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“I like using the computer and my sister’s laptop. I want to become a writer”

When Seerat Mushtaq (11) was a little girl, even before she started school her mother Afroza would help her learn new words by showing her educational videos and TV programmes. “By watching TV she started speaking Urdu even before she learnt our language Kashmiri,” says Afroza. Her facility with words seems to have endured over the years: today she is not only fluent in Kashmiri and Urdu but she also enjoys reading and writing in English.
 
Maths is another story, though. Her father Mushtaq Ahmed, a daily wage worker in the municipal corporation of Aishmuqam in Anantnag district, tells us half-jokingly, “If you give her ten rupees to spend she won’t be able to calculate how much should be returned to her after paying someone!” But he adds: “She is very fond of reading and writing and often wants to use her elder sister Hadiya’s laptop. I once saw her writing something about herself and storing it in the computer.”
 
Hadiya (16) is in Grade 10 at the local English-medium Hillway Public School while Seerat has finished Grade 8 at the Zaiba Aapa Institute of Inclusive Education in Bijbehara. Afroza describes how Seerat’s brain was briefly deprived of oxygen at birth. Although they immediately shifted her to the Government Children’s Hospital in Srinagar where she was placed on a ventilator, the brain injury caused cerebral palsy (CP).
 
When Seerat was around three months old, Afroza took her to a Dr Mushtaq who dispensed medicines for CP and explained that regular physical exercises were important for her development. Afroza gave her medicines but was irregular with the exercise routine. When she visited the doctor again after a month, he emphasised Seerat’s need for physical activity along with medication. At the clinic Afroza noticed a few three- and four-year-olds in the clinic, struggling to walk. Worried whether this would be Seerat’s future she decided to take the doctor’s advice seriously.
 
Afroza devoted considerable time to Seerat’s exercises amid her household responsibilities. Despite their financial constraints Mushtaq spared no expense to ensure Seerat had a nutritious diet. In early childhood she had difficulty swallowing food and drink and could not even stand up let alone walk. Gradually her mobility improved. Today she can walk independently though one of her legs is slightly impaired.
 
Seerat was six when she was admitted to the Zaiba Aapa Institute of Inclusive Education in Bijbehara. There she received all the therapies she needed along with her education. She recently completed Class 8 and Mushtaq plans to admit her to a mainstream high school.
He says Seerat has an inquisitive mind keen on exploring different fields; Afroza calls her “a brave, bold and intelligent girl”.
 
Seerat told us she enjoys reading stories and fairytales in English, Cinderella being one of her faves. Singing and dancing lift her heart and she particularly enjoys listening to Hindi songs although her current favourite is the viral Marathi song “Lal Lal Colour Chi Bangadi” (a.k.a. “Bangles”) by Sanjoy Rathod. “I like playing Ludo with my sister,” she said. She relishes chicken and paneer the most. She regularly watches TV programmes and on top of her list is the kiddie fantasy series “Baalveer”. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that, for a person with locomotive issues, Seerat should especially enjoy “stories that involve flying”.
 
When asked what she aspired to be in future she expressed a desire to become a writer. Mushtaq believes that given the necessary support and opportunities Seerat can go far – or indeed, fly high.