Everyone is Good at Something. 21 Disabilities, 28 States, Infinite Stories

everyone
is
good
at
something

Illustration of protagonists of the stories

21 Disabilities
28 States
Infinite Stories

For those who have habitually attended the India Inclusion Summit (IIS) in Bengaluru, its tagline "Everyone is Good at Something" is like an old familiar melody. Equally familiar is the recurring image of the Inclusion Tree on which birds of different colours perch and...

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Savita Nishad, Chattisgarh

“It is important to earn well, not just for yourself but to be able to help others”

When we spoke to Savita Nishad (27) from Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh she had just finished celebrating Diwali with her 35-member joint family, with diyas and fireworks and the whole shebang. “I get scared of firecrackers but I still burst them to conquer my ...

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Bhavani M

Andaman and Nicobar

Sandeep Kumar

Bihar

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Mamta Yadav, Chattisgarh

“It is difficult for me to come downstairs from my room. But my husband is very supportive of me and my natal family”

It is not uncommon for disabled persons in rural and remote areas to be deprived of their disability benefits by unscrupulous middlemen. Some petty neta (political leader) with a name resembling that of a villain in a B-grade Bollywood movie would approac...

Santosh Kumari, Himachal Pradesh

“When I needed help, no one cared. When people became more understanding, I no longer needed their help”

It took many years before Santosh Kumari (40) from Rachhialu village in Himachal Pradesh could stand on her own two feet – literally. After an unspecified illness at age three left her with a severe locomotor disability, she says her parents Ram Ranu and ...

Tara Madhur, Bihar

“I am training to try to compete in the international Special Olympics”

Three-year-old Tara was battling for life in a Bengaluru hospital and doctors had announced that even if she survived she would be in “a vegetative state” and bedridden all her life. Hello? Are we talking about Tara Madhur (24) the medal-winning athlete f...

Shanthipriya Siva, Tamil Nadu

“Enjoy your ups, and have the courage to face your downs”

Throughout her life, Dr Shantipriya (50) from Chennai has worn many hats – a third-generation doctor, an ophthalmologist, an artist, an author, a model, a social worker, and a motivational speaker. But the one that has emboldened her the most? Being a You...

Sabrin Saba, Chattisgarh

“I love to do mehndi and make-up for my sisters but I also wish I were as educated as them, and have a job”

Sabrin Saba may speak only a few words, but she lets her handiwork do the talking. Arts and craft come easily to this 24-year-old from Chhattisgarh – she finds joy in decorating palms with mehendi, bringing clothes to life with embroidery, cooking delicac...

Muskan Kosle, Chattisgarh

“I speak at the top of my voice and have mood swings. I enjoy playing with my phone”

When a child has fits the parents usually rush her to the nearest doctor or hospital for what they hope is an instant ‘fix’. Surely, some injection or medicine is enough to cure it? In fact, there can be any number of reasons why fits, or electrical distu...

Dwarika Prasad Jangde, Chattisgarh

“Nothing is impossible if you have the will to do it”

Dwarika Prasad Jangde (35) is a swimmer and a fencer. Swimming came naturally to him, having grown up in a village where he would bathe in the common pond. But fencing, a sport for which he won awards, came later. Dwarika fences in a wheelchair, for he ha...

Love Banjare, Chattisgarh

“I hate getting dirt on my clothes. I loved my first red shirt which was soft and velvety”

When Sooraj and Anita Banjare’s fifth and youngest baby was born, they consulted the panchang (the Hindu almanac). It said that the boy’s name should begin with ‘la’, and that is how 15-year-old Love Banjare acquired his unique name. His parents soon disc...

Prem Sagar Khande, Chhattisgarh

“I want to be a policeman like my uncle. I will catch thieves and jail them”

Salman Khan does not know that among his millions of fans there is one teenaged boy in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh who yearns to meet him. Prem Sagar Khande will turn 14 next month but his intelligence is that of an eight-year-old since he was born with an int...

Aepo Liyak, Arunachal Pradesh

“When persons with mobility issues go job-hunting I ferry them on my scooter. But I don’t have a steady job myself”

When our photographer Vicky Roy travelled to Arunachal Pradesh, it was Konyyang, president of the men’s wing of the All Arunachal Pradesh Divyangjan Youth Association, who gave him the addresses of persons with various disabilities. And to reach their hou...

Saddam Khan, Madhya Pradesh

“I wanted to study further and join a company but since domestic finances needed immediate attention I thought it better to run my small shop”

If you go to the vegetable market in Bhopal’s Bluemoon Colony you might see a kirana shop (a small general store) where 30-year-old Saddam Khan handles sales and operates a photocopier machine. “I open my shop at 10 a.m. and shut it only at 11 p.m.” he te...

Yeshodha N, Karnataka

“Follow your heart and your dreams will come true”

In 2006, three women were travelling in a local bus to their office in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). The conductor stared curiously at them while they chatted away in Sign Language (SL). One of the women turned to the conductor and spoke to him. The startled...

Kamal Bhamore, Madhya Pradesh

“I want to become a civil servant so that I can ensure last-mile execution of all government schemes”

Life bowled a googly at Kamal Bhamore when he totally lost his eyesight as a toddler following a chickenpox attack. But this 29-year-old today finds himself a state-level, blind cricket player representing Madhya Pradesh. He recently was a part of the tea...

Shravinal Singh, Madhya Pradesh

“I am very close to my papa. My elder brother protects me”

Unlike most other mothers, Roli Singh did not hear her newborn wail soon after birth; the sound came 10 or 12 minutes later. This delay continued later in life for Shravinal. He had difficulty chewing his food; she had to tailor it so he wouldn’t choke. “...

Roshan Chhetri, Sikkim

“I attend online class on my mobile but I also like watching animal videos”

Roshan Chhetri was born to Man Bahadur and Durga in Nazitam village and grew up like any other child in the beautiful state of Sikkim. He is the younger of the Chhetris, his sister Roshni being the first. In his early childhood, Roshan was a bundle of ene...

