Malvika Iyer
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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Malvika_Iyer.png/220px-Malvika_Iyer.png)
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
- ^ "Blast Survivor Got Her "Only Finger" After Surgery. Her Story". NDTV. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ Krupa, Lakshmi (15 April 2014). "How birds of a feather found followers". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Thomas, Mini P (6 November 2016). "Able to inspire". The WEEK. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Kanal, Nishtha (18 April 2018). "Spreading inclusive love". Deccan Chronicle.com/. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ Menon, Priya (15 April 2018). "Sketching a fighter's tale". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^ a b c Bijur, Anupama (6 May 2016). "Looking beyond limitations". Femina. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ Harish, Ritu Goyal (23 October 2015). "Life Took This Fashionista's Hands So She Grew Wings". Fashion101. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ Joseph, Raveena (3 August 2015). "The pursuit of happiness". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ Thomas, Mini P (20 December 2017). "'I was horrified by the way people looked at me'". THE WEEK. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ "Meet Malvika Iyer, the PhD scholar and Disability Rights Activist whose photo everyone's sharing". InUth. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Menon, Priya (16 April 2016). "She makes a difference with her grit". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ^ Kapoor, Aekta (3 October 2017). "She Lost Her Arms So She Armed Herself With Courage Instead". eShe. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Saraswathi, S (17 September 2014). "Malvika Iyer's amazing story of grit!". Rediff. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ Koshy, Tessy (27 July 2015). "'I'm glad both my hands were blown off'". Friday. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ^ 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]
- ^ Raghuraman, N (30 July 2009). "Never say die". DNA. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "An IYER for the differently-able". Deccan Chronicle. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ Menon, Sudha; Ferose, V.R. (2014). Gifted : Inspiring Stories of People with Disabilities. India: Random House India. p. 156. ISBN 9788184005455.
- ^ Ray, Aparajita; Prasher, Garima (30 November 2013). "Summit helps disabled persons help themselves - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Include, in style". The Hindu. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Vasudevan, Shilpa Kappur (9 March 2015). "Making lemonade out of the lemons life threw at her". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Closing session Launch of CEDAW for Youth, Youth Forum (CSW 61)". UN Web TV. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ Luo, Christina (7 April 2017). "Take Up Space With Your Voice". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Women achievers honoured". The Hindu. 17 March 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ "International Women's Day: President Kovind honours 39 achievers with 'Nari Shakti Puraskar'". The New Indian Express. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Who is Malvika Iyer, one of the women handling PM Modi's Twitter handle?". Deccan Chronicle. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ "#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.
- ^ "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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