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diya

diya
sree , andaman
and
nicobar

Diya Sree (17) sits in a flesh-coloured plastic chair with her arms on the arm rests. She has short curly black hair and a small red bindi between her eyebrows. She wears navy blue pants and a silky aquamarine top with a round neck and three-fourth sleeves. A door-curtain in a thick shiny scarlet fabric hangs behind her.
Diya sits on a bed, smiling, with her legs outstretched and her back leaning against an off-white wall. With the curling fingers of both hands she is operating a tablet placed on her lap. She wears a black salwar with white polka dots. Her thin cotton kameez has floppy sleeves that reach down to her elbows and is gathered below the bust. It is printed with small red diamond-shaped outlines on a white background, and there are red motifs inside the diamond shapes. The bedsheet has a rectangular pattern in blue, yellow, white, red and violet.
Mid shot of Diya sitting on a divan, writing with a pencil in a notebook placed on a violet plastic writing desk in front of her. The divan is upholstered in a fabric that has broad stripes of maroon and salmon pink. Two bolsters covered in the same fabric are on either side of her and there is a maroon cushion behind her. She wears a deep purple full-sleeved gown with a round neck and a row of embroidered pink flowers running vertically from left shoulder to armpit.
Side shot of Diya sitting in a flesh-coloured plastic chair, watching TV. She wears her deep purple gown and she is smiling. The flat screen TV is mounted on the off-white wall above the teakwood-coloured divan upholstered in maroon and pink. The divan has two storage compartments below the seat. The screen shows a cartoon of Mr Bean with his left arm stretched and holding up a small teddy bear, while his right hand holds a flashing torch. Between the divan and Diya there is a teakwood-coloured side table with a glass top. On the table there is a small blue statuette of lord Krishna playing a flute, with a spray of peacock feathers behind him. The table also contains a small brass pot and a brass pooja lamp.
Diya and her brother R. Manish (24) sit on a heavy wooden three-seater sofa with head-rests richly carved with curlicues. The sofa is upholstered in scarlet fabric printed with light brown daisy-shaped motifs that match the colour of the sofa. Diya, grinning broadly, wears her red-on-white cotton kameez and black-and-white polka dotted salwar. Manish wears a light grey half-sleeved knitted shirt with collar, and sapphire-blue pants. The pale cream built-in wall-shelf behind them contains framed photos.
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“I watch ‘Mahadev’ on TV and like listening to the stories that my mother reads aloud to me”

When we spoke to Mini, the mother of Diya Sree (17) who has Cerebral Palsy (CP), they were in Kerala where Diya was undergoing a 20-day Ayurveda treatment to help enhance her body movements. Mini, who is a Hindi teacher in Port Blair, works in a school that understands her difficulties and allows her to take leave whenever Diya’s health issues crop up, as happens frequently.
 
Mini was widowed eight years ago. Her husband, T. Rajesh Kumar, who was a ranger in the forest department, caught a lung infection and died of a heart attack. Since she is a working woman she has employed a maid who sees to Diya’s daily needs such as brushing teeth, dressing, bathing and feeding. Her son Manish (24) helps with household chores.
 
Manish, who is doing an online MBA, told us that growing up, he understood that his mother would devote most of her attention to his sister. As she grew older she became more withdrawn. She also started getting irritated with her condition, and this seems to have given rise to cracks in the sibling relationship. “We get very little family time,” said Mini when asked if they went out together. “It is hard to take Diya outdoors with her restricted movements and with no accessibility anywhere.”
 
Recalling the time Diya was born, Mini said she had caught Chikungunya when she was pregnant with Diya. Her blood pressure shot up and the baby was born pre-term through an emergency caesarean section. She later discovered that due to lack of oxygen, Diya’s brain had some permanent damage. She was nine months old when doctors in a Kerala hospital, where she was taken after she developed recurring fever, noticed something unusual. After doing a CT scan, they diagnosed her with CP. Diya underwent physiotherapy for six months but the family’s limited income did not permit them to continue further.
 
Diya reached school-going age and the family hired an auto to convey her to and fro. Their maid would accompany her since Mini had her own teaching schedule. Mainstream schooling did not suit Diya and she went to a special school until the Covid pandemic forced a lockdown. She didn’t resume school after that, and now a tenth standard government school teacher comes home on weekends to tutor her. “She has a good memory and grasps things well when she listens to them,” says Mini.
 
Diya loves listening to stories that her mother reads out to her. She is also fond of watching TV, particularly the serial ‘Mahadev’ since she adores lord Shiva. Although she has dietary restrictions Mini says they are hard to follow, and besides, Diya is fond of regular food. “She is an emotional person but mentally strong,” says Mini. “I hope she can learn to manage her own needs. Whenever anyone suggests a doctor or a helpful treatment I take her to get it.” The recent Ayurveda treatment is perhaps the result of one such suggestion.
 
The family gets a monthly disability allowance of ₹2,500 and some monetary assistance from Mini’s brother. 

Photos:

Vicky Roy

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