Tribidya Sengupta, Tripura

“I love Bollywood songs and have been practising the keyboard for two years”

While the Covid-19 pandemic wrought immense suffering upon the world, it had unexpected benefits for some people. For instance, Tushar Kanti and Ratnabali Ray Sengupta from Agartala in Tripura made use of the lockdown period to teach their autistic son Tr...

Bikram Bhattarai, Sikkim

“My big sister inspired me. Seeing how she used her hands I started using my toes in the same way”

Bikram Bhattarai from Sikkim shared one of his black-and-white drawings with us. It shows a hand with a small butterfly resting in the middle of its open palm. The image becomes especially poignant when the viewer realises that this 20-year-old sketched t...

Mukesh Maganbai Halpati, Daman

“Apart from my loving wife, it was my good friend who helped me through my worst time”

Young Mukesh had always felt a ‘weakness’, particularly in his lower limbs, when growing up in rural Daman, but since it did not disrupt his regular daily routine, it was ignored. His parents Maganbhai and Sukhibehn Halpati were daily wage labourers who w...

Shubham Kumar Gautam, Sikkim

“Despite my health issues I am concentrating on my studies”

When a 12-year-old tells you that his favourite subjects are Mathematics, English and Hindi, you can sort of guess that he is the studious type. Shubham Kumar Gautam, who lives in Gangtok, Sikkim with his parents and seven-year-old sister Shreya Kumari, s...

Chandrakant Ukarda Chudasma, Diu

“I love to watch ‘Indian Idol’ and take photos of people with the cell phone camera”

All Chandrakant Ukarda Chudasma wanted early in life was a gold chain. This 28-year-old from Vanakbara, Diu had been fascinated by people wearing it and been yearning for it since his teens. When he was finally gifted one a couple of years ago by Shyamji,...

Narendra Bisht, Uttarakhand

“This is a second life given to me by my family, friends and employer”

Narendra Bisht cannot stop talking about his company, DHL. When we spoke to this 42-year-old from Uttarakhand he repeatedly sang the praises of his employers. He says they have been tremendously helpful and accommodative ever since a traffic accident inju...

Chhotray Hembram, Odisha

“What can a disabled person do?”

The logistics of interviewing 18-year-old Chhotray Hembram from Odisha resembled a military operation. You are already familiar with our modus operandi: Vicky travels far, wide and deep for a photo shoot of a PwD (Person with Disability) and passes on the...

Rakesh Kothiyal, Uttarakhand

“My main concern is financial security. I don’t want to unnecessarily burden my family”

Every day, Rakesh Kothiyal (34) from Dehradun gets at least two phone calls from people who are depressed or suicidal. They call him after watching his YouTube channel RKUnsungWarrior. Once, a desperate caller said he wanted to drink poison. Rakesh dissua...

Mohammad Hussain, Daman

“I like everything to be neat and tidy. I do not like other kids messing with my toys”

The arrival of the first child in an Indian family is usually a cause for much anticipation and celebration. Mohammad Hussain, born in the union territory of Daman to Karishma and Wasim Memon, was also the first male grandchild in the joint family. Doctor...

Pankaj Roy, Tripura

“I watch dance videos to pick up the moves for my shows. Photography is something I want to seriously pursue”

An old Hindi film suddenly flashed in Purnima Roy’s mind one day when she called her three-year-old son Pankaj by name and he didn’t respond. She remembered a scene in which a character didn’t hear a rattle being shaken because he was deaf. Snap your fing...

Shekhar Naik, Karnataka

“Parents of visually impaired children should not hold them back. They should support their children by utilising the opportunities the government provides”

When Shekhar Naik (36) was a little boy growing up in Shivamogga, Karnataka, he used to feel dejected because he couldn’t play gilli danda and kabaddi with the village children. They saw no point in including a blind boy in their games. His mother Jamila ...

Nicky Chhakchhuak, Mizoram

“We will never have barrier-free physical access for the differently abled until we first break the mental barrier that separates the differently abled from the abled”

If you happen to step into a club in Aizawl, Mizoram you might be lucky enough to find a certain man behind the DJ controller blasting out a medley of techno, hiphop and Bollywood numbers. From where you stand you can only see his torso, face, and head wi...

Shibashish Dey, Meghalaya

“I wish that persons with all kinds of disabilities would come together and be united”

Three-year-old Rith Dey Nongrum from Shillong, Meghalaya goes to nursery school and knows the English alphabet. But he has yet to learn his mother tongue, which is the same as his ‘father tongue’. No, we’re not speaking of Khasi, Garo or Jaintia or any of...

Roman Kalaivanan, Puducherry

“I want more people to know about my digital talent”

Roman is an unusual name for a baby but when a friend of the family suggested it, his parents embraced it. (The same friend suggested the name Ruken for their younger son.) Roman, who is now 21, certainly turned out to be an unusual individual. At the t...

Suryakant Giri Giri, Karnataka

“Don’t fixate on the problem. Do something about it and make it work for you”

Suryakant Giri Giri (36) from Bengaluru cannot stop beaming when he recalls his arranged marriage with Dhanalakshmi (30). She rejected three other ‘abled’ suitors in favour of him, despite his blindness, because she was charmed by his personality. The c...

Sunil Kumar MJ, Karnataka

“Don’t say you can’t; just try once. You can do many things if you explore”

It was a mother’s keen observation that led to her youngest child being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a genetic disease that causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. In his schooldays, Sunil Kumar MJ (37), who was born and raised in Benga...

Aiboklang Sohtun, Meghalaya

“I am grateful to God for enabling me to be an agent of change for children with disabilities”

We have often found that those who are born with a disability, especially in vision, hearing or locomotion, are able to cope and adapt to their environment far better than those who acquire a disability later in life. The state of suddenly being deprived ...

