Nishtha Dudeja

Dudeja was born on 29 August 1995 into a Punjabi family in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Her father, Ved Parkash Dudeja who hails from Panipat (Haryana), is a Vice Chairman in Rail Land Development Authority,[6] while her mother, Punam Dudeja from Ghaziabad, is a homemaker.[1]

Nishtha was born with a severe to profound hearing loss in both the ears. However, her parents came to know about it when she was 3 years old, due to lack of adequate medical facilities in Guwahati where her father was posted at that time. It was only after a BERA test was conducted on her at AIIMS, Delhi in 1998 that it was known to them about her being born with a hearing loss. She started using hearing aids and taking speech therapy lessons. She had to work very hard to develop her speech and language. On the advice of her speech therapist, she was sent to a normal school.[7]

Dudeja studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya Gole Market up to 10th grade in New Delhi and did her 11th and 12th in Ambience Public School.[8] Despite having Arts background, she was offered Commerce in graduation and she completed her Bachelors of Commerce from Sri Venkateswara College of University of Delhi. She is pursuing her Masters in Economics from Mithibai College, Mumbai.[8]

Dudeja did internship at UNESCO in Delhi after her graduation where she handled social media and other assignments to publicize the activities undertaken by UNESCO. This stint taught her how to deal with the challenges faced by the disabled persons at the work place. She was later invited by UNESCO, Delhi as a guest of honor at the celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.[9]

Dudeja was very energetic in childhood and at the age of 7, she was admitted to Judo classes by her mother. She played Judo for 5 years and won many medals at the State and National levels. When she was 12 years old, she had to leave Judo, as the Judo Centre got closed. Thereafter, having inspired by Sania Mirza, Dudeja started playing Tennis.[10]

Dudeja has been an international tennis player having represented India three times at International Games. She participated in Deaflympics – 2013 (Sofia, Bulgaria), World Deaf Tennis Championship – 2015 (Nottingham, UK) and Deaflympics – 2017 (Samsun, Turkey).[11]

• National Award as Role Model: In recognition to her all round achievements in the fields of education, sports, arts and culture, Dudeja was conferred with National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the category of Role Model by Hon’ble Vice President of India in a function held in Vigyan Bhawan on 3 December 2018.[12]
• Talk at Lancers International School : In November 2018, the Lancers International School management felicitated Nishtha, while she also interacted with the students of Grade VI to IX, shared her experience and encouraged the students to work hard in life.[13]
• Chief guest at the event organised by Uprise India : Held at India International Centre (Delhi), Dudeja was invited to motivate and inspire budding women entrepreneurs. Dudeja addressed the Business Women Conference-2019 conference and encouraged the women entrepreneurs.[14]
• TEDx Talk – Voice of Victory : Dudeja delivered her TEDx Talk at TEDxGLIM organised by Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon in 2019. In this talk, she shared the journey of her life with the audience. She spoke about development of her speech through speech therapy. She also talked about Judo, Tennis, education and beauty pageants.[15]
• Brand Ambassador, Sivantos India PVT LTD : Dudeja is the Brand Ambassador of Sivantos India Private Limited (Formerly Siemens Hearing Instruments Pvt. Ltd.), a part of the Sivantos Group, which is one of the world’s top manufacturers of hearing aids.[16]