Ashrita Varadarajan Iyengar

Ashrita Iyengar was born in Mumbai on 24 November 2004. Until the age of 9 she was a healthy, normally active, sporty girl. On 7 August 2014 she was diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis with a rare viral fever, and had to be taken to intensive care. She was in hospital for almost 4 months, and lost the ability to speak as well as three of her limbs. After her discharge from hospital, she could virtually no longer move, and could neither swallow nor speak. Work on her recovery continues both at home and at therapy centres.
Ashrita has many hobbies, including learning Korean and Japanese. She speaks English, Hindi, Marathi and Punjabi. From 2015 onwards she began using her toe for typing on her mobile and later on her laptop. During lockdown (2021) she started to become interested in painting, and began mixing colours with her right toe. She was encouraged by her family to learn to paint at home. After the second lockdown she began to speak a little. Ashrita has achieved all of this thanks to the great efforts she has made.