We don’t need another hero
With optimism at a low, APARNNA HAJIRNIS turns the spotlight on the real fighters beating the odds
Most of us take our lives and limbs for granted. And then there are the socalled differently-abled, who leave us shaken and stirred by their willpower and determination.
Employment boost
Most would see a differently-abled person as someone who seeks help all the time and sets their expectations low in terms of anything they can possibly deliver. However, Maitri Shah proves them wrong. She was one of the toppers in the SSC exams in 2010, scoring a whopping 95%, and is a 7.7 pointer in computer engineering.
“I hated giving interviews when I passed standard 10 as I felt that the attention was unwarranted and the media was focusing on me only because I am differently abled. However, my Principal at Lokmanya Tilak English High School Mulund, later told me that I was an inspiration to many, which is why I was getting all this attention,” Maitri tells us.
Maitri was quite the extra-curricular activity lover in school and college, participating in elocution, painting, singing, dramatics. While pursuing her degree in engineering, she faced many health issues. “However, my friends were more of a medication to me than the medicines themselves. My family has been more amazing than I could ever ask for. Sometimes, I feel that I have received more than I am worthy of, and I am hoping that someday I will truly be worthy of all I have,” she shares. Maitri currently runs Mind Assets, an HR recruitment firm which provides job opportunities to differently-abled individuals. She proudly states that 14 individuals, who were previously rejected due to their disabilities, have been placed with companies.
Child relief
Delhiite Navin Gulia wanted to join the Army as a commander, but life had other plans for him. At 19, Gulia, a young cadet, was paralysed after suffering a near-fatal accident during his passing-out parade at the Indian Military Academy. However, Navin, a huge follower of Mahatma Gandhi, did not give up. “I have always worked hard ever since my childhood. I had a breathing issue, but I still wanted to be active in sports and I didn't give up.” He pursued his love for adventure sports which even booked him a place in the Limca Book Of Records. He became the first person to drive from Delhi to Marsimik La at 8,632 feet, which is the world's highest motorable pass, in 55 hours without any break.
Just like Maitri, Navin too faced medical issues related to his disability. “I lived in a small town, where we didn't have a lot of physiotherapists and that worsened my condition and injury.” However, he has no complaints. “The people who have more complaints from life are those who play safe. When people come to me looking for motivation, I just ask them one thing: Tell me your action plan. Let’s discuss the solution and not waste time shedding tears over the problem. I believe that the progress of a country is not measured by a successful mission to Mars, but by what we do for those at the lowest rung of society.”
In 2007, Navin founded ADAA and began working with beggar children living in hutments in Gurgaon, and later children from nearby villages. “But this is not a popular cause. If I make an orphanage or a temple, those are popular causes,” he avers, adding, “Why do you think we see a filthy, naked child on the road? It is because we want to see such a child, give him money and feel good about it. This is called social corruption; we only worry about our electricity and water. We have no time to raise our voice against this menace. My children don’t need an orphanage. They live with their families. A poor child staying in a hut is happy in a hut. Why do you need to take him out of there? But that appeals more to people. It is not for the child, it is for the people who want to feel good.”
Navin believes what these children need is guidance, medical aid, and education. “For children who beg, food is the first priority and education the last. I just work for the welfare of these children and spread the message.”
He further adds that happiness is subjective. “I have seen people living in hutments who are happier than us because they don't live in the fear of losing.”
Champion quality
During a college vacation with her parents in Varanasi, Nisha Gupta slipped and fell from a mango tree. She sustained head and spinal cord injuries. It meant that she no longer had control of her bowel and bladder. Spinal surgery in Mumbai was followed by physiotherapy, however, improvement was marginal. It was then that she learnt that she would never walk again. “It was hard to believe that I would be on the wheelchair my entire life. I was completely shattered and went into deep depression. I had lost the will to live and had given up.”
That’s when Dr Anil Gaur referred her to the Nina Foundation; the objective of which is to spread hope and optimism amongst the spinal cord injured. They encourage its members to live an independent life. At a spinal cord injury awareness programme, she was surprised to see many paraplegics and quadriplegics on wheelchairs. “For the first time I felt like I was not alone,” she recalls. From a data entry job to mastering the art of tattooing, from going out more often with her friends and cousins, to participating in the Mumbai marathon, learning wheelchair dancing, para swimming and para badminton, Nisha even participated in the Miss Wheelchair India 2013 contest. After learning swimming thanks to her friend Oliver Dsouza, she won many gold and silver medals in the State and National Para swimming competitions, to which she travelled thanks to the Nina Foundation. This was followed by bronze medals in the National Wheelchair Basketball championship held in Delhi and an international competition in Bali, Indonesia. Nisha, who leads the Wheelchair Basketball team for Maharashtra, was also awarded for being in the top five most promising female players in the tournament.
“My passion for sports and life has never been so high; today I am proud to say that I am an independent Indian paraplegic girl who believes she can achieve anything she can imagine,” says Nisha, who has inspired other paraplegics to come out victorious.
True fighter
Chief among them is Surendra Kasare, who lost sensation in his legs and spine after an accident. He had given up on life and quietly accepted his fate till he met Nisha, and was inspired to take on sports while being in the wheelchair. After considerable hardship, he managed to get selected for the cricket team and has also played in the Premier League and Asia Cup of the paraplegic teams as well.
Surendra, now a well-respected sportsman in the world of paraplegic sports, says, “During my time of adversity, most of my friends left my side. I only had my parents who stood by me. No one helps you monetarily, especially not the government. I wish that the government sensitises people about disabled people. I wish they build ramps and toilets across the country for the handicapped, and disabledfriendly trains.”
As India turns 71, is that too much to ask for these heroes struggling valiantly in the battlefield of life?
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." – Mahatma Gandhi.