Meet the real-life winners. You’ll think twice before giving up after you hear their stories

InKo Centre is a cultural organization focusing on art, culture and holistic living drawing on ancient traditions of India and Korea.

“Happiness Conversations” is the series of reflective conversations on the theme of facing life’s adversities with courage. On the first day of this month, the first talk of the series was  presented by life coach AVIS Vishwanathan and his wife Vanni.

The world we live in has its share of burdens. Jobs no longer come with stability; health issues and relationships go awry. As individuals we are fighting our own battles in the pursuit of happiness. It calls for a lot of mental strength and new attitude. Mr. Vishwanathan said, “There is a lot of drama that happens and we are so caught up with the characters that we take things very seriously. One must find ways to be happy.”

Vaani Vishwanathan recounted their own harrowing bout when they were reeling under debt and bankruptcy and how finally they recovered. “Happiness Conversations” is a treasure of stories about people who faced the challenges of life with confidence and came out as victors.

The guests of one evening were Malvika Iyer and her mother Hema Malini Krishnan. Their’s was a tale of raw courage with which they dealt their real life crisis. Malvika was just 13 when a live grenade exploded in her hands in 2002. The family was residing in Bikaner, Rajasthan where an ammunition depot caught fire, and grenades and shells were scattered across the city. One such shell landed in their house and a young curious Malvika when grabbed it, it went off. Reminiscing of the mishap she said, “I’d lost about 80 per cent blood and whatever remained was probably in my head – because I was awake and aware of the happenings.”

Malvika lost both her hands, injured her legs. Her nerves too got damaged. It took her two years to walk again. Her family was busy inquiring about artificial hands when they got to know about a German  company through Internet.

Malvika appeared for her 10th state board exams as a private student where she obtained a State Rank. That caught the attention of local media and even scientist and former President APJ Abdul Kalam. He invited her to Rashtrapati Bhavan. She went on to graduate from St. Stephens College in New Delhi and did her Masters in Social Work. Malvika told the gathering, “At first, I thought this was the worst that could happen to me. But that’s not true; there are many new challenges to face every day. And that makes life.”

Now the 27-year old is a motivational speaker who addresses at corporate  houses and colleges. Her TEDx talk was extremely well received and she is a model for accessible clothing and ha walked on ramps too.

Malvika credits her mental strength to her family and friends, “They never treated me as different. My mother ensured no one hurt me and it is her positive spirit that keeps me going.”

And as this beautiful young woman told her tale there was not a dry eye in the audience.

And Vaani sums up life in the best way: “The problem is we think we are controlling things, and when things don’t go our way, we think we are being victimised. But life never promises to be fair.”

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