New Delhi: Despite all odds and challenges in life, Yoga has changed the life of a 14-year-old girl suffering from Down Syndrome with a 75 per cent intellectual disability. In a heartwarming moment on Saturday, Anvi Vijay Zanzarukia, popularly known as ‘Rubber Girl’, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. “We had lost all hope in life when one day my wife discovered Anvi used to sleep with legs touching her shoulder as it give her relief in pain. That day I noticed flexibility in her body and encouraged her to perform Yoga,” said Anvi’s father Vijay Zanzarukia.
He added that practising Yoga has decreased her dependability on medicines. She had undergone open heart surgery and she is suffering from mitral valve leakage at present. She has a disability in the large intestine due to 21 trisomy and harsh spring disease. She also faces difficulty in speaking.
Yoga has given a new life to our daughter. Every day she practices Yoga for an hour in the morning and evening. In competitions she has performed with other normal children and has won many awards, said her mother Avani Zanzarukia.
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Anvi, a resident of Gujarat’s Surat, is suffering from Down Syndrome with 75 per cent intellectual disability. She won Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar on January 24 this year.
She was accompanied by her parents who have arrived in Delhi from Surat to participate in an event on Thursday, later they approached the Prime Minister’s Office with a request to meet the PM and they were amazed after they got a call from the Prime Minister’s Office confirming their meeting.
It is like a dream come true. It was possibly the biggest day of her life where she met PM Modi and performed yoga in front of him, Anvi’s father Vijay Zanzarukia said.
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He added that she used to call PM Narendra Modi as “Namo Dada”. During the meeting she performed yoga in front of him, the PM also appreciated her efforts and blessed her with a great future. He has promised to meet her next time when he comes to Gujarat.
It was like we are sitting with a family member and he (PM Modi) interacted with Anvi and said he will talk about her in Maan ki Baat. He is a very grounded person with a great gesture, he said.
During the meeting, she also got a signature of PM Modi on her Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar certificate.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
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