The tall statue of Ambedkar standing high on a pedestal welcomes guests who walk into the house of K. Sunitha, a hearing impaired girl. She is living with her parents in a small three-room house with asbestos roofing and the heat inside the house in summer is unbearable.
Still Sunitha is a happy girl as she had passed the Intermediate examinations with good marks. Her deafness had made her expert in lip reading, literally. Whenever lecturers give lessons facing the students, she follows it thoroughly by lip reading. “Sometimes I feel sorry for myself, as I could not understand what the lecturer says while writing on the blackboard. My friends Iswarya and Navaneetha helped me during Intermediate, while Pavani helped me in class X,” Sunitha told The Hindu .
However, continuing the degree course has become a serious problem for her as she doesn’t have any friends to accompany her to the college. Her parents Satyanarayana Goud and Padma eke out a living by working as daily wage labourers. But both of them encourage their daughter stating that she need not be disappointed due to her hearing problem, citing examples of those with serious disabilities making it big in life through grit and hard work.
“Though sometimes she gets depressed, we try to boost her confidence. With regular encouragement her confidence level has gone up,” said Ms. Padma stating that she would be admitted in a hostel if there are sponsors.
