List of famous people who are handicapped.

Sudha Chandran:    

At the age of 17 due to a car accident, she lost her right leg and doctors claimed she cannot move again in her life. She had to spend several months in a wheelchair. But she has overcome her disability by prosthetic ‘Jaipur foot’.

She is one of the extolled dancers in India. Till date, she has given a number of stage performances and acted in 40+ movies in different languages and more than 40 television shows. She has given several dance performances worldwide as well.

Arunima Sinha:

Before accident itself, she was a national level volleyball player and national level football player. At the age of 28 while she was resisting thieves who are trying to snatch her bag she was thrown away from a moving train and after falling while she was trying to move another train had run over her leg, due to which she lost one of her legs and was bed ridden.

But her willpower couldn’t let her down. Once she got prosthetic leg she resolved to climb Mount Everest. She started her training and ultimately became the first female with amputee to climb Mount Everest and also first Indian female with amputee to climb Mount Everest.

H Ramakrishnan:

At the age 2 and a half, he was affected by Polio and it lead to 85% of disability. This has led him to face several hard incidents throughout his education and career. He was denied admission to the local school and had to join another school at another place. Even after clearing UPSC exam he was denied post of a reporter, translator or news reader due to his disability.

His disability did not stop him from being success and inspiration to many. He became the first person on Tamil News to hold the mike and shows his face on TV. He is currently the CEO of SS Music channel. He can play musical instruments like Mridangam and Kanjira.

H. Boniface Prabhu:

At the age of 4 due to a blotched lumbar puncture, he became quadriplegic for rest of his life. Being in a wheelchair throughout his life his willpower has made him one of the inspiring sportsperson of India.

He is the first Indian to win a medal in Paralympic games. He represented India in 6 different sports at international sports events for over 50 times. He represents different sports like Shot Put, Badminton, Table Tennis, Javelin Throw, Shooting and Discus Throw. He is the founder of Boniface Prabhu Wheelchair Tennis Academy, this academy provides free sports training to differently abled people. He has participated in many major events like US Open 1998, Australian Open 1999 and many more.

He has received Padma Shri award (the fourth highest civilian award) from the government of India in 2014.

Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla:

At the age of 1 due to high fever, her entire body got paralyzed. After receiving electric shock treatment for 2 years continuously her upper body started showing response but her lower body remained paralyzed forever.

She started her sporting career in several sports like Shot Put, Discus Throw, Javelin Throw. She has over 300 titles throughout her career. At the age of 28, she has received Arjuna Award for her contributions in sports. At the age of 33, she received Padma Shri award and also became the first disabled person to receive this award. She represented India in many major events like Paralympics, commonwealth games, World Masters and so on. She runs Mathru Foundation through which she helps disabled children from rural India.

This list goes on with people like

Stephen Hawking – He is one of the most brilliant scientists and his works in physics and cosmology are remarkable. He suffers from rare ALS disease which has paralyzed him totally and now he communicates with his single cheek muscle.

Beethoven – He is great music composer and a pianist. He became deaf at the age of 30 but still continued to compose and most of his famous compositions are done while he was deaf.

Helen Keller – When she was 19 months old due to illness she became blind and deaf. But her determination made her fir blind deaf person to earn a bachelor degree. She was an author, political activist and lecturer.

Marla Runyan, Tanni Grey-Thompson and many more.

These people are a true inspiration and example who prove that anything is possible in life if we have strong will power to do.

Please share stories of such people which inspired you in the comment section below.

Thanks!!

List of inspiring Speeches.

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam Speech @ IIT Madras

A P J Abdul Kalam a great man is an inspiration for many people below is one of the greatest speeches by him.

Few quotes from his speech and full speech link below:

“You have to fight the hardest battle which any human being can ever imagine to fight and never stop fighting until you arrive at the destined place that is your UNIQUE YOU.”

………….

