Disability Doesn't Makes You Sit Back At Home- Meet Aditi Verma

At first glance, ‘Aditi’s Corner’ in Bhoomi Mall, CBD Belapur, looks like any other eatery: a couple of chairs and tables neatly laid out; packets of chips hanging on one side; microwave atop a clean marble platform and a glass shelf displaying pastries and cupcakes. However, there is something unique about this stall. Aditi Verma, 22, who runs the eatery, has Down Syndrome, but it is barely evident, as she meticulously takes down lunch orders, greeting every customer with an endearing smile.

“I always loved cooking, and would surprise my mom with dishes I picked up from YouTube videos,” she says. Her parents and brother wanted to nurture this passion — besides making her self-reliant — and gifted her with the eatery on New Year’s Day last year. Within the third month itself, Ms. Verma had achieved break even.

For her parents, it was heartening to see the distance Ms. Verma has covered. They were devastated when she was born with Down Syndrome. At the age of two-and-a-half, she was diagnosed with a hole in her heart and had to undergo surgery in Escorts Hospital, Delhi. “In the beginning, we were clueless about what we should do, as we saw the many challenges her disability presented socially,” says her mother Reena Verma.

On the advice of the doctors, the parents decided to motivate Aditi to lead as normal a life as possible. “We never treated Aditi differently from her brother and encouraged her to pursue her dreams,” says her father Amit Verma.