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“Disabled persons don’t need sympathy. Allow us to fly higher with our strengths”

When you meet Hajara KG (39) today, a capable and confident vice president and unit secretary of the Lakshadweep Differently-abled Welfare Association (LDWA), you would never guess the upheavals she has gone through in her personal life.
 
Hajara was born on Agatti Island as the youngest daughter among the seven children of Ummer Hajee and Nafeesath P. Ummer was a fisherman who owned a boat and also earned as a coconut tree climber. “I have had a minor locomotor disability since birth,” Hajara explains. “My left leg is shorter than my right and some of my fingers are webbed [fused together] and small.” It was difficult to perform her daily activities; for example, she had to manipulate her fingers in an unusual way in order to eat, and when her classmates began to make fun of how she ate her packed lunch she started going home for lunch.
 
After Hajara completed middle school she had to change schools to enter seventh standard. Her family, especially her mother, older brother and uncle, thought there was no point in educating a girl. Her elder sisters, too, had been forced to drop out – one after fourth standard and the other after eighth. Hajara was crushed. She was a good student and very keen to continue learning. Her teachers even approached the family and tried convincing them to send her to school but they stuck to their guns. She still has painful memories of sitting at home, watching her friends pass by on their way to school. “If only I had been allowed to complete my 10th at that time I could have easily got a job,” she says.
 
Hajara took to household duties such as helping her brothers, who were fishermen, in making salted dried fish, in making copra (dried coconut), taking care of the cows and so on. At 16 a reluctant Hajara was married off to a man who was willing to overlook her disability because he came from an even more financially backward family than theirs. Her nine-year-long marital life was a struggle. Her husband physically abused her for not producing a child while he himself had a daughter with another woman.
 
Ummer died of a stroke. Hajara got a job, on a rotational basis, as a cleaner in the office of the Village Dweep Panchayat (village governing council) of Agatti. Her husband snatched up all her earnings. Divorce became her only option. The couple broke up within a year of Ummer’s death.
 
Once Hajara had finished her turn to work at the panchayat, she along with her niece tried selling homemade snacks. Meanwhile, her burning desire to finish high school had never dimmed. From her niece she found out that the government offers an ‘equivalency exam’ to those who could not complete their education, and provides a ‘pass’ certificate that enables them to continue their studies or enhance job prospects. Hajara attended tuition classes and travelled to Andrott Island to write the exams. In her late twenties, at long last, she passed seventh standard in 2014 and tenth standard in 2015!
 
Hajara worked for a year as a cook in a government school, which is where she met Muhammad Kasim, a coconut tree climber and divorcee from Andrott. Their similar life experiences brought about an emotional connection, and they decided to get married. Hajara’s family opposed the union but she did not budge an inch. “I’ve lived alone for the past six years and now I need a partner.” she declared. “If you stand in the way I will elope and get married!” Hajara and Kasim got married in 2017. They started a restaurant on Agatti. Kasim also takes up construction work whenever available.
 
Hajara says, “LDWA changed my perspective towards life.” Meeting many other PwD and getting to know about their lives helped her focus on her strengths. She takes an active part in strikes and protests and Kasim supports her contributions to the association. Whenever she travels to Kavaratti she stays over at the LDWA office premises, having fun meeting other members and singing songs together at night. She looks forward to LDWA starting a branch of Chakkara on Agatti; Chakkara is a special school on Andrott which offers therapy, education and vocational training for PwD.
 
Hajara rides a two-wheeler. Listening to music, singing Mappila Paattu, and watching serials and music reality shows on TV are her hobbies. She loves feeding and tending goats. She stitches some of her own clothes such as nighties and churidhars. In her busy schedule she makes it a point to get some quiet time when she can sit down to recite the Quran.