Nikita overcomes disability to win gold
NIKITA Govender, the young blind girl who featured in POST last week, has again emerged victorious.
The 8-year-old, from Shallcross, won a gold medal at the Provincial Children’s Tamil Eisteddfod hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Tamil Vedic Society at the weekend at the Parasakthi Temple Hall in Merebank.
She competed in the prose category and will next represent KZN at the National Tamil Eisteddfod this weekend at the Arena Park Regional Hall in Chatsworth.
Shivani Naicker from the Merebank Tamil School Society placed second, while Kenisha Pillay, of Pietermaritzburg, came third.
In a hotly contested children’s eisteddfod over two days featuring song, music and dance in the vernacular, the Durban South Region obtained overall first position taking the composite trophy.
Pietermaritzburg emerged as runnersup followed by the Lower North Coast region.
All the candidates, who obtained first and second positions, will compete with their counterparts from Gauteng, the Western Cape and North West Province at the weekend.
The event is being organised by the South African Tamil Federation.
After reading about Nikita in last week’s edition, Dr Micky Chetty, of the International Movement for Tamil Culture, said the brave little girl’s parents, Ronnie and Vanie, must be commended for encouraging her to participate.
“This sends a clear message to the Tamil youth and their parents that there should be no excuse not to participate or engage in any endeavours that are aimed at promoting or perpetuating our rich cultural heritage,” said Chetty, who has since pledged to pay for the Grade 2 pupil’s school fees at the Open Air School in Glenwood, Durban, for the year.
Another anonymous donor, who was at the eisteddfod, contributed in cash towards Nikita’s upkeep.
Malcolm Moonsamy, of the Sathya Sai organisation in Moorton, Chatsworth, will provide her with free tabla lessons, which will start in the new school term.
Nikita was born blind due to medical negligence and always showed an interest to attend weekly religious and cultural events.
Her dream is to become a singer and a lawyer.