Success has never been easy for someone coming from an ordinary background. If a person achieves academic success in the early years, then goes on to get top class scores in higher courses, he is an inspiration to aspiring students. Most students feel overwhelmed by studies and doubt their abilities to be top scorers because of hurdles such as background, school, and other learning tools usually acquired by a privileged few. Imagine the odds against someone with the usual setbacks and add to that an inability to hear and speak. This is the story of young Shivayogi who fought against all odds to score 96% in Karnataka PU (Science) this year and dreams of becoming an engineer.
Communication and Understanding
Communication is something that binds humans together. The process involves exchange of information between people. It’s a known fact that hearing provides a window to the world. When a person has a hearing impairment, he will be deprived of opportunities to experience the world of sounds and usually fails to understand or make sense of what’s happening around him. The result is delay in speech and language development, making it difficult for academic work, recreation, vocation and other social participation.
“A doctor in Dharwad confirmed Shivayogi’s speech and hearing impairment and advised us to get him treated at ‘All India Institute for Speech and Hearing’,” says Nagaratna, Mother of Shivayogi. “We further admitted him at ‘Rotary West Institute for Mother and Deaf Child’ for a four-year training course. The special training provided by the educators there, Ratna Shetty in particular, helped him reading and comprehending lip movements and overcome the problem in learning,” she says expressing gratitude.
Trying to fit in
When Shivayogi turned six, he got admitted in one of the renowned schools in Karwar i.e. KHEP High School of KPCL where his father himself was a staff member. Since his early days he always had problems coping up with society. Interacting with peers and family members caused irritation and tested everybody’s patience. Even when he felt optimistic some incident would make him aware of his disability.
“I used to be cynical about my abilities as there used be instances when people around me had to compromise so many aspects, which sometimes made me grumpy and dejected,” says Shivayogi.
He started to read books about inspiring people particularly Bharat Shetty Barkar who battled similar fate as his with optimum success.
He began believing in his abilities and started expanding his knowledge to broaden his horizons. He now wanted to achieve as much as possible. It is not as if his problems and conflicts disappeared, but he did change. “I have begotten an endurance to cross over the hurdles that are laid before me,” pens Shivayogi.
The result of his new found courage was an astounding score of 606 out of 625 marks in SSLC exam. This success instilled the highest level of optimism in him and he decided to pursue PUC in the stream of Science.
Aiming Higher
Though Shivayogi had created a stir in SSLC exam through his stellar performance, taking up Science in Pre-University level would prove to be a daunting task as education in North-Karnataka had not reached such a stage to support speech and hearing impaired children with a flawless education.
The educators at ICS Mahesh PU College, Dharwad, Shivayogi recognized his special talent early on. However, they were not used to dealing with a student like Shivayogi since oral communication is considered to be one of the most effective and primary modes of communication in teaching. They took up Shivayogi’s case as a challenge and his grit and determination became the determining factors.
Using Technology as a Tutor
Constant ‘lecture mode’ learning increases fatigue. Most children have short attention spans and find it hard to keep abreast. For Shivayogi this was an even bigger challenge. He resorted to Robomate to overcome this problem. The interactive study material which is carefully designed to ensure maximum and adaptive learning helped him approach studies in a different way. Robomate became Shivayogi’s constant companion since he found it easy to follow.
Shivayogi scored an aggregate of 96.5% in PCMC and an overall score of 93% in PUC II year. He thanks technology and emergence of the internet as more and more content is being shared online. Shivayogi has also cleared JEE Mains.
Shivayogi’s story is truly inspirational since it highlights the human qualities that have always differentiated between achievers and also-rans. That is determination and hard work.
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