Karan Arora, Karnataka

“I have been practising speech, will continue to do so, and will never give up”

Mrs Kumkum Arora living in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh was mildly concerned when her one-year-old Karan did not respond to sound or attempt to speak. Delayed milestone, said the doctors she consulted. Her concern turned to panic, however, when he showed the sam...

A. Chidambaram, Puducherry

“I use screen-reading software. However, my wife and children are my eyes”

Over half a century ago a farmer in the village of Alinjikuppam in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore District grew crops throughout the year on the fertile 2.5 acres he owned. Ragi, paddy, banana, sugarcane and all kinds of vegetables more than satisfied the consumpti...

Aditya V, Karnataka

“I have always wanted to work for a company and be independent”

Aditya V (36) from Bengaluru was very excited about his upcoming first-ever US trip when we spoke to him. He and his younger brother Achyut, employed in an automobile company in Michigan, had drawn up a sightseeing plan. Their mother had left already and ...

Shubhajit Bhattacharya, Karnataka

“Society thinks that disabled persons only ask for help. I want to convey that we can offer help too”

Shubhajit Bhattacharya (34) was 11 when he travelled from North 24 Parganas, West Bengal with his mother Shibani to his sister’s house in Bangalore. Shibani intended to help her daughter through her difficult pregnancy and post-delivery issues. One day ...

Kiran B. Nayak, Karnataka

“Society always limits us, telling us we can only go thus far. Unless we go farther, how can we be free”

Those who visit Chikkaballapur, 60 km from Bengaluru, might chance upon a little shop, K.K. Stationery and Fancy Store, managed by a young woman, Kavya Nayak. Predictably, the two Ks represent her name and that of her 35-year-old husband Kiran B. Nayak. N...

Mahendra Pitale, Maharashtra

“I feel that compared to when I was ‘abled’ I do more work now”

There is a date that marks a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ in the life of Mahendra Vilas Pitale (49) from Mumbai: 11 July 2006. He was among the hundreds whose lives were rocked by the ‘7/11 train blasts’ as the media terms the series of bombs that exploded on ...

Saurabh Prasad, Delhi

“I want STEM education to be easily accessible to the visually impaired”

Saurabh Prasad was 11, playing with his younger brother Raj on the terrace of their home in Jharkhand when he fell 20 feet to the ground below. Miraculously he survived with no major physical injuries but the fall probably advanced his infantile glaucoma ...

Sreedhar Yarramsetty, Andhra Pradesh

“Don’t let a crazy world decide who you are. Create your own destiny”

After finishing high school in 1988, Sreedhar Yarramsetty (49) from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh chose Biology for his two-year Intermediate course because he wanted to do Medicine. But everyone dissuaded him, saying, “You can’t become a doctor because you are ...

Mohith Majety, Andhra Pradesh

“When life gets tough, try to sit back and observe. Not everything needs a reaction”

A nick on the thumb with a kitchen knife can leave the average person unable to perform so many ridiculously simple acts. When you try to turn a key or bolt a door, slice onions or knead dough, you are painfully reminded of how vital each finger is to yo...

Moises Rodrigues, Goa

“Never say no to anything in life. Try it out and see if it works or not”

Every weekend Moises Rodrigues (36) from Mormugao taluk, Goa goes from the housing board colony where he lives to his friend Ruki Ahmed’s house to practise table tennis. They are both wheelchair users and sometimes their friend Lloyd also joins them. It w...

Vishant Nagvekar, Goa

“A common refrain I’ve heard is: yeh bechaara kya karega (what can this poor fellow do)”

Imagine that you see a couple in a car. You are told that only one of them has a driving license. And that one of them has a locomotor disability of almost 90 per cent. You might straightaway assume that the disabled person is in the passenger seat. And ...

Patrick D'Souza, Goa

“Do your best. God will do the rest”

Patrick D’Souza jovially announced that he had scored 98 on his latest certificate, up from his previous score of 50. We may be forgiven for presuming he was speaking about some exam he had cracked. The 40-year-old from Goa was referring to the percentage...

VVSLKM Prasad, Telangana

“I want to establish a degree college for the Deaf in Telangana”

We often hear of alumni of prestigious institutions fundraising or making donations towards their alma mater. Rarely do we see a former student of a government school contributing towards its improvement. Vallabhaneni Venkata Sathya Lakshmi Krishna Mura...

Narsing Rao Bongurala, Telangana

“Don’t give up too early. Even if one door closes, another one will open”

When it comes to stories shared at parties, few can surpass one that begins with “When I met Amitabh Bachchan…” A scriptwriter could create a dramatic movie sequence with the events that preceded Narsing Rao Bongurala’s encounter with the superstar. The...

Thinlay Mutup, Ladakh

“I have a lot of friends in my village. They help me so much, as if I’m their own brother”

If you were a tourist on your way to Nubra Valley or Pangong Lake you might have stopped for a Ladakhi or Chinese lunch at Shayok Biker’s Café and met the smart young owner. That would be 30-year-old Thinlay Mutup, a resident of the village of Shayok in ...

Nishad Kumar, Himachal Pradesh

“My job was to put in hard work and God kept opening doors for me”

At 6 feet 4 inches, Nishad Kumar (22) stands tall, not only in height but in his outlook towards life. When photographer Vicky Roy encountered him, he was attending a sponsored event at a hotel, a felicitation of the medal winners of the Tokyo 2020 Paraly...

Rigzin Tamchos, Ladakh

“My archery coach has been encouraging me to aim for the Paralympics, but to participate I would have to use a costly compound bow”

We wonder if Rigzin Tamchos (34) from Stok village would sometimes be struck by a passing memory when he sees his 11-year-old niece Nangsal Lamo going to school every morning. It is the same government school that Rigzin went to — until his studies ground...

