His name is Gunvant Singh Deval. He hails from Durga Kheda, a village 77 to 79 kms from Udaipur. Born without hands, Gunvant Singh held a pen in toes and started writing. Later, he gave up the pen to hold hammer and chisel and started turning stones to statues. He is now 51 but never let the handicap affect his life. On one hand where he topped in his class, there on the other hand he has been awarded by the President for his paintings and his sculptures.

Since childhood, he was extremely bright. Born to Ishwar Singh and Indrani, he held pen between his toes and started writing and painting followed. When he had passed eight standard, he sought admission in Udaipur’s Vidhya Bhawan school but was denied on the grounds that other students might make fun of him.

On a later stage, he had to give up studies after his second year in Arts because of unavoidable family circumstances. He took to farming and now owns 30 acres of land. His father was also a passionate writer who passed away in 1984 in a road mishap. Gunvant’s first wife left the world because of kidney problems and now he has two sons from second marriage who are studying in Chittorgarh.

To improve family’s financial condition, Gunvant had taken to making sculptures which are a big source of income for him. The only thing he regrets sometimes is the fact that because of his handicapped status, he couldn’t get a government job but he wishes to prove to the world that nothing can stop you from achieving your goals if you are honest and dedicated towards your dreams.

Inputs drawn from Dainik Bhaskar