Kerala: Thirty-year-old Santha was born without hands in a financially poor family in Thirssur.

By the time she joined school, she had taught herself to read and write using her legs. Though her parents never found out the reason for her disability, they managed to put her through school with the little they earned.

“My parents cared so much for my education. I studied in an ordinary school. By their grace and that of the God I am able to work now,” she says.

Today, Santha works as an accountant with the Society for the Disabled in Thrissur. She attends to phone calls, keeps ledgers, and even uses a computer, all without a trace of self-pity.

“I am able to do all kinds of work. I collect cash, write a day book, post ledgers,” she says. Her employers, too, speak highly of her.

“She's been working here for seven years, and is the most efficient employee here,” says the Society manager T V Mathew.

Santha is now keen on securing a full-time government job. It's a dream she has nurtured for sometime now and despite obstacles, she hasn't lost hope.

Trying to level the playing field all her life, she has proved that physical disability isn’t always a handicap.