Living one day at a time

HYDERABAD :  We have all heard of the idiom ‘take one day at a time’, which means to deal with each day’s problems as they come instead of worrying about the future. Naropanth Santoshi from Miyapur, Hyderabad, who goes by the name ‘Yours Truly San’ on YouTube, literally lives every day just like that. 

Diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare muscular dystrophies) when she was 25, the 37-year-old, though wheelchair-bound for the past few years does not let that deter her from dreaming about every day full of possibilities.

An MCA graduate who works as a senior analyst at an IT company, Santoshi has started a 21-day ‘micro thought-provoking challenge’ on her YouTube channel. The reason behind her challenge: “We have become impatient and we complain about every small thing, instead of being grateful for what we have.” 

In the challenge which has finished eight of the 21 days, she comes up with a new thought “which might transform us for a better future.” She says, she wants people to introspect and “Uses the perspectives of a wheelchair-bound person and other personal experiences for content.” She adds, “The societal transformation happens with an individual, collectively making a better society.”

Until now the short three-minute thought-provoking videos in English have covered ‘how not to lose balance and catch the wrong path, even when life is hard on you’, ‘misuse of disabled parking, lifts, escalator and staircase’, ‘complaining’, ‘concept of unlearning’, ‘love/hate’, ‘discipline/patience’, ‘anger issues’ and ‘self-love’. Some of the other concepts she will be talking about will be on celebrating life and acceptance.

Why 21 days? Santoshi answers, “According to research it takes 21-28 days for a mindset to change.” The challenge is uploaded on her channel at 6 pm daily. “I want people to slow down, stay calm, introspect and enjoy their lives,” she says. “We have had a super rough 2020. All we can do is to hope and pray for a better 2021,” she adds.

— Tamanna S Mehdi  tamanna@newindianexpress.com  @tamannamehdi