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Malvika Iyer (born 18 February 1989) is a social worker and disability rights activist having lost both her hands as a child when she picked up a grenade.[2][3][4][5][6] She is also a model for accessible fashion.[7][8][9] Iyer obtained her Doctorate in Social Work from Madras School of Social Work in 2017.[10][11] Her doctoral thesis is on the stigmatization of people with disabilities.[12][13][14]

Early life and injury

Iyer was born on 18 February 1989 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu[15] to B. Krishnan and Hema Krishnan.[16][17] She grew up in Bikaner, Rajasthan, where her father worked as an engineer at the Water Works Department.[17] On 26 May 2002, at the age of 13, Iyer lost both her hands when she accidentally picked up a grenade that exploded in her hands at her home in Bikaner[3][18][19] and sustained severe injuries to her legs including multiple fractures, nerve paralysis and hypoesthesia.[20]

Education

Following her hospitalization, Iyer appeared as a private candidate in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate examination in Chennai.[17] Writing the exam with the help of a scribe,[17] she secured a state rank among the private candidates.[15][12] She was invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan by the then President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.[15]

Iyer moved to New Delhi, where she studied Economics (Honors) at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, followed by a Master's in Social Work at the Delhi School of Social Work.[20] She did her M.Phil and Ph.D in Social Work[7] at the Madras School of Social Work, where she secured first class with distinction and won the Rolling Cup for the Best M.Phil. Thesis in 2012.[21]

Activism

She hosted the India Inclusion Summit in 2013.[22] An advocate for accessible fashion, Iyer walked the ramp as a showstopper for NIFT and Ability Foundation in Chennai where she emphasized the need for designing clothes with functionality and style for people with disability.[23] In 2014, she was selected as a Global Shaper to the Chennai Hub of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.[4][24] She joined the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development's Working Group on Youth and Gender Equality and in March 2017 she was invited to deliver a speech at the United Nations in New York.[3][12][25][26] In October 2017, she was invited to Co-Chair the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit held at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi.[27]

Recognition

Iyer receiving the Nari Shakti Puraskar from President Kovind on International Women's Day, March 2018

Iyer received the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian honor for women for contribution to women's empowerment, from President Ram Nath Kovind on 8 March 2018 on International Women's Day.[28][29] On 8 March 2020, she was selected by the Honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to take over his social media accounts.[30][31][32] She is the recipient of the first Women in the World Emerging Leaders Award in New York in 2016.[7][13][33] She was recognized as one of the 100 Change Agents and Newsmakers of the Decade by Deccan Chronicle in 2015.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Blast Survivor Got Her "Only Finger" After Surgery. Her Story". NDTV. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. ^ Krupa, Lakshmi (15 April 2014). "How birds of a feather found followers". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "From where I stand: "Being a person with disability is challenging. Being a woman with disability adds extra challenges"". UN Women. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  4. ^ a b Thomas, Mini P (6 November 2016). "Able to inspire". The WEEK. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  5. ^ Kanal, Nishtha (18 April 2018). "Spreading inclusive love". Deccan Chronicle.com/. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  6. ^ Menon, Priya (15 April 2018). "Sketching a fighter's tale". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Bijur, Anupama (6 May 2016). "Looking beyond limitations". Femina. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  8. ^ Harish, Ritu Goyal (23 October 2015). "Life Took This Fashionista's Hands So She Grew Wings". Fashion101. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  9. ^ Joseph, Raveena (3 August 2015). "The pursuit of happiness". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  10. ^ Thomas, Mini P (20 December 2017). "'I was horrified by the way people looked at me'". THE WEEK. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Meet Malvika Iyer, the PhD scholar and Disability Rights Activist whose photo everyone's sharing". InUth. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d Shetty, Sudhanva (17 March 2017). "From Bomb Blast Survivor To UN Speaker: The Story Of Malvika Iyer". The Logical Indian. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. ^ a b Menon, Priya (16 April 2016). "She makes a difference with her grit". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  14. ^ Kapoor, Aekta (3 October 2017). "She Lost Her Arms So She Armed Herself With Courage Instead". eShe. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  15. ^ a b c Saraswathi, S (17 September 2014). "Malvika Iyer's amazing story of grit!". Rediff. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  16. ^ Koshy, Tessy (27 July 2015). "'I'm glad both my hands were blown off'". Friday. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  17. ^ a b c d Bhattacharya, Saptarshi (28 May 2004). "Where there is a will there is a way". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 April 2017.[dead link]
  18. ^ Raghuraman, N (30 July 2009). "Never say die". DNA. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  19. ^ "This 28-Year-Old Global Icon's Story Proves the Power of a Mother's Love and Determination". The Better India. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  20. ^ a b "An IYER for the differently-able". Deccan Chronicle. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  21. ^ Menon, Sudha; Ferose, V.R. (2014). Gifted : Inspiring Stories of People with Disabilities. India: Random House India. p. 156. ISBN 9788184005455.
  22. ^ Ray, Aparajita; Prasher, Garima (30 November 2013). "Summit helps disabled persons help themselves - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  23. ^ "Include, in style". The Hindu. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  24. ^ Vasudevan, Shilpa Kappur (9 March 2015). "Making lemonade out of the lemons life threw at her". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  25. ^ "Closing session Launch of CEDAW for Youth, Youth Forum (CSW 61)". UN Web TV. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  26. ^ Luo, Christina (7 April 2017). "Take Up Space With Your Voice". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  27. ^ Benu, Parvathi (11 September 2017). "Your daily dose of inspiration: After losing her hands at the age of 13, Malvika Iyer is now a world famous motivational speaker". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Women achievers honoured". The Hindu. 17 March 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  29. ^ "International Women's Day: President Kovind honours 39 achievers with 'Nari Shakti Puraskar'". The New Indian Express. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  30. ^ "Bomb-blast survivor Malvika Iyer tweets message of courage on Narendra Modi's Twitter handle". The New Indian Express. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Who is Malvika Iyer, one of the women handling PM Modi's Twitter handle?". Deccan Chronicle. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  32. ^ "#SheInspiresUs | The seven women handling PM Narendra Modi's social media accounts". The Hindu. PTI. 8 March 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  33. ^ "Meet Women in the World's Emerging Leaders". Women in the World in Association with The New York Times - WITW. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2017.

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