Arman Ali, Delhi

“Do your best, whatever you do. Leave a path for others to follow”

Arman Ali (42) has been looking for a house on rent in Delhi for over two months now. He needs wheelchair access and nothing he has seen so far has been suitable. “None of the estate agents have a disability filter,” he says. “If a privileged person gets...

Somnath Mondal, West Bengal

“I have many friends in school. I like reading Bengali storybooks”

Somnath Mondal has come home for the Durga Puja holidays. The 11-year-old whose parents live in Jharkhali village in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal is having a merry time swimming (their house has a pond), eating sweets, playing with his friends and going...

Asis Behera, Odisha

“I wish I could move around and not be dependent. My parents also wish the same”

A Unique Disability Identification (UDID) card is often viewed by the public, especially in rural areas, as nothing more than a meal ticket. It can secure them a small monthly income (which varies from state to state) and numerous subsidies. They’re not t...

Aman Kumar Mahto, Jharkhand

“I play with ball in school. Sometimes my mother makes my favourite chicken drumstick and aloo paratha”

It is evening, and Aman Kumar Mahto (14) has just returned from the special school he goes to. He has an intellectual disability and he is in Class 1 of Deepshikha Institute of Child Development and Mental Health in Ranchi, Jharkhand; it’s the state nodal...

Suren Murmu, West Bengal

“Do good, and good will come to you”

The charpoys made by Suren Murmu (65) from Jilling would serve as an interesting sidelight to the language lessons taught in the school that his son Banka Murmu (23) runs. A primary school that teaches Santali, Bengali and English, it is inspired by their...

Ramotar, Haryana

“When I sing, the music heals me and helps me see life’s spiritual side”

Ramotar (36) from Sohna in Haryana’s Gurugram district has finished shaping his latest batch of clay water pots and leaving them to dry. His wife Sonya (27) is tending to their buffalo. It is time for him to relax — smoke the hookah or play the harmonium....

Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh, Haryana

“Time is the best medicine”

Imagine you’re a karate champion winning medals for India. Just before a major event, a surgery leaves you with chest-down paralysis. Mohammad Shams Aalam Shaikh (35) entered the same dark tunnel that you’ve just imagined, but with time he emerged at the ...

Amir Hussain Lone, Jammu & Kashmir

“I’ve never celebrated my birthday. One should celebrate each new day, since one never knows what life has in store.”

Amir Hussain Lone of Wagham village in Kashmir’s Anantnag district is not sure when he was born; his guesstimate is 1989. But he is dead certain about the year he went to his father’s sawmill to deliver lunch for his brother. It was a Sunday in 1997. “I...

Kilumo Ezung, Nagaland

“The real disability is when you are unable to see us as equals”

When Kilumo Ezung (34) putters along on his ancient black motorbike down a busy street in Kohima, Nagaland he has to make sure the rear-view mirrors work perfectly. Without them, he wouldn’t know whether someone eager to overtake him was honking impatien...

Jesfer P. Kottakunnu, Kerala

“I believe a miraculous turning point awaits every suffering human at the very moment they lose the will to live”

Fathima P.V. was born on December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD). And heaven ordained that she fall in love with a PwD! Fathima’s husband is Jesfer P. Kottakkunnu (35) from Malappuram, Kerala, an award-winning artist with ne...

Sohkhotinlen Haokip, Manipur

“I enjoy meeting people and getting toys for Christmas”

Sohkhotinlen Haokip (31) enjoys being around people. When he crawls down the streets of Y. Thingkangphai in Chandel district, Manipur the villagers tease him, “Hey Sohkho, who’s your girlfriend?” He doesn’t understand that they are mocking him, for he has...

Prakash Chand Khichi, Rajasthan

“More people should be like my wife, who did not hesitate to marry a blind person”

It is somewhat unusual for a government school teacher’s wedding guests to include numerous VIPs and a former maharaja. But then Prakash Chand Khichi’s is a somewhat unusual story. The inter-state romance between a blind man and his sighted sweetheart cau...

Major DP Singh , Chandigarh

“Disability teaches adaptability”

The irrepressible 47-year-old Major Devender Pal Singh from Chandigarh has an online video series in which he interviews former soldiers who’ve overcome challenges in life. It is called “Never Say Die”, a phrase that could well describe his own spirit of ...

Anjali Sunny, Kerala

“I started achieving my dreams the moment I turned my disability into my strength”

When Anjali Sunny (26) of Srikandapuram, Kannur district was in kindergarten she complained of leg pain when taking part in a dance. Her teachers and parents thought she was being lazy and making excuses. It was only when she reached Class 4 that a teache...

Tiffany Brar, Kerala

“Society constantly interprets what we can do and what we can’t. This has to change”

When Tiffany Brar, holding her white cane, was waiting for a bus in Thiruvananthapuram, an elderly vegetable seller walked across to her and gave her Rs 10. Tiffany, a National Award-winning community service worker, tried to convince her that she was wel...

Nincy Miriam Mondly, Kerala

“As long as you try, there is a chance that you will succeed”

Nincy Mariam Mondly was living her dream to study the human body and its functioning. But in 2014, a year into her paramedical course, she herself was being studied and operated under surgical lights. After she fell from a height, a spinal cord injury cau...

Silsila Das, Assam

“We want to think big, make big changes”

When photographer Vicky Roy was at the NGO Shishu Sarothi in Guwahati to take photographs of Silsila Das (37), he couldn’t get a chance to click her alone. Because she wouldn’t spend a moment apart from her dear friends Simi Kalita (34) and Runu Medhi (35...

Ruwaydah Raja, Kerala

“I like doing marbling and watching Ice Age and Barney the Dinosaur”

There is a story hidden behind the pretty decoupage boxes and Thank-you cards on ‘Thumbi by Ruwi’, the Facebook page of Ruwaydah Raja (17). It is an ongoing story of living with moderate-to-severe autism in which her parents are prominent characters and h...

