Kolkata slum girl fights epilepsy and poverty to shine as a karate champ

It’s a perfect rags to riches story. The riches are not in rupees but the fame that this teenager from a slum in Kolkata has earned for herself and the family.

Eighteen-year-old brown belt Ayesha lives with her family in a packed one room house which is sandwiched between two biryani shops in the Beniapukur’s congested lanes. The girl has fought poverty and epilepsy alike to stand victorious.

She was also the only girl in a 12-member Indian team which represented the country in Thailand in 2013 to compete in the Thai Pitchai International Youth Karate Championship. And these efforts are being paid off.

Ayesha is the only Indian girl whose life, struggle and achievements will be documented by the US-based Independent Television Service—a non-profit organisation that promotes and funds international documentary film projects.

Ayesha flaunts her certificates with elan

Ayesha’s inspiring journey

Ayesha started learning karate while she was barely 10 after seeing her elder getting trained under Ali, a world karate champion in 1988. Her father, who was a taxi driver and a bodybuilder, died four years ago.

Talking about the sport, Ayesha says, “Karate demands strict discipline and training to maintain consistency.”

A teenager crusader

Ayesha inspiring transformation from a sickly teenager to a crusader is being made into a documentary and will be part of the Women and Girls Lead Global, an initiative that uses the theme of the triumph of the underdog to promote positive change on gender issues. Way to go girl.

Image courtesy: thetelegraph

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