'Being a visually challenged girl, there were a lot of challenges, but my parents and teachers helped me a lot to conquer them.'
Seventeen-year-old Kafi, an acid attack survivor from Hisar, Haryana, is one of the CBSE Class 12 toppers this year.
Kafi scored 95.6 per cent in the CBSE Class 12 board examinations in the results announced Tuesday.
A Father's Pride
Kafi's father Pawan who works an autorickshaw driver and a contract worker in Chandigarh, expressed his immense happiness and pride over his daughter's achievement.
"I am very happy and proud of my daughter. She has performed very well. She topped in Class 10th as well. When she was two years old, our neighbours had put acid on her. She became blind after that incident.
"I am a contract worker and also run an autorickshaw here. I always say that no kid's willpower should be broken, one should always support their kid," Pawan told ANI.
Talking about the acid attack on Kafi, he mentioned that a neighbour had poured acid on her when she was just two years old.
"When she was two years old, our neighbours had put acid on her. She became blind after that incident. For six years we went to the hospital, just in case at least one of her eyes gets better and so she can see, but we made a lot of efforts, but everyone said that her vision will not return.
"After completing her treatment, we started her studies. Now she just has to put effort, and wherever she wants to go I will take her," Pawan added.
Trauma, Triumph And The IAS Dream
Kafi aspires to become an IAS officer.
"I am a student of the Institute for the Blind in Chandigarh. I scored 95.6 per cent in Class 12. In Class 10, I scored 95.2 per cent. I am an acid attack victim, and my target is to become an IAS officer."
"Being a visually challenged girl, there were a lot of challenges, but my parents and teachers helped me a lot to conquer them. We have limited access to resources but technology helped us a lot. My main source of study was audio and textbooks," Kafi added.
Watch Kafi emphasise the importance of hard work and positive thoughts as she describes her success journey in this video below.
Kafi credits the success of her good score to the teachers. "My parents have been my support system and inspiration. The way they have sacrificed for me, I just want to pay back to them. This pushes me a lot to do better in my life.
"For the students out there, I want to say that social media is not going to decide our future; we have to do hard work. We will have to be humble and be a good human being."
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