Gobinda Majumdar, Assam

“I shave in front of a mirror although I can’t see it”

Gobinda Majumdar of Chhaygaon likes to walk to his favourite tea stall 4 km from home and buy sweets for his nieces on his way back. It’s nothing unusual, except that he happens to be deafblind and mute. The 37-year-old from Kamrup district in Assam know...

Satvik Choudhary, Himachal Pradesh

“I recently started doing yoga with my father. I help my mother by filling water in jugs and bottles”

The earlier a child with a disability is diagnosed, the better their chances of progress. Sometimes, this early intervention can be a stroke of luck, as in the case of Satvik Choudhary (12) from Matour village in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. When Satvik wa...

Jagmohan Thakur, Chattisgarh

“Although I have a disability I am the sole man of the household, so I do feel the pressure”

Jagmohan Thakur (39) has painful memories of how, as a child, he would literally crawl the five km to and from school, a humiliating effort that took him four hours. Polio struck when he was a mere six-month-old. His parents, agricultural labourers who li...

Aryan Biswas, Andaman & Nicobar

“I like going to the park and having fun on the swing. I broke my hearing aid”

There is a six-year-old boy living in Prem Nagar in the Andamans who is frequently overtaken by spells of rage. Aryan Biswas cannot understand what people are saying or make himself understood. He has every right to be frustrated, don’t you think? We di...

Uttam Kumar, Bihar

“I know I have a hereditary disorder but that does not mean I can’t enjoy life like other people do”

In any traditional Indian hunt for brides and grooms, family history plays a significant part, particularly a history of disability. Inherited “diseases” set the alarm bells ringing. But in 2013, Uttam Kumar from Minapur village in Bihar made it a point t...

Shimon Singh, Madhya Pradesh

“I go to the gym with my father every day. And I love to sing”

It was quite a shock for Nelson Singh to discover via his adolescent son Shimon’s blood test that he himself was a carrier of the sickle cell gene. Fortunately for both father and son it was only the Sickle Cell Trait (SCT) that got passed on, not Sickle ...

Bharat Bhandari, Punjab

“Afternoons I work in a restaurant. My boss gives me full marks for my hard work and dedication”

If the system beats you time and again, what you do is beat the system yourself. Renu Bhandari joined four other women to set up Saksham, a vocational and rehabilitation centre for persons with disabilities (<https://sakshambhavansaashray.org/about-aashra...

Anand & Anjali Sharma, Chattisgarh

“We don’t know whether our children will look after us, or abandon us like our own families have done”

One of Anand Sharma’s vivid memories is being surrounded by tea plantations in Assam where his parents used to work. His brain has registered only blurry images, for he was born with low vision and lost it entirely when he reached fourth standard “due to ...

Monika Dandriyal, Delhi

“Select us for our ability and don’t reject us for our disability”

When we spoke to Monika Dandriyal (20) from New Delhi she was still simmering with indignation from being overlooked for a job at a textile company that hired an ITI classmate whose academic credentials were not as good as hers. Discrimination based on ph...

Shabnam Khan, Delhi

“I don’t want to be pitied for being disabled. I want to be a role model for others”

Just 22, Shabnam Khan from Delhi has endured heartlessness enough for two lifetimes. It all started with a leprosy diagnosis when she was in Grade 9 when she found she could not hold anything in her hands as they were shaking so badly. That was when the t...

Yari Rebe, Arunachal Pradesh

“My in-laws have never treated me differently because of my disability”

When you are orphaned at a tender age and farmed out to relatives, your life will never be the same. It becomes even more unsettling if you have a disability. Yari Rebe (26) from Arunachal Pradesh was the eldest of four siblings and only 11 when her fathe...

Gyamar Soni & Kipa Yagi, Arunachal Pradesh

“I haven’t decided whether to expand my business or carry on my work for the disabled. God will show me the way”

In the state of Arunachal Pradesh, where awareness of disability is dismally low, two young women with locomotor disabilities have struck a path towards independence and are attempting to change the lives of other disabled persons. They are Gyamar Soni (3...

Abo Perme, Arunachal Pradesh

“Without disabled people, there will be no kindness in this world”

In the village of Banderdewa, Arunachal Pradesh, right on the border with Assam, five-year-old Abo Perme was playing on the bank of the river Dikrong. He managed to grab hold of a bird and in doing so, broke its wings. While carrying it home the strugglin...

Ramswaroop Ahirwar, Madhya Pradesh

“I have never considered myself less able than others and I have never accepted defeat”

When Ramswaroop was around four years old, he fell ill and wasn’t expected to survive. But survive he did, though his legs became progressively weak. His parents did the usual round of hospitals and temples and today, he is left with 70 per cent strength ...

Pooja Singh, Madhya Pradesh

“After school I help my mother, washing vessels, cutting vegetables. My cane gives me independence”

Usually, at 17, teens start negotiating their way through life. In Pooja Singh’s case, it is literal, finding her way around with the help of her cane. She was born with absolutely no vision and has experienced plenty of heartache already. It took years f...

Falguni Purohit, Madhya Pradesh

“I am ‘papa ki pari’ (daddy’s little angel). Some people call me Lata Mangeshkar of Madhya Pradesh”

Positivity brims over in the Bhopal-based Purohit family, whose life is set to music. Literally. All thanks to their daughter, Falguni. An only child of Chandar Prakash (52) and Latha (50), she was born 16 years ago, much to their delight. However, their ...

Stuti Doshi, Madhya Pradesh

“I am an excellent mimic of people’s voices and I would love to be an actor”

When Stuti Doshi was born with Down Syndrome (DS) 21 years ago, there were moments when her mother Falguni asked herself, “Why me?” However, she quickly accepted the situation and wondered, “What now?” She and her engineer husband Nitin shared the same po...

Patey Yaro, Arunachal Pradesh

“I am thankful for what I have but I wonder who will care for me if my condition worsens”

When we asked Patey Yaro (36) from Arunachal Pradesh to tell us about her circumstances and how she acquired her disability, muscular dystrophy (MD), she replied, “I don’t remember much about my past. It is too painful to think about it.” We did gather th...

