a story of a boy must read

[Guest guest]

'God has always been planning things for me'

July 28, 2008

Shobha Warrier

Naga Naresh Karuturi has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore.

You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are

hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big

companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He

has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when

I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will

come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me)

Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says,

"God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am

lucky."

Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.

Childhood in a village

I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village

in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad

was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were

illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha)

the importance of studying.

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the

way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My

father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer

them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to

make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and

how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember

plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.

I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with

my friends. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders

who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would

run away to the fields!

I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!

January 11, 1993, the fateful day

On the January 11, 1993 when we had the Sankranti holidays, my mother

took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From

there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my

grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my

mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many

people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door.

It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide

throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding

from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs.

The accident had happened just in front of a big

private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident

case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a

government hospital. First I underwent

an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also

bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that

gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my

father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my

parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to

develop. But what could my ignorant parents do?

In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.

I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also

remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the

hospital for three months.

Life without legs

I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs.

Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention

rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and

biscuits. Thanks & Regards, Niranjan