Dhanya Ravi : A happy soul beneath the broken bones

March 7, 2017

Pursuit of Happiness was a brilliant movie, but what if it was a person?

Here we bring to you the inspirational life story of Dhanya Ravi, a young passionate girl from Kerala, settled in Bangalore. The girl who found happiness beneath her broken bones. Born with a genetic disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, (brittle bone disease) and living with more than 300 fractures in her body, Dhanya’s smiling face would make us feel ashamed of the things we crib about in our daily lives. From her early childhood days, she began to recognize OI as her lifelong partner, which just wouldn’t bow down to any treatment or medicine . She chose not to play the blame game or give up her dreams, instead she focused on making the best out of what was available to her. The story is not any different today, after 27 years of this journey.

There can’t be a better testimony for her will power than the 300+ fractures in her body which failed to break her spirit. Her ability to accept life as it comes with an optimistic zeal is only overshadowed only by her bright and winning smile. When life threw her one spin ball after another, she found her groove in music and charted her path through numerous interests. From a freelance content writer to inspiring numerous others as a motivational speaker and riding the internet wave as a digital marketer, she is unstoppable. Dhanya is also actively involved in a Trivandrum based Charitable organization which helps connect people living with a similar condition.

Let’s directly hear about her adventurous journey !

‘The greatest blessing in my life is each time when my bone fractured both my mom and dad stood next to me with tears in their eyes but with a tireless spirit which just refused to give up.’

I never read any motivational or self help book through my childhood days but I had those select few who poured out their unconditional love, support and empathy through some of those excruciating times at home or hospital. I was rejected by quite a few schools in Bangalore because of my condition but i never viewed this as my failure because ‘I believe it is all about embracing the purpose.’ All I wanted to do was to be able to read and write. A friend of mine, who stayed in the neighbourhood was only too willing to share her academic books and a

neighboring aunty volunteered to teach me till high school. This early foundation opened up a whole new dimension for me. Her consideration and absolute selflessness to share her time and resources with me were a life changer for me. It makes me reflect how many of us actually step out of that small niggling question ‘ what’s in it for me?’ to really put themselves out and extend ourselves to those in need.

Later after my studies, i would stealthily take over my brother’s computer whenever he would step out and started learning my way around to connect with the world outside. Google became my knowledge guru and soon I got in touch with like-minded people through online forums. I taught myself the nuances of blogging, content writing, and editing. Music was a haven for me and still is. Through the social media platform, I was able to connect with singers and meet people of eminence.

It was one of those days I came across a newspaper report. It was an appeal for financial support for the treatment of a boy named Binu Devassya, an OI ( Osteoporosis imperfecta) sufferer from Wayanad, Kerala. Within no time I got in touch with him along with his caretaker. That was my introduction to Mrs. Latha Nair, a very inspiring woman to whom I look up to with admiration.

I was determined to seek help from my online friends and connected them to Latha aunty. Together we could raise enough for Binu’s treatment. Little did I know our association would give a new meaning to my life. The success of the mission gave birth to Amrithavarshini Charitable Society (www.amrithavarshini.org), India’s first NGO society for OI affected people! Beyond positive socialization, it helped us to learn from each other’s experience.’ In our society, very few people know about this genetic disorder. There are 7000 Rare diseases in our country. Most of them are incurable. The only way to control this situation is by spreading awareness. ‘I dream of a generation where the technologies and the doctors could identify it at the early pregnancy stage.’

Through this journey called life, I learned that everyone has their own purpose in life and this is my call. I don’t want to spend time in regrets over what I couldn’t achieve or the places i couldn’t visit. Rather, i would just like to master the things I’m good at. I owe an immense gratitude to all the people who have been part of my life. My parents taught me that inabilities were there to be surmounted, my friends/cousins taught me the lesson of love and laughter and made me feel at ease with my own demons. The social and musical groups I’m part of taught me many valuable lessons. The people who I admire taught me lessons of being selfless and being compassionate. My Google guru taught me the lesson of being a champion; to learn, to grow and to seek out opportunities. Today I’m happy to say that I may not be a successful person but definitely a person with tons of happiness.