Taba Kalakar, Arunachal Pradesh

“My height has never been an issue in my life”

When Taba Kalakar was born in 1982 in Krishnapur village, Lakhimpur district, Assam, she had four older siblings and would eventually have four younger ones as well, so that she was well and truly the middle child among six girls and three boys. Their fat...

Rohini Prasad Yadav, Sikkim

“God has given her to us, so we will do whatever possible for her”

On 5 May 2012, precisely one year (to the date) after Santosh Prasad Yadav and his wife Saraswati were married, their daughter Rohini was born. Since it was a normal delivery, doctors at STNM Hospital in Gangtok, Sikkim discharged mother and baby after tw...

Ambika Chhetri, Sikkim

“Coming across others with disabilities helped me shed unwanted baggage. Now I am happy giving them hope and direction”

Tek Bahadur Bafnett and his wife Krishna Maya rejoiced when the fourth of their seven children was born 48 years ago in Chinzey village, Rumtek, east Sikkim. However, when little Ambika Chhetri was a mere six months old, she was felled by high fever. They...

Sakshi Chauhan, Uttarakhand

“I wish I could undergo the shoulder surgery and start playing basketball again”

Here is a story of how a family rose to the occasion to help their free-spirited child who became disabled practically overnight. Thanks to their support, this 26-year-old is a wheelchair basketball player who has brought laurels to the country. Sakshi ...

Aishwarya Rath, Uttar Pradesh

“I am passionate about dance and baking! My cousin is teaching me to play the guitar”

Like many 13-year-olds, Aishwarya Rath likes going to the mall, shops for fashionable clothes and wants to wear a new dress every day. She is possessive about her long hair and doesn’t want to cut it: she even fights with her mother for combing it. She wa...

Asmita Ratilal Kapadia, Diu

“New clothes, makeup and perfume are some of my favourite things. Also, watching late night TV serials”

Her black eyes flash and sparkle, often with excitement but sometimes, when she is in a bad mood, with anger. Asmita Ratilal Kapadia (28), who lives in the union territory of Diu, has Cerebral Palsy (CP) but is a bundle of bubbly enthusiasm. Although she ...

Sonal Mehta, Gujarat

“Whenever you face an obstacle, focus on your positive traits and take on the challenge”

If you start counting the number of times ‘first’ and ‘rank’ appear in Dr Sonal Mehta’s story, you might lose track of the tally. And it wouldn’t escape your attention that every one of her attainments came after – not before – she lost her vision due to ...

Preeti Badoni, Uttarakhand

“Even when life is harsh, follow your heart and don’t complain”

In the mountainous region of Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand, in Devprayag tehsil’s Garakot village which has a population of a few hundreds, a young female wheelchair user with paraplegia lives alone. That sentence in itself should stop you in your tracks. ...

Lalbuatsaihi, Mizoram

“I would be happier if I could find a means of earning my living”

Diversity thy name is India! But our treasure-house of languages and dialects is a mixed blessing. To be specific, when EGS has to interview someone who only speaks a language that no one on the team understands, we start scurrying about frantically for a...

Suroi Gaujang Dozo, Meghalaya

“I wish the entire north-eastern region would learn to communicate in one Sign Language”

If you happen to visit the campus of Bethany Society in Shillong, Meghalaya, you might come across a young woman quietly tending the vegetable garden in the greenhouse. To speak to her you would have to know Indian Sign Language (ISL), or request Ridahun ...

Antara Naha, Tripura

“I am keen on art and my ambition is to teach painting to children someday”

A child with an invisible disability might suffer its consequences for years on end before her parents comprehend what she has endured. Ask Barun Kumar Naha (59) from Agartala, Tripura, father of 23-year-old Antara. When she was a child, Barun and his wif...

Fidelia Remlalpeki, Mizoram

“I love going on picnics and nature walks and taking a dip in the pool”

Rotluangi, a Biology teacher in Aizawl, Mizoram, was slightly worried when her daughter Fidelia couldn’t stand up after she turned one, like her son Gabriel had done at that age. Her worry deepened when Fidelia couldn’t walk or talk even at two years. She...

Ridahun Khriam, Meghalaya

“I want to be a certified, professional Sign Language interpreter”

Ridahun Khriam (34) from Shillong, Meghalaya lost both her parents when she was a small child. She barely remembers her father and thinks she was perhaps five years old when her mother too passed away. Since she comes from a matrilineal community her moth...

R. Vanrammawii, Mizoram

“Despite your physical disability you will be able to do everything if your mind is strong”

Let us imagine you are a wheelchair user going shopping with your ‘non-disabled’ friend. You approach a salesman and start asking him questions about an item you want to buy. He pointedly ignores you and directs all his responses to your friend instead! R...

Ludy Chhachhai, Mizoram

“My heightened senses help me perceive a pleasant world through different sounds, smells and touch”

Ludy Chhachhai (25) was the fourth child of C. Beisa and J. Ngova who worked a small farm in Lungbun village, Mizoram. Members of a Mara-speaking tribe (Mara being a Kuki-Chin language), they grew vegetables, reared fish in a small pond, and managed to pr...

Dolfie Jean Lyngdoh, Meghalaya

“I do not like sitting idle. I like being productive and always look for ways to contribute”

Dolfie Jean Lyngdoh is a neatnik. Her house in Shillong, Meghalaya is a concrete example of the old adage “a place for everything and everything in its place”. She keeps organising the contents of cupboards and showcases, and all the kitchen utensils have...

Pandranki Satyavati, Andhra Pradesh

“I was a girl who couldn’t travel even from my village to the next village. And now I have played basketball in foreign countries”

Imagine a couple scraping by on daily wage toil in a village. Their daughter gets badly affected by polio. Then they have a second daughter who remains healthy. Whose education is disrupted? It sounds like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised. Ramu and B...

