Janki Goud, a village girl from Madhya Pradesh might be visually impaired since birth but that didn’t stop her from pulling off a spectacular achievement. She did India proud many times and her story is one that needs to be told to inspire millions of people.
Her parents were frightened to let Janki step out of the house because of her disability. They were always worried about her safety. For Janki, life didn’t end here. It was just a beginning! She proved the world that there is life and success beyond her disability.
For sure, her inspirational story is worth the weight in gold. Well, what did she do to become a champion? It was in the year 2010 that Sightsavers, as well as NGO partner Tarun Sanskar, looked after Janki. From this moment, life took a U-turn for Janki and since then there has been no looking back for the champion.
Since 2014, she was given the much-needed training in self-defence and Judo. She developed an interest in that field and decided to take the sport very seriously as she participated in National championships. In 2016 and 2017, Janki came through with flying colours as she clinched silver and gold medals respectively at the Fourth and Fifth National Judo Championship for Deaf & Blind.
The outstanding performance at the sport made her one of the 14 contestants to feature for India at the Judo Asian & Oceania Championship held at Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 22nd to 29th May 2017. She also led the team of 14 participants from 5 different states of India. Her astute leadership traits helped the team get the better of Thailand, Korea and Uzbekistan in women’s group competition and won India a Bronze Medal.
Janki’s journey to success didn’t come that easy. Her parents are daily wage labourers and they struggled so much to run the family. But now, Janki’s father is immensely proud of his daughter’s success. He was also congratulated over the phone by CM of Madhya Pradesh, Sri Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Her ultimate goal is to participate in 2020 Paralympics Judo competition and win Gold Medal for India.
The one and only disability in life is ‘Bad Attitude’. This is the message that Janki Goud delivered to the world. Congratulations, Janki Goud! The Youth salutes you and wishes good luck for your future endeavours!