“Set a Goal, Acquire knowledge continuously, hard work with devotion, perseverance. “

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhdUj_5PAX4

Find all his great speeches below:

http://www.abdulkalam.com/kalam/theme/jsp/guest/content-display-more.jsp

Azim Premji – “The Changing World”

Chairman of Wipro Limited and philanthropist. He has guided Wipro through four decades and has seen many ups and downs during the course of the journey. Below is one of his inspiring speeches.

Few quotes from his speech and full speech link below:

“Be alert for the first signs of change”

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“Anticipate change even when things are going right.”

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“Change is the only thing that never change. So better adapt to it”

Text: http://www.gowrikumar.com/insp/pdfs/Azim_Premji_on_Change1.pdf

Narayana Murthy’s Speech at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management

Co-founder of Infosys, one of India’s leading IT firm. He is a true inspiration for remarkable leadership and management. Below is one of his great speech given at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Delhi.

Few quotes from his speech and full speech link below:

“The primary difference between the West and us is that, there, people have a much better societal orientation. They care more for the society than we do. Further, they generally sacrifice more for the society than us. Quality of life is enhanced because of this. This is where we need to learn from the West.”

…………

“Our intellectual arrogance has also not helped our society. I have traveled extensively, and in my experience, have not come across another society where people are as contemptuous of better societies as we are, with as little progress as we have achieved. Remember that arrogance breeds hypocrisy. No other society gloats so much about the past as we do, with as little current accomplishment.”

………

Text: https://thejeshgn.com/wiki/great-speeches/learning-from-the-west-nr-narayana-murthy/

J K Rowling, Author of HARRY POTTER SERIES speech at Harvard 2008

She is Author of worldwide famous HARRY POTTER SERIES. One of the very few authors who became famous worldwide with a huge number of followers. Below is her speech at Harvard 2008.

Few quotes from her speech and full speech link below:

 “So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.”

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“You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UibfDUPJAEU

Text: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/

Steve Jobs – Speech at Stanford University 2005

He doesn’t need any introduction. Co-Founder and CEO of Apple Inc, CEO of PIXAR, CEO of NEXT Inc. He has revolutionized the mobile industry with great products like iPhone, iPad and etc.., below is his inspiring speech in which he briefs about different lessons he learned from his life.

Few quotes from his speech and full speech link below:

“Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

………..

“It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. “

…….

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.”

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ptbiPoXM

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

Bill Gates – Speech at Harvard 2007

Co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist. Below is his speech at Harvard 2007.

Few quotes from his speech and full speech link below:

“But humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries – but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.”

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“The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.“

………

“Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have — whether it’s something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bednet.”

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPx5N6Lh3sw

Text: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/06/remarks-of-bill-gates-harvard-commencement-2007/

Oprah Winfrey – Speech at Stanford 2008

She is well known for her talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Her life itself a true inspiration. Below is her speech at Stanford in 2008

Few quotes from her speech and full speech link below:

 “When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.”

…………

“And what I've found is that difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper because life always whispers to you first. And if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream. Whatever you resist persists. But, if you ask the right question—not why is this happening, but what is this here to teach me?—it puts you in the place and space to get the lesson you need.”

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“To be happy, you have to give something back.”

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpd3raj8xww

Text: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/june18/como-061808.html

Jim Carrey – Speech at Maharishi University of Management 2014

Famous celebrity and comedian. Below is his speech at Maharishi University of Management 2014

Few quotes from his speech and full speech link below:

“Fear is going to be a player in your life, but you get to decide how much. You can spend your whole life imagining ghosts, worrying about your pathway to the future, but all there will ever be is what’s happening here, and the decisions we make in this moment, which is based in either love or fear.”

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“I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. “

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“Your job is not to figure out how it’s going to happen for you, but to open the door in your head and when the doors open in real life, just walk through it. Don’t worry if you miss your cue. There will always be another door opening. They keep opening.”

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80-gPkpH6M

Text: https://www.mum.edu/whats-happening/graduation-2014/full-jim-carrey-address-video-and-transcript/