education

Updated: Jun 14, 2017 11:44 IST

Gritty Mumbai teen diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that restricts movement, bagged 88% in the Maharashtra Board’s (MSBSHSE) Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Class 10 results, announced on Tuesday. What’s more, she recently climbed 3, 500 steps (one way) 99 times in 40 days - a rare feat - during a festival celebrated by the Jain community.

Drashti Dhruv, 16, has been living with cerebral palsy since birth. She cannot hold a pen or write straight as her hand trembles violently. Her condition, however, has never stopped her from pushing harder to achieve goals - and clearing the SSC or Class 10 exam was a major one.

“I am happy with my marks, it was more than I expected,” said Dhruv, a student of Swami Vivekananda International School, Kandivli. “The board allowed me to take help from a writer during exams. I feel good to have challenged myself.”

She’s very disciplined with studies, and for the Class 10 boards she recorded her lessons on a mobile phone and revised them at leisure. In the last two months before the exam, Drashti burnt the midnight oil, said her father. “She was confident that her hard work will pay off and she will score above 80%,” her father, Vijay, said.

Drashti secured 98 out of 100 is general math. She bagged 90 in social sciences.

After the exams, she spent her summer holidays taking part in the special camps called Nuvanu yatras (99 journeys) for children organised by the Jain community. Participants embark upon a yatra at 5 am, take just one meal in the afternoon and only drink boiled water between sunrise and sunset.

Dhruv began the yatra every day at 4. 30 am and completed the exercise by 1.30 pm. She was allowed to eat only once in the afternoon. “An attendant from the camp helped her walk from the dharamshala (rest house) to the temple,” Vijay said.

Braving these conditions, she climbed 3,500 steps of the Shatrunjaya Hills 99 times in 40 days.This is where the Jains’ holiest temples are located. “We are extremely proud of her, she is stronger than all of us,” said Vijay.

Although she has not finalised what she wants to study after Class 10, her parents said Dhruv was fond of computers and was likely to take up science.