Her struggle to fight with the odds started at the age of three when she was infected with polio which squeezed out the strength from her legs.
But the limb weakness did not discourage her from achieving academic laurels. Mahajabeen Madarkar, a native of Vijayapura who is now pursuing Masters in Dermatology from Fr. Muller’s Medical College, Mangalore, is no less than a synonym for dedication and hard work.
Having recently received Achiever’s Award on World Day for Disables by Women and Child Welfare Department of Karnataka, Dr. Madarkar said that her early days in school were hard.
“Since I could not travel on my own nor my parents had time to take me to school every day, I obtained special permission from school to study from the home and attend only exams, thus I missed most of the classes”, she said.
Despite staying away from the teachers, she scored 92 per cent result in her SSLC and joined PU in Dharwad. There too she had to study at home mostly and was going to college only during lab sessions.
Daughter of Sahebpatel Madarkar, a retired accountant, she had performed exceptionally well in PU by getting 93 per cent which enabled her to join MBBS from KIMS, Hubli by clearing CET in third rank in the disabled category.
Now a proud father, Mr. Madarkar recalls his struggle while trying for his daughter’s recovery. “We took her to numerous doctors, but none of our efforts paid off, finally we gave up hopes to see her on her feet”, he said.
He said that the family had also gone through a phase when they felt that daughter was a burden on them.
Meanwhile, the humble, Dr. Madarkar expressed gratitude to her farther for helping her achieve her dream to become a doctor. “Without him and the family support, I would not have been what I am today”, she said.