Kajal Mishra, Delhi

“The first step is always difficult, but once you take it, the journey becomes easy”

Disability is officially measured in percentages. The higher the percentage the greater your challenge is supposed to be. Kajal Mishra (24) from Delhi has a barely noticeable physical disability but what she has endured because of it cannot be expressed ...

Puja Sau, West Bengal

“I would like to set up a retail shop in my village. My aim is to earn enough to help my parents”

Neel Kamal Sau ran a cycle shop in the village of Khandrui in West Medinipur, West Bengal. The shop was attached to his house where he lived with his wife Anita and infant daughter Puja. One day, sparks from the ash of a lit agarbatti fell onto petrol can...

Srilatha KS, Karnataka

“I had to push myself hard to get where I am. Now I no longer have to prove myself to anyone”

Srilatha KS (38) from Bengaluru has many reasons to smile. The multinational corporation (MNC) where she is project management officer provides her smooth transport to an accessible office environment. She is part of the inclusive wheelchair-dance group ...

Gayatri Gupta, Karnataka

“Patience and acceptance are the two qualities that society needs to cultivate”

Not every mother would describe the birth of their child with a disability how 55-year-old Shalini Saran Gupta does: “As soon as our precious Gayatri was born, it was right at the delivery table they told us that she was blessed with Down Syndrome.” Shali...

Darshna Shinde, Karnataka

“I regret not having pursued my education but I enjoy my job which helps me support my family”

All those people who used to laugh at Darshna Shinde and call her ‘Choti’ (‘shorty’) because of her dwarfism must be laughing on the other side of their face today. The 26-year-old from the district of Belagavi (previously Belgaum) in Karnataka contribute...

Sai Padma, Andhra Pradesh

“Being ‘stuck’ in a wheelchair isn’t as bad as being stuck in your mind, in your life”

Sai Padma from Andhra Pradesh is virtually flooded by doctors in her immediate family. Her father Dr B.S.R. Murthy is a surgeon, her (late) mother Dr Adi Seshu was a gynaecologist, her (late) brother Dr Narendra was a general surgeon, her sister Dr Vamsi ...

Aarti Batra, Haryana

“Be empathetic to everyone, not only to people but to every creature”

When Aarti Batra goes on a holiday with friends, like she did recently to Nainital, she has to plan the dates and duration of the trip around her hospital appointments. The 23-year-old from Gurgaon, Haryana has the inherited blood disorder thalassemia maj...

Jyothi K, Tamil Nadu

“I want to travel the world, and if possible, visit every country in the world”

When Mr Chockalingam of Chennai used to sing the verses of classical poets Subramania Bharathiyar and Bharathidasan and recite the revered Tirukkural to his four-year-old granddaughter, he noticed something unusual. She would start tapping on a steel vess...

Smitha Sadasivan, Tamil Nadu

“After we benefit from support systems, we should also become a support for others”

The average person frolicking on a beach may never stop to consider the question: can a wheelchair user reach this spot where I stand with the waves lapping against my feet? The tyres of an ordinary wheelchair will not move through dry, loose sand. Imagin...

Hasitha Illa, Maharashtra

“Mental health is more important than physical health”

Hasitha Illa (25) has been excitedly waiting to meet her colleagues in person for the first time, a whole year after she got the job. March 2021 marked her first foray into formal employment. Synechron, where she works in their Pune office as part of the ...

Kabita Mridha, West Bengal

“I would really like to be employed. I’m very good at stitching”

After her father Sundar Mridha died when she was in second grade, Kabitha Mridha (32) from South Parganas District, West Bengal stopped going to school. Her father used to carry her to and from school because she was born with a severe locomotor disabilit...

Roopa Vairaprakash, Tamil Nadu

“We have physical and emotional needs too. We should be able to have a companion in our lives”

The youngest child is usually the most petted in the family and Roopa Vairaprakash, neé Rajendran (39) from Chennai was no different. Born in Thoothukudi district with dwarfism and spinal injury, she grew up not even once feeling that she was disabled. Sh...

Gauri Gadgil, Maharashtra

“I love to teach; I want to become a swimming coach”

Gauri Gadgil from Pune will turn 31 in a few days and perhaps blow out the candles on her birthday cake, but we think she will not gorge on sweets. She is a disciplined young woman who controls her diet and is resuming her regimen of exercise, swimming, a...

Rizwana Salam, Ladakh

“I’m not that interested in studies; I want to be an actor and singer”

Rizwana Salam (22) from Leh, Ladakh is unstoppable. Even as she slurs while speaking, her words tumble out in a torrent of excitement: “When are you going to interview me? Oh, I thought today. Do I have to wait till tomorrow? Can’t we do it now?” And then...

Nasreen Khatun, West Bengal

“I keep telling my mother that I wish we could all live in a regular house someday”

When a family living on the streets of a city includes three girls, one of them with a disability, life becomes that much harder for them. Residing in a makeshift shack below the Hastings flyover in Kolkata are 13-year-old Nasreen Khatun who is deaf, her ...

Stanzin Otsala, Ladakh

“Before my illness, I used to enjoy dancing. Now, with physiotherapy, I am able to remove my socks by myself”

Among the mountains in the rarefied atmosphere of Ladakh’s Leh district, you might have spotted a rugged 63-year-old walking uphill and downhill in the village of Lingshed, carrying her 24-year-old daughter on her back. That would be Stanzin Dolma whose y...

Sonali Parida, Odisha

“I love to draw. I use colour pencils, sketch-pens and watercolour paints”

When Prasanta Parida from Baliput in Odisha’s Puri district tells us, “Many people in our village know Sign Language,” we can’t help thinking that 12-year-old Sonali was responsible. Hearing-impaired Sonali, the eldest of three girls born to Prasanta and ...

