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“I believe problems are a part of life but facing them is an art of life”

A mother’s eagle eye should never be ignored. When Sonam Yangchan (26) from Leh Ladakh was born her mother Yangchan Dolma (56) noticed something unusual on her back. A surgeon she consulted pooh-poohed her concerns. When Sonam was around five, her left foot developed a deformity that impeded her ability to walk. They approached REWA Ability Centre, the Ladakh-based NGO that offers daily treatment for children with disabilities from the Leh area and also conducts outreach programmes in remote parts of Ladakh. Sonam’s father, Chhewang Stobgais, is an ex-serviceman who retired in 1993 and became a tailor after learning to stitch traditional Ladakhi wear for men and women. Dolma learnt from her husband and assists him.
 
In around 2004, Sonam was diagnosed with spina bifida, a condition that develops in the womb and could have been corrected at birth. The family couldn’t afford medical care but in 2008 REWA Society offered financial support and took her along with a group of children to Delhi for treatment. A surgery appointment at AIIMS would involve a four-month waiting period so she underwent a 10-hour spinal surgery at St Stephen’s Hospital. Her lower body lost all sensation – no extent of physiotherapy could bring it back.
 
Sonam was in fifth standard and since she needed Dolma’s constant assistance, attending school became an issue. But because she was a bright student who habitually got first rank the school allowed her to mark attendance only when she had exams. Her supportive friends used to send her notes and she passed sixth standard; she makes special mention of her best friends Jigmet, Urgan, and Angmo. For seventh and eighth standards she had a home tutor, Tsewang Dorjay, who helped her study and perform better.
 
In 2011 Petra Boden, a physiotherapist working at REWA, sponsored her and Dolma’s travel to Germany for four months of treatment. It improved her condition and Petra sponsored them again for two months the following year to equip her with a prosthetic leg and forearm crutches. Thus she was able to return to school using crutches from Standard 9 onwards.
 
There was no stopping Sonam now. She completed her 10th standard in 2014 from Mahabodhi Residential School Leh and did her ‘Plus 2’ in the medical stream from Lamdon Model Senior Secondary School. After finishing her 12th standard in 2016, Sonam wanted to leave Leh for further studies. However, her mother was reluctant to let her go alone, so they moved to Jammu together. She underwent coaching and attempted the NEET exam but couldn’t secure a seat. Undeterred, she took the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) exam and joined the agricultural university SKUAST in Jammu to pursue a degree in agriculture.
 
Sonam stayed in the SKUAST hostel where the warden kindly provided her mother also with a room. While Dolma supported Sonam during the four year course, returning home only for the month-long summer vacation, Chhewang took care of her sister Kunzes and brother Rinchen. Sonam graduated in 2021 and joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi where she completed her Masters in Microbiology in 2023, an achievement she is proud of since IARI is one of ICAR’s top 10 universities.
 
Sonam considered pursuing her PhD but in 2023 she got the results of the government Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exam she had answered in 2022. A post-doctorate would take five years while clearing the SSC exam would mean a government job. ‘The choice is yours,” Dolma told her. “I will be with you wherever you go.” Sonam chose a post in the government Handicrafts Department in Leh, where she has been working as Accounts Assistant since December 2023. Finance was not her field but she easily picked it up after undergoing training and now enjoys the subject.
 
Sonam rides a scooty to her office just five minutes from home. It’s a tri-wheeler provided under a government disability scheme where the user pays only 25 per cent of the cost and the government absorbs the rest. She has just passed her driving test and got a license. Clearly the handicrafts department of Leh isn’t aware of the RPwDA which mandates reasonable accommodation for the disabled. Dolma has to take Sonam up to her first floor office (she also comes back in the afternoon to take her to the toilet). When Sonam asked the office to install a lift they countered: “Who will use it after your transfer?” She gave a sensible answer: “Everyone will find it useful, including senior citizens.”
 
Both Sonam’s siblings are married and have children. Kunzes is State Finance Consultant in the National Health Mission and Rinchen works with the Indo Tibetan Border Police. Sonam is a YouTuber and blogger. She sketches, plays a small guitar, and enjoys cooking and baking by watching YouTube videos (she turned vegetarian in 2020). She is a foodie who loves rajma-chawal, ice cream and muffins. When it comes to work, she plans to write a finance exam so she can get a promotion.