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rizwana

rizwana
salam , ladakh

Rizwana Salam (22) wearing a dark violet polka dot kameez and matching salwar with pink dupatta sits cross-legged on the ground. She is smiling brightly and pointing to the open window with clear glass panes and transparent white curtains. She is surrounded by cushions and bolsters all of which have covers with the same designs in leaf-green, gold and black embroidery. The window behind her has brown and white striped curtains.
Rizwana is kneeling is front of a small mirror on a side-table, dabbing make-up on her right cheek with a cotton wad in her left hand. She has reddened her lips and her eyelids are lined in bluish black. The table has two red lipsticks, a blue eyeliner pencil, and a small red jewellery box. Rizwana supports her left arm with her right to steady it. She wears her violet salwar-kameez and magenta dupatta, and sets of thin bangles on her arms – golden ones on her left arm and magenta on her right. Her dangling ear-drops have blue stones. The room has walls with wood panelling. Behind her is a wooden cot with a mattress covered with a light pink bedsheet. There is a pile of razai quilts next to the bed.
Rizwana sits on the floor, writing in a notebook placed on a low, wooden teapoy. She is looking at the camera and smiling. A pink stationery box lies open next to an eraser to the left of the notebook. A vase of pink plastic roses, several textbooks and a pencil case rest on a similar teapoy to the left, and to the right there is a brown covered cane basket. Behind her there are four tall windows with glass panes in wooden frames.
Rizwana in brown tight pants and a light pink kurta is standing with knees bent, holding on tight to an upright iron grill painted white. She has a look of concentration on her face. Behind her is a computer chair. Behind the chair is a row of shoes and slippers.
Rizwana and her mother Taslima sit on a divan side by side. They are looking into each other’s faces and laughing. Taslima has covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes are crinkled with laughter. She wears a light green kurta, light purple salwar and coffee-coloured dupatta wrapped around her head and shoulders. Rizwana wears a navy blue kurta and matching long skirt with a folded red dupatta draped across one shoulder. Behind them is a row of glass-paned windows with sea-green transparent curtains.
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“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, the next day (after calling us to ask why we hadn’t called her yet!) she rattles off: “I want to take part in fashion shows. I can act and sing. I’m on Instagram. Have you seen my reels?”
 
If you have dystonic cerebral palsy, like Rizwana does, you would find it difficult to control your involuntary muscle contractions and movements. But Rizwana has learnt how to. Ladakh-based REWA Society, an NGO that works with a German non-profit Ladakh-Hilfe, has played a crucial role in her life since 2009, providing education and therapy.

Rizwana does her own makeup and hairstyling before she records her videos — over 500 reels on her Instagram handle @riswanasalam where she lip syncs to popular Bollywood songs and pieces of dialogue. Her ambitions, besides fashion modelling, are to sing and act professionally.
 
Rizwana was four months old when her parents Abdul Salam, who works in the government public health department, and Taslima Parveen discovered something was amiss with their baby. They got the diagnosis from a doctor in Jammu and it took them a while to understand the condition. “She was five years when she finally started talking and understanding what we said,” says Taslima. Never having been able to consistently attend school, Rizwana has just completed her Class 7 exams. Although she intends to finish Class 10, she laughingly declares, “Lekin padhai mein utna interest naheen hai (but I’m not really interested in studies).” Her older sister Farhana is employed in New Delhi.
 
For this gregarious young woman, school is a place where she has “bahut maza (lot of fun)”. Along with physiotherapy and formal studies, the children are taught self-care. Today Rizwana can independently manage most of her daily activities except for needing a little help with personal hygiene; she even cuts vegetables for her mom. REWA has also provided her with a wheelchair. Taslima talks with great pride about the strides her daughter has made. She also helps Rizwana with exercises at home to strengthen her back, hands and legs. The cold results in a stiffness in her body. “It’s almost that time of the year when we light the bukhari (traditional wood-fired room heater),” says Taslima.
 
The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it different woes. Her doctor told her not to travel to Jammu for medical visits because she was susceptible to infection. It’s been two years since they met him and now he is in Bangalore, says Taslima. Rizwana has not been able to get follow up medical attention.
 
If there’s one thing that riles both mother and daughter it is people wondering aloud, “What has she done wrong in her earlier janam (life) to be suffering like this now?” Rizwana gives them a robust ticking-off. “When people say such things I say to their face ‘What’s your problem?!’ Earlier I would feel bad or feel anger inside me. Then my dad taught me to speak out directly to such people. Even at REWA we are taught not to get nervous when people say such things to us.” And having got a taste of her fighting spirit, we are sure that no one will dare mess with her!
 

Photos:

Vicky Roy

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