“Limitations are not outside you, they are within you,” thus goes a saying. This has been proved by inspiring stories coming from the nook and cranny of this planet down the ages. As dark clouds of negativity crowd the horizon, such stories warm the cockles of our hearts. The last few months have been hit by the unforeseen Covid virus that came like a bolt from the blue. But as we look around, we are reassured that silver linings do exist, some close to us, some away from us. This week, Indian Currents took a conscious decision to throw light on those lives of grit, courage and optimism. Their stories proclaim in no uncertain words that if we can overcome the feelings of limitations within us, no outside force can stop us from touching the sky, climbing the ladder of success step by step.

The latest stirring story comes from none else but Olympian Anju Bobby George who revealed that she achieved success and reached the top with a single kidney. In a revelation that stunned everyone, she stated that she had suffered from many limitations and complications, but she did not allow those constraints to come in her way in moving from one success to another till she bagged a medal in World Athletics Championship. It was nothing but her indomitable spirit that helped her overcome the limitations. The terrible news that came to her as she was standing at the springboard of her athletics life could have shattered her and ended her dreams. But she took it in her stride instead of straying away from her path. 

Another motivating story was broken by British newspaper The Mail a couple of years back, but came to limelight again recently, showcasing the life of 39-year-old Selwa Hussain who ‘carries her heart in a backpack’ after an operation. The woman, a mother of two children, suffered a heart failure and had to be rushed to a hospital where the doctors implanted an artificial heart after removing the original one. But the supporting unit is kept in a backpack which she carries where ever she goes. Hers is the rarest of a rare story. What is awe-inspiring is that despite leading a life bound by life-threatening constraints, she keeps a smiling face unlike many glum faces one gets to see among people living in the midst of luxuries.

We are portraying one more life to highlight the point that it is one’s mind that creates limitations rather than the body. It is the life of Jilumol Thomas, born without both hands, who drives her car with relative ease. Well, that is not the end of her story; she is a painter; she is a designer; she is an animator and motivational speaker; and she works in an office. In short, she has defied all odds to lead a normal life like any other girl. 

We know this is not the end of inspiring stories. There are scores and scores of them across the world, like South Africa’s ‘blade runner’ Oscar Pistorius, the four-time gold medal winner who runs on prosthetic legs. But these are enough to prove a point: One’s limitations are in the mind and there are no limitations that can’t be surmounted. Let us give the last word to former President APJ Abdul Kalam on how to conquer our limitations: “All birds find shelter during rain. But Eagle avoids rain by flying above clouds.”