Gangamma, a student of the Kugur Government High School, passed the SSLC exam in first class holding her pen with both hands. To be precise, between the lone finger on each of them.
Having been born with two near-stumps for hands, she  put the two fingers together, pincer-like, to hold the pen and scribbled away to success.
She took years to master this way of writing, starting off with a piece of chalk and slowly graduating to a pencil and, eventually, a pen.
In spite of being born with a crippling disability, she didn’t let it get in her way of success. Gangamma completed her junior primary education at Tiruvaranga village and then did her senior primary schooling at Mugalur village. Her parents had to carry her from Tiruvaranga to the Mugalur school — 2 km away.
Thanks to supportive teachers and the Sarvashikshana Abhiyan, she got a wheelchair. Her classmates also helped her cover — to and fro — the 4 km distance to her high school at Kugur. The girl gives credit for her success to the teachers at school , particularly K  V Vasanthamma, an integrated-education resource person, and Ramesh and Venkatesh, who she says “encouraged me no end”.
Gangamma comes from a poor dalit family. Her parents are daily wagers and her disability is genetic — her father Krishnappa manages to earn a living for the family with hands and feet without any fingers or toes. Gangamma’s dream is to become an IAS officer.