Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], January 11 : Hardik Kaushal has recently cleared the Rajasthan Civil Judge Examination, despite losing both his hands after a tragic electric accident during childhood.
Speaking to ANI here, Kaushal said that challenges are more mental than physical and stressed the importance of inner strength and self-belief.
"Nothing is physically challenging; I think it's all in the mind. Whatever has happened has happened; it is all in the past. You cannot do anything about it. What you can do is, how do you lead your life?" Kaushal said. He credited his strong mindset and unwavering family support for his success, recalling his grandfather's advice to remain mentally strong in the face of public scrutiny. "My grandfather used to say that people will question you, and people will come up to you. Your mental strength should be so strong that you don't let it affect you," he said.
"Even when I started writing, I had been away from home for five or seven years, and my family had never questioned whether I could do things myself. They know I can do it... Having such supportive parents makes you think, if they're so supportive, then what am I doing? I can do it myself," he added.
Narrating the electric accident, Hardik told ANI that he came in contact with a high-tension wire at the age of seven, which severely damaged his veins and left doctors with no option but to amputate both his hands. Initially, he learned to function using prosthetic limbs but remained dependent on his parents and teachers for basic activities such as eating food. He said in school there was a teacher who would first feed him lunch and afterwards would have food herself. Frustrated by this dependency, he decided to train himself to write and perform daily chores using his elbows while studying in Class 6.
He said that it was during summer vacation that he would lock himself in his room and attempt to write using his elbows. He said that for two months, no one in his family knew what he was doing as he didn't want to tell them until he was sure he could write with his elbows and didn't need prosthetics.
In Class 9, Kaushal said he completely abandoned prosthetics and relied solely on his elbows for writing and routine tasks. His determination and consistent effort eventually helped him overcome physical limitations and excel academically.