Young author honoured for generous attitude

Young author honoured for generous attitude

When Muskan Devta was born prematurely, in her home country of India, doctors said she would not survive. But Muskan, which means ‘smile’, proved the doctors wrong and is now a happy 15-year-old with a passion for writing and fundraising for worthy causes.

The Birkdale teen has another reason to smile, she is a finalist in the Junior Award category in the 2014 Attitude Awards. The national awards celebrate the excellence and achievements of Kiwis with a disability.

Muskan and her family relocated to New Zealand in 2004 to seek better healthcare for her medical condition, partial hemiplegia, which makes half her body much weaker than the other. Adapting to a new country, language and school came with its challenges for Muskan. She became extremely shy and buried herself in books.

But through her love for books and reading she developed a passion and talent for writing. At nine-years-old she wrote and published a story about Lord Genesha – her version of how the Hindu god of wisdom and success got an elephant’s head. Proceeds from the book were used to purchase an exercise bike for the Wilson Home in Takapuna, where Muskan received treatment for her condition.

“I didn’t even realise when reading and writing became my strength,” she says. “I loved reading. I loved writing. In fact, I grew so fond of it that my teachers began asking me to help them edit my peers’ work.”

Last year Muskan published her autobiography, I Dream, to raise money for Starship Children’s Hospital where she underwent long-awaited corrective surgery. Just this month she donated $500 of her birthday money to support the Breakfast Club, a programme providing breakfast for low decile schools in Auckland. Her future goal is to fundraise to build a girls’ school in the small village of Orissa, India.

A shy girl no more, fundraising and writing has given Muskan a huge confidence boost. She has presented a popular programme on Radio Tarana called ‘You and Muskan’, was school captain and even gave a TED talk last month.

The generous teen will find out if she has won the Junior Award at a gala dinner on World Disability Day, December 3 at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.

There are eight categories in the 2014 Attitude Awards: Sport Performer of the Year, Courage in Sport, Artistic Achievement, Youth, Spirit of Attitude, the Attitude ACC Employer Award, Making a Difference Award and the inaugural Attitude Junior Award. The overall winner of the Attitude ACC Supreme Award is selected from the category winners and a People’s Choice winner and a Hall of Fame inductee are also announced on the night.

Attitude Awards Trustee Dan Buckingham, a member of the elite national wheelchair rugby team the Wheel Blacks, says: “This is such an exciting time for everyone at Attitude Pictures because we find out who the finalists are. We have started travelling the country to film the finalists and even though this is the seventh year, their stories continue to amaze us.”

Dan encourages everyone to visit AttitudeLive.com, an innovative web platform created by Attitude Pictures, in early November to see the short films of the finalists and to vote for the person most deserving of the coveted ‘People’s Choice Award.’

The Junior Award is sponsored by Barfoot & Thompson. Other sponsors supporting the awards include: Invacare, Westpac, IHC Foundation, Drake Medox, Ministry of Health, Air New Zealand and Wayne Francis Charitable Trust.

Chief Executive of ACC Scott Pickering says ACC is proud to be principal sponsor of the awards for the seventh year, including sponsorship of the Attitude ACC Employer Award and the Attitude ACC Supreme Award.

"I'm really looking forward to this year's Attitude Awards, which are a significant event on New Zealand's calendar. Through celebrating excellence in the disability community and the important contributions made by New Zealanders with disabilities, the awards have the power to shift perceptions and to enhance lives."

For tickets to the Attitude Awards gala evening on Dec 3 contact Sue Wales-Earl at sue@attitudeawards.org

For all the latest on the Awards and the Attitude Programme:
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Watch previous awards footage at www.attitudelive.com

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