“Today I am 80% disabled, and all of you are 100% able-bodied. If I am doing so much despite my limitations, then what’s stopping you?”, Swarnalatha J ends her TEDx speech with this question to a spellbound audience.

The founder of Swarga Foundation – India’s first NGO to support differently-abled patients with neuromuscular disorders – Swarnalatha is also a professional singer, writer, photographer and motivational speaker.

Her indomitable spirit has overpowered her physical disability, and today her crown is bejewelled with incredible achievements while she is infusing new life to hundreds. Talking to The Logical Indian, Swarnalatha J shares her firm resolve to dissolve the stigma and stereotypical perception about disability in the Indian society.

She has received many awards and recognitions Not a fairytale past

Born as the second of four daughters in a lower-middle-class family in Bengaluru, Swarnalatha had a difficult upbringing primarily due to financial problems. The patriarchal mindset of her family failed to make things any easier for her.

After 10th, she enrolled to study Diploma in Computer Science. It was one fine morning during her college days when she met with a terrible accident. With a fractured jawline, she was unable to speak or eat for six long months, but the fire in her never dwindled for one minute.

Following multiple surgeries, Swarnalatha was able to become healthier soon. After completing her Diploma, fund constraints at home forbade her to pursue higher studies, and Swarnalatha started her first job at the mere age of eighteen, barely an adult.

Having lost her father at a young age, she had to shoulder a lot of family responsibilities alongside financial support.

“When I got married to the love of my life, my family disowned me as it was against their will”, she recounts the darker shades of her vibrant life.

Having overcome so many obstacles in own life, when her daughter was born in 2011, Swarnalatha was determined to gift her the life of a princess, “the way every girl deserves to be treated.”

The career path was beaded with hurdles

At her first job, she was fired over an inconsequential issue. She persevered and continued bettering her skills every single day, and soon Swarnalatha would find herself working with heavyweight corporate houses like ITC, Mitsubishi and Audi – companies most others can only dream to be a part of.

Yet, the silver lining in the cloud dulled out soon, as she was compelled to resign from Audi after her diagnosis with a deadly disease, probably because the corporate giant considered their precious employee a misfit now.

She is inspiring many with her amazing motivational speeches The biggest shock

When Swarnalatha was at the doorstep of sailing into her thirties, the greatest trauma of her life shattered her to the core.

“It was October 26, 2009, just a day before my wedding anniversary. I was completely okay in the morning. Towards the afternoon I started feeling slightly feverish, so I simply took paracetamol. By the evening I was neck down paralyzed.”, she recalls in her TEDx speech how her life took a whirlwind turn within a wink.

Soon the hospital reports confirmed it to be Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, a rare neurodegenerative disease, with little chances of recovery. With a gradual paralysis and malfunctioning of different body parts, today she faces difficulty in many daily activities, yet she always finds a reason to smile.

The ever-smiling Swarnalatha J The turning point

Completely dejected and withdrawn from life, she soon found herself trapped in the dark alleys of depression.

“At one point I wanted to end my life. Looking at my husband and son, who was just two years old then, I realised they did not have any part to play in my diagnosis. That’s when I decided to give life another chance”, she shares, adding how seeing other patients in the hospital helped to bring about in her an optimistic outlook towards life.

Coming across differently-abled children and seeing their struggles, Swarnalatha felt blessed about herself. She decided not to pity herself anymore; an inner voice urged her to do something to help differently-abled individuals to whom every day poses a new struggle.

Helping differently-abled individuals live a better life

She actively started conducting puppet shows, face painting, ‘mehndi’, yoga and other skill-based workshops among patients of multiple sclerosis. Raising awareness about the disease, soon Swarnalatha became a ray of hope for everyone who is mistreated, marginalised and pitied due to their disabilities.

This paved the way for the birth of Swarga Foundation in October 2014 in Coimbatore, which she co-founded along with her husband Guruprasad T S.

Swarga Foundation’s projects As the name goes, Swarga Foundation is creating heaven for differently-abled people across India. At the outset, th…