Towering ambitions of world?s smallest girl

Towering ambitions of world?s smallest girl

August 13, 2010

NAGPUR: Jyoti Amge (17) doesn’t complain to God for being short-changed. Instead, she has risen to life’s challenges. Against adversities, she stands 1 foot, 11 inches tall. Jyoti is one Nagpur girl the world has taken special note of. She is recognised as the smallest girl in the world by both the Guinness Book of World Records and Limca Book of Records. She is shorter than an average three-month old girl. But that hasn’t stopped the teenager from having towering ambitions.

On Thursday, Jyoti enrolled for her Class X exams. "I want to study as much as possible and get a degree,’’ she said. Jyoti has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia, which affects one out of every 25,000 births. Jyoti said she doesn’t care about her height, but likes the attention she receives.

Her father Kisanji said Jyoti wants to do something for the society. "Her physical status doesn’t give her many options. She is keen on becoming a doctor or work for poor children and orphans,’’ he said.

Jyoti would appear as a private candidate in the exams because of her tight schedule. "Jyoti was a regular student, but over the last two years, she has been travelling around the world. She is too tied up. Therefore, we decided that she would appear as a private candidate,’’ said Kisanji.

Jyoti has travelled to the UK, Italy, Japan and a few other European countries to feature in documentaries on her life. "One of her documentaries was screened on the National Geographic channel recently. Jyoti was invited to Japan to appear in a special television show. Next month, she travels to the US for another documentary,’’ said Kisanji.

He said the proposed documentary could make it to the Oscars next year.

Jyoti has taken dwarfness into her stride and nurtures dreams like any other teenager. She loves Hindi movies, dance and painting and even wants to dabble in Bollywood. "She is featuring in a music video with pop singer Mika and three movies -- two Hindi films (Pan Supari and Mera Bharat Mahan) and a Kannada movie (Modi). She has worked with Salman Khan and now has been invited by comedian Rajpal Yadav for a movie,’’ said Kisanji.