Thiruvananthapuram: Young medico K. Asna prefers not to remember the crude bomb blast that shattered her childhood. Even 17 years after, her health condition worsens often. Ulcers on her prosthetic leg remind the ordeal she had been undergoing since the fateful day on Sept 27,2000. 21-year old Asna was busy preparing for the MBBS third-year internal exams at Kozhikode Medical College when DC spoke to her. She was in the first standard and standing in front of her home at Poovathur in Koothuparamba in Kannur along with her mother M. Santha and little brother K. Anand when suddenly a crude bomb ripped off her right leg. Her family members suffered minor injuries.
Asna says all culprits were punished, but memories of the gory incident refuse to leave. She suffers from a bad limp. During the first year of her medicine course, her hostel and hospital were close by, which lessened her physical travail. Empathetic college authorities constructed an elevator for her last year. “But now I have to walk a lot to various departments, and the monthly postings are at different places," said Asna, who aspires to be a surgeon. "So this year, recurrence of ulcers on my leg is hurting. Doctors ask me to take rest, but I do not want to miss classes. The pain makes me stronger, and it gives me the urge to do more.”
On the National Girl Child Day on Tuesday, Ms Asna reassures girls who had faced setbacks in life: “Education is most important to cope with obstacles in life”. She believes it will help them to survive odds. “We need to rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix as the more we fight, success will taste sweeter,” she adds. Her father, K. Nanu, used to carry her on his shoulders to school daily. A teashop owner, he then moved closer to Poovathur Government School to make the school trip less demanding. He is happy for his daughter, whose indomitable spirit gives him the courage to go on. Little brother Anand is now studying first year nursing at Kannur Medical College.
