Let me tell an astounding life struggle of "A LADY on WHEEL CHAIR ", who dreamt very big, launching her wings to the beautiful sky with an unstoppable spirit and fought against the turbulent storms which ruffled her life. Yeah, I am talking about “THE IRON LADY OF PAKISTAN ", MUNIBA MAZARI. A terrible road accident devastated her life. But she did not succumb to the obstacles instead she learned how to dust the sorrows off from her depressed shoulders and how to rise from the ashes of the destructive fiery perils just like a phoenix.
The dazzling star, was born on 3 rd March in 1987 in Baluchistan. She wanted to be an artist since she was a blooming child. But a gloomy night descended in her life suddenly. She was only 18 years old when she got married and she belonged to those conservative Baluch family where good daughters never say no to their parents. And of course, this was never a blissful marriage. Just after 2 years later, in 2007, she met a terrible car accident which twisted the journey of her life. Somehow her husband fell asleep and the car fell in the ditch. He managed to jump out and saved himself. But she stayed inside the wreckage of the car and sustained multiple injuries.
A thick veil of dreary clouds draped her life-sky and the rigorous struggle began. The list of her wounds was a bit long. Radius ulna of her right arm, her wrist, shoulder bone and collarbone were fractured. Her whole rib-cage, lungs and liver were severely injured. She could not breathe. She lost the renal bowel control. All her dreams and talents just died in the riddles of reality.
But the most dreadful was her spine injury, three vertebrae of her backbone were completely crushed and she got paralyzed for the rest of her life. Sadness flies away in the wings of time.
This accident took place in a far and abandoned area in the outskirts of a very small, dilapidated province Baluch, where there was no first aid, no hospital, and no ambulance. She was in the midst of nowhere in that toppled car. Many people came to rescue; they dragged her out of the car and took her to the hospital, which was three hours away from that place. The reminiscences of the bumpy ride were really terrifying. She finally ended up in a hospital where she stayed for two and a half months and underwent multiple surgeries.
The doctor had to go with using titanium implants for her arm. They also used metals to fix her back properly. That's why people of Pakistan called her “THE IRON LADY of PAKISTAN.”
Time hangs heavy on her hands. She was in the world of pessimism. One day doctor came and said, "Well, I heard that you wanted to be an artist, but you ended up being a housewife. Here's a bad news for you. Your wrist and arm are so deformed you won't be able to hold a pen again." Next day he came and said, “Your spine injury is so bad you won't be able to walk again." The brook of tears was flowing from her eyes. The light of hope was dimming in her soul.
Another day doctor came to her and said, "Because of your spine injury and the fixation that you have in your back, you won't be able to give birth to a child again." That day she was devastated.
Her spirit had been bruised by the brutalities of the outside world also. Her husband divorced her. But true lovers would never leave, instead would stay faithful and patient in the face of any remarkable vicissitudes. Her mother was that person, she stayed by her and inspired her by saying that God had a greater plan for her . Among all the distress and misery, those words were so magical that they kept her going.
She was going through an obscure, dark and derisory chapter of life. Her glistening smile was abolished completely and she was tired of looking at the hopeless white walls in the hospital and wearing those white scrubs. She wanted to add more colors to her life. So, she started to paint her life with vivacity, lying in the death-bed.
And when she was discharged, she went back home and realized that she had developed a lot of pressure ulcers on her back and on her hip bone. She was unable to sit. There were a lot of infections in her body, a lot of allergies. So, doctors wanted her to lie down on the bed straight for two years. She was completely bed-ridden, confined in that one room, looking outside the window and listening to the birds' chirping.
There was a rebirth day that she celebrated, after two years and two and a half months; she became capable to sit on the wheel chair. One day, she went in front of a mirror and talked to herself that she could not wait for a miracle to come in her life and make her walk ever! She could not sit in the despondent corner of the room crying cribbing and begging for mercy because nobody had time. So, she should accept herself where she was, the sooner the better. And that day, she decided to live her life for herself, she was not going to be that perfect person for others. Thus, and also by breaking the glass ceiling, her fiery spirit rose from the ashes of the somber pessimisms.
Her voice rose from the solemn tranquility, "I believe the power of words, which can make you, break you. They can heal your soul. They can damage you forever. So, I always use positive words wherever I go. They call it adversity, I call it opportunity. They call it weakness, I call it strength. They call me disabled, I call me differently abled. "The derision of her fortune could never vanquish her spirit and taught her how to liberate her soul and set it free to the beautiful world.
Her tears of untold grief trickled down her wrinkled cheeks. Her one of the biggest fear was that she won't be able to become a mother again and that was quite frustrating for her, but she kept her fingers crossed. Turning over a new leaf, she realized that there were so many children in the world all they want was acceptance. She gave her name in different organizations, different orphanages. Two years later, she got a call from a very small city in Pakistan. Thousands of ripples of jollities and blisses disheveled her optimistic heart. There, a man was sitting, and he was checking her out. Hovering between the hope and despair, in back of her head, she kept thinking that he was going to tell that a lady on wheelchair did not deserve it. But she became astonished when he said, "I know you will be the best mother of this child. You both are lucky to have each other. "Her revived face was glistened by a beautiful smile and she received the best gift of her life.
She started to express her unshared melancholy by her artistry. Gradually, she became a mix media artist and believed in depicting the ethnic jewels of her region in an abstract way. Some of her works was solemnly abstract which depicted the humans' expressions, their thoughts and dreams. Her painting gave the message of living life vivaciously and lavishly. She became honorable for being the first anchor that was on wheel chair. She had also left her imprint in the field of modeling and glorified her motherland to become the first wheel chair-bound model of Pakistan.
THE UNITED NATIONS ENTITY FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AND THE GENDER EQUALITY had named MUNIBA MAZARI as Pakistan's First Female Goodwill Ambassador to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. Currently, she is running her brand by the name "Muniba's Canvas" with the slogan 'Let Your Walls Wear Colors'. She became an active part of many social campaigns. She had always spread awareness about child violence and gender discrimination. She always worked for children's right and education and guided people against child abuse. Muniba Mazari got featured in BBC 100 WOMEN LIST for 2015.
Thus THE LADY ON THE WHEELCHAIR became successful to conquer all the tumultuous storm came in her life. Her iron resolutions triumphed over all the horrible obstacles and she reached the golden peak of success. By overcoming all the ups and downs with an unstoppable spirit as aggressive as fire, with a dazzling smile as beautiful as moon, she taught us a very precious lesson ---
Life is an amazing journey with a plenty of riddles. Nobody in this world can ever ignore the ridicule of destiny. So-
"Ruffling the dreams,
launching your wings,
Let's forget the grief,
Reminiscing the shaded leaves. "