Hearing disability didn’t stop this teen from following her passion

Having a disability can be hard, but it’s not the end of the road. If one can accept it and overcome disability barriers, then he/she can do whatever they want with their lives. One such teen living among us is Karthic Kalyani, a resident of Korattur. At the age of two, Kalyani’s parents sensed something was wrong with their daughter. She didn’t respond to their voices. Soon, they realised that their daughter has hearing loss in both the ears. When she turned three, Kalyani underwent a cochlear implant surgery and started using a hearing device in her right ear. Growing up, she started showing interest in dance and her parents enrolled Kalyani in Bharatanatyam classes at Railway Balabhavan Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Ayanavaram. Now, the Class 11 student is all set to perform her Bharatanatyam arangetram on February 14 in the city.

“I am so excited about my arangetram — I’ve been looking forward to this big day. Dance taught me how to be fearless and to follow my instincts. I have become more confident now. Though it was troublesome initially to dance using hearing aids, I got used to it over time. Also, while getting ready for any dance programmes in school, I make sure that the hearing aid is in place,” says Kalyani.

Kalyani’s mother Sree Krithika and father Karthikeyan are proud of how their daughter has overcome her disability and followed her passion. “When she was four, Kalyani started showing interest in dance. She used to dance at home watching TV. We understood that our daughter was so passionate about dance and enrolled her in Bharatanatyam classes in her school. Kalyani was so happy to attend the classes and interact with other students as well,” recalls Krithika, the proud mother of Kalyani.

Krithika tells us that one of the best decisions they made for Kalyani was to make her embrace hearing aids from the start. “My daughter was only three and a half years when she started wearing hearing aids. Like any other child, the device did bother her. But dance made her overcome those challenges. She is so determined about what she wants to do in life. I think that made her the teen she has become today. Kalyani never complained of her disability —she coped with her limitations and promised herself that hearing loss will never hold her back from achieving her dreams.”

Teaching dance to students with disabilities needs a lot of patience and understanding and from Kalyani’s story, it is evident that her dance guru Sara Agnello played a huge role in shaping up the dancer.

“I haven’t seen any student like her in my dance teaching career. To be honest, I don’t know how she grasps the mudras and talas so quickly. If you make her understand the entire dance sequence through a story, she will remember it easily. Kalyani never wants her hearing disability to let her down — she strives to be a source of inspiration to other dancers with hearing loss,” reveals Sara.