Soumita Basu, West Bengal

“Do what you can but do it now. Nothing is worse than stagnation”

Every morning when Soumita (39) gets up, she does not know which part of her body she will be able to move, which part will function, and how. For 11 years, Soumita Basu from Kolkata has been dogged by this condition which has been given different names ...

Koushalya Swain, Odisha

“We have to support one another in these testing times”

Readers often tell us that the EGS campaign brings them hope. But we cannot guarantee uplifting stories always. A PwD’s life might have taken a sudden turn for the worse before we met them. And that was the case with Koushalya Swain (35) from Puri, Odisha...

Roji Nisha, Jharkhand

“I like to wear lipstick and jeans. Watching serials is how I spend my time”

When Roji Nisha (21) was born, in the ‘Steel City’ of Bokaro in Jharkhand, she was so tiny that her father was afraid to even lift her. A premature baby, she weighed only 1.25 kg. As she developed, her parents found something amiss about her. They spent m...

Manisha Kumari Mahto, Jharkhand

‘I love listening to songs and I try to dance to them’

Photographer Vicky Roy asked Manisha Kumari (8) who has cerebral palsy (CP) to pick up some marbles he had placed near her on the floor. Her rigid arms trembled as she struggled to move her hand. When her stiff fingers managed to close on a marble and act...

Israna, Delhi

“I dream of getting a nice job, earning well”

Israna (18) likes to imitate Bollywood dance numbers she has seen on TV. Although she is deaf in the left ear and has partial hearing in the right, she gets the dance beats by watching how ‘didi’ (sister) Shuchi Dasmana claps to the song. Her wiry body im...

Kavita Mathur, Delhi

“Don't sit and wait for things to happen in your life. Take charge. Make sure you are not dependent on anyone.”

When Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) narrate how they became disabled, their stories are often coloured by overheard tales and memories. Delhi-born Kavita Mathur (45) was told that one day when she was two, her mother left her to play under a neem tree a...

Anju Rani Joy, Kerala

“Whatever be the disability, if your mind is strong enough to deal with it, you can live happy”

Why can’t disabled actors play disabled characters? We are reminded of this longstanding demand of persons with disabilities worldwide when we meet Anju Rani Joy (32) from Kizhakkambalam, Ernakulam, a wheelchair user with paraplegia who has acted in two m...

Vikengunu Fatima Kera, Nagaland

“Everyone has a disability. It’s visible for us, invisible for others. That’s the only difference”

Vikengunu Fatima Kera has a very concise postal address: Near Local Ground, Khuzama. Several among the 5000-odd residents of her village in Nagaland’s Kohima district know her as a disability rights activist. But few in the rest of India know her story. ...

Kusumlata Bhandari, Rajasthan

“People told my parents that when I grew up I would hate them for letting me live”

When Dr Kusumlata Bhandari (66) of Jodhpur contracted bulbar polio that caused neck-down paralysis at age three-and-a-half, many people told her parents that she was better off dead! Kusum’s father was a medical doctor and he and his wife Sita took the ch...

Niangngaihnem, Manipur

“I wonder what I would have done if I hadn’t learnt weaving”

In remote Indian villages without medical facilities, a seemingly ordinary bout of high fever that goes untreated can have disastrous consequences. In Thuangtam in Manipur, it robbed Niangngaihnem (32) of her hearing, and her father of his life. Ngaihne...

Ashe Kiba, Nagaland

“Earlier, disability was my weakness, but now disability is my strength”

Meeting the cheerful, lively Ashe Kiba today you would never guess what a painfully shy child she was. Many people in her state, including some residents of Akuluto, the town where she grew up, believed she was cursed because her hands were shorter, and f...

The Sheroes, Uttar Pradesh

“Never look back. If you look back you will get stuck and you won’t be able to move forward”

The men vowed: ‘I will attack her such that she lives but no longer exists.’ But they were beaten hollow. Because the women cried out to these monsters: ‘You can never erase my identity. Its roots are buried deep within the rock of my conviction.’ The w...

Ameer Siddiqui, Delhi

“Parents should expose their differently abled kids to the outside world so they learn to mingle with society”

Most government employees tend to use their 30 days of annual leave to take their families on vacation. Ameer Siddiqui is different. This Delhi resident who works as a government Computer Officer takes off on expeditions to spread disability awareness. Po...

Vallinayagam, Tamil Nadu

“We must not focus on what we have lost but what we are left with”

The year was 2000 and 17-year-old Vallinayagam was enjoying his school summer holidays in his village, Veeranarayana Mangalam. The landowner for whom his father worked as a tenant farmer craved a tender coconut. The teenager climbed a palm tree, lost his ...

Jagannath Singh Jayara, Chandigarh

“I agree that the darkness is intense, but what prevents you from lighting a lamp”

Jagannath Singh Jayara’s greatest reward is when old students of the Institute for the Blind, after getting their first jobs, come to give him sweets and pay their respects. He must be reminded of his own journey from a vision-impaired schoolboy in Uttara...

Niyaz Hussain, Delhi

“Nothing and no one can defeat me”

When Niyaz Hussain was studying in a government school in Delhi, art became his companion to overcome his loneliness. Affected by polio at the age of two, his disability kept him friendless: his classmates neglected him and excluded him from their games. ...

Tariq Ahmad, Jammu & Kashmir

“Give us a chance and we will not disappoint you”

Having one son with Muscular Dystrophy would have been challenging enough for Mohammed Sultan, a well-known needleworker from Gotapora village in Srinagar. But when all three of his sons were born with this neurological disorder that causes muscles to pro...

Dhanya Ravi, Karnataka

“We must embrace our imperfections, as it is our imperfections that lead us to our greatest strengths”

Hospital ICUs are “a second home”, says Dhanya Ravi cheerfully. “I feel like a princess with all the attention I get.” Born in 1989 with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) or brittle bone disease, hundreds of fractures haven’t stopped her from becoming a powerh...