People with physical or other kinds of disabilities, are often looked down upon, mocked at, subjected to sympathy or considered as unfortunates, by so called ‘normal’ people, as if they are of no use to the society. Some of them accept this humiliation, as God’s will. However, many people like Helen Keller, have proved the society wrong, by achieving extraordinary feats. One of them is Gujarat’s Kalpesh Patel.
Swami Vivekananda once said, “Take up one idea, make it your life, think of it, dream of it, live it. Let every part of body, be full of that idea. Keep everything else aside, and you will succeed.” Kalpesh followed this to the core. Getting polio at the age of 5 months, Kalpesh suffered from extended period of sickness, due to which he was restricted to bed for months. Born a weak child, Kalpesh’s immune system failed to cope against polio virus, which claimed one of his legs.
This however, failed to deter Kalpesh. He realized the significance of education early, and was good at studies. He also used to assist his father, in running his small business. At the age of 18, Kalpesh lost his father. With his father’s business being the only source of living for the family, as the eldest son, Kalpesh decided to concentrate on the business, sacrificing his personal aspirations of higher education.
The business was not in good shape. Add to it, the responsibility of education and marriage of his younger sister, and fulfilling his family’s needs. But despite all odds stacked against him, Kalpesh managed to overcome all of them. After sometime, he was successfully able to improve the condition of his father’s business. Kalpesh did a market research himself, and became a small scale diamond merchant.
Slowly but steadily, Kalpesh’s business grew bigger. What began with a few thousand rupees, is now worth crores. He is now happily married, father of 2 kids, and leads a luxurious life along with his family. He considers starting an organization, dedicated to appropriately assist the specially abled. Kalpesh’s story is the stuff legends are made of, and has motivated many in Gujarat, as well as all over the world.