All

❮

❯

“Never lose courage. Just look around and see those who are less fortunate than you”

Something new has entered Suman Gupta’s life and she is eager to tell our interviewer about it. For the past two years this 49-year-old anganwadi (government crèche) worker from Kanpur has been taking part in fashion shows for the disabled. These shows are held by organisations working for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) to raise awareness about disability. They bring her no monetary benefit – participants get trophies and certificates – but she enjoys meeting other PwD and listening to their life stories.
 
Her own story has a plot that gradually builds up to form a gripping narrative. She grew up in Lucknow where her father ran a small shop where he made and sold sweets. A polio attack at age three left her with a weak right leg, and none of the native medical remedies her parents tried made any difference. After three years she was able to walk by using her right hand to support her right knee while moving her infirm leg forward. She attended a government school with her two younger sisters; the school was close to home and either her elder brother or her father used to drop her there. “The boys used to make fun of me,” she recalls, “but the girls were helpful. And there was a kind maths teacher who helped me with my studies.” She completed ninth and tenth standards in a private school.
 
Suman’s parents weren’t keen on education. “What will girls gain, anyway, by studying?” was their opinion, in line with the social attitudes that prevailed. Even their son wasn’t allowed to study after passing high school. They got Suman married to Rambabu Gupta, who owned a small shop in Kanpur and who had also been struck by polio as a child. Just a couple of months later, Suman fell down a flight of stairs and fractured her spine. She was unable to walk and her brother took her back to Lucknow for treatment that lasted a year. While she was recovering, Rambabu died of a brain haemorrhage!
 
Suman went back to Kanpur to live with her mother-in-law Rajkumari with whom she had a good relationship. Though Rajkumari was conservative, she backed Suman’s decision to study further, realising