told by doctors in the country that the UK offers treatment for my condition. I hope I will get a chance to go to the UK and improve my vision,” she said.
YOGA HELPED HER
Pooja panicked as she slowly started to lose her eyesight. She blamed her fate and started falling into depression, wondering why this was happening to her. It was yoga that pulled her out of this phase and helped her regain her will to move forward in life.
“I didn’t understand why it had to happen to me. I was cursing fate and was depressed. Yoga, especially Vipassana, helped me change my outlook and infused a sense of determination in me. I then decided to put in all my might to achieve my goal. And I am glad I was able to do that with full support from my family. I have three sisters and they have been my pillars of strength,” she said.
UPSC JOURNEY
Pooja studied hard and prepared for her UPSC CSE examinations but as fate would have it, she was unable to clear them in her first four attempts. These failed attempts were also a blow to her and broke her heart, but she wasn’t a quitter. She gathered her courage every time and gave her best into preparing for the fifth attempt at UPSC.
Her hard work paid off when she cracked UPSC CSE 2020 in her fifth attempt with AIR-577. “Of the four attempts, I had once reached the interview stage but still could not make it. There were several hurdles but I am not the one to easily give up. I made a fifth attempt and it was a moment of high five for me,” she said in an interview.
She now wishes to work for rural women’s empowerment and wishes to provide them with the life of respect that they deserve.
Speaking about her goal to help the rural folks, she said, “Urban women are better placed than rural womenfolk. Urban women have lots of opportunities, avenues, and platforms available for their growth. Unfortunately, this is not the case for rural women. Many of them are married off at early ages. They are not even allowed to complete their education. This is what I intend to change. I want to bring rural women into the mainstream of public life, encourage them to go for higher studies, help them in developing leadership qualities and find career opportunities for them. This will give me a sense of fulfillment.”
