Miss India contest to National sports championship, this Kochi girl defied physical disability to prove point

Sophia M Joe is a deaf and dumb super model from Kochi who aspires to become a car racer. She is a painter, a dancer and also an actor. She has won the national championships in shot put and discuss throw.

It was a hard journey for Sophia M Joe, who was born with speech and hearing disabilities. Mocked by the society and rejected by schools, she had a hard rime making herself acceptable to the people around her. And helping her set an example were her parents. Thanks to their positive outlook toward life, she is now a successful model and a three-time national champion in shot put and discuss throw.

But she has not stopped at that. She has pursued her dreams of becoming a jewellery designer and a painter too. She also has a BA in English Literature from St Zavier's college. 

Incidentally, her brother Richard too suffers from the same disability. Her father Joe Francis says, "It’s neither my children’s fault nor mine. They were born this way and nothing could help their state. But people made fun of us, taunted us as if we’d committed some sin." Her mother Goriatty also has a very positive outlook toward life. Speaking to India Today, she says, "She has grown up like any other ordinary student. Though we home-schooled her for some years, later we admitted her to an ordinary school in Kerala and trained her ourselves. We are always with her in fulfilling her ambitions and this infused much confidence in her.”

Sofia was the first runner-up in Miss India Deaf and Dumb Contest in 2014 and represented India at the Miss World Deaf and Dumb Contest in Prague, Czech Republic. She is also a small time actor who has acted in a film-  Best Wishes and is now training in dance. Interestingly, Sophis has another achievement in her kitty. Sophia also became the first woman in Kerala with a hearing disability to receive a driving license. For that, she went to the extent of knocking on the doors of the High Court in Delhi. 

However, there is one thing that she is yet to achieve. She aspires to become a car racer in the future.