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nincy

nincy
miriam
mondly , kerala

Nincy Mariam Mondly outside her house with her nephews Liam Jo Dany, 3, and Louie Mondly Dany, 2, who wear T-shirts tucked into shorts. All three are grinning. Nincy, with shoulder-length open hair, wearing black-frame spectacles, kameez with a multi-coloured pin-stripe pattern and blue churidar, sits in her manual wheelchair with her feet on a cushion placed on the footrest. The ground is paved and there is a bed of plants behind her. She is holding up Liam’s left hand with her right in an inverted V. Louie stands next to his brother. Liam’s T-shirt says “WHERE IS THE PARTY” and Louie’s, “AWESOME”.
Nincy in her wheelchair in her room is reading a book. Her hair is tied back and she wears a red shirt with big black-and-white checks, the sleeves folded up to the elbow, and black skintight jeans. There are two adjacent windows behind her with grills and half-curtains. Two of her paintings are propped up on a window sill. In the far right corner a large black metal trunk sits on top of a similar green one. In the far left corner is a steel table with drawers, piled high with sketchpads.
Nincy in red shirt and black jeans, wearing black leg braces, is framed in an open doorway, walking out of her bedroom using a walker.
A medium shot of Nincy wearing an orange, short-sleeved kameez, sitting in her wheelchair. Her mother Lena Mondly, 58, and older sister Nimmy Elsa Mondly, 32, stand on either side of her. Nimmy is grasping Nincy’s left hand and Lena, her right. Nimmy wears a royal blue kameez and dupatta and Lena is draped in a magenta and beige patterned sari paired with a magenta blouse.
Nincy and family pose in the living room. Nincy in orange kameez and beige churidar is in the centre of the frame, in her wheelchair, holding up her phone screen which shows a photo of her father Mondly Mathew Oommen, 60. Liam and Louie in shorts and T-shirts sit on a double sofa in the near left corner. Lena in a magenta sari sits to the left of Nincy, and Nimmy in a royal blue salwar-kameez stands to the right. Nimmy’s husband Dany John Selvan, 33, sits at the extreme right, dressed in light blue jeans and black T-shirt with yellow, white and maroon vertical stripes.
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“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 caused paraplegia, which confined her to a hospital for almost a whole year and continues to make her a wheelchair user for seven years now.

“What the fall did to my life was both traumatic and transformative,” says this 26-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She gained confidence through the strong support of her loving family and friends, and the belief that God worked through people and situations for her good. What also helped her cope was her love of painting, which has become more a companion than a mere hobby.

When she returned home she found that her father had got a ramp and interlocking tiles made in front of the house and her mother had creatively altered the interiors so that she could freely use her wheelchair. However, connecting to the world outside did pose challenges. She had to opt for distance education to complete her degree in Psychology and pursue her Masters in Counselling and Family Therapy. Studying psychology has helped her deal with her emotions and realise the power of the mind. She says, “If your mind is strong it can lift up your body too.”

Nincy has been regularly participating in annual art events organised by Pallium India to create awareness about the needs of wheelchair users and work towards making the state capital barrier-free. The Freedom Art Exhibition 2016 was the first platform she got to “showcase my ability and not my disability”. Her paintings reflect her intimate feelings and emotions. She explains: “My art speaks not just for me but to me also.”

From January 2021 Nincy has been working at Bloombloom, a “university for collaborative education” that provides a space for children aged 6-18 to discover their interests. Growing into an entrepreneurial role, she aspires to form her own batch of students and run the educational programme designed by Bloombloom.

Nincy loves “mom-made” food, although she lost her sense of smell and flavour after the accident. The time she spends with her family brings great joy and laughter to her life. “Everything I am today I owe to God who has put me amidst so much love.”


Photos:

Vicky Roy

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