In 2018, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, she was facilitated with Nari Shakti Puraskar. This Bengaluru woman is a scribe and has written 700+ exams in the past 10 years, not for herself, but for others who are disabled and needy people. She made it possible with a lot of courage, sacrifice, and selflessness. For those who don’t know the dictionary meaning, scribe means “a person who copies out documents, especially one employed to do this before printing was invented.”
Pushpa Preeya, in an exclusive interview with Life Beyond Numbers, shares why action is more important than pep talks and that we all can do something to make a difference in society. She made it possible with a lot of courage, sacrifice, and selflessness.
Growing up amid financial constraints, life was not a cakewalk for Pushpa and her brother. She is the sole earning member of her family after her father’s demise. Juggling between family and social responsibilities over the years has made her a strong woman. And therefore, she understands the power and value of education so well.
The pain of not being able to pursue education due to financial problems is not alien to her. And that is the only thing she can relate to when she talks about her education. “I was scared of exams myself, but today it was my 700th exam as a scribe. I understand how difficult it can be for people who cannot study or do something good in life simply because of monetary issues,” says Bengaluru based Pushpa Preeya.
Lending a helping hand
“I used to work for ‘Samartha’, which is an NGO for the Blind back in 2007. It was there, when a friend asked, why can’t you write exams for the disabled?”
It will be unfair if we say that till now she has lent a helping hand to the people in need, she is their listening ear as well. “The visually impaired people want to write in their mind, but their hands cannot support their actions,” she said in her TED talk speech.
“I write for people belonging to these five categories, those who are visually impaired, have cerebral palsy, are affected with Downs syndrome, mentally challenged, and who have met with an accident,” she said.
“Whenever there is an exam, a lot of people also suffer from anxiety and due to that, they are not able to perform well. By helping them, I am helping myself in a way as writing for people belonging to the different fields has helped me to increase the horizon of my knowledge.”
Five years from now, she says, she wants to open an organization where she can help people who are suffering from mental illnesses. “I write because I believe that only this is how they will be able to go to the next level. I also used to run a blood donation camp called ‘We Help India’,” she said.
On being asked how she takes care of her financial needs, she concluded by saying, “I was engaged in 9 to 5 IT jobs last year but somehow I was able to take out time for writing exams. Money is important, but it is not everything. Life is not profit and loss. We also have limitations and have to take care of the people close to us or simply do what we love to do. Therefore, we have to set lines for ourselves as well when it comes to giving something for other people. We are not saints, but everyone can do something for others and help them to move forward. And that is enough to make someone feel good.”
More power to you Pushpa. May the force be with you in touching many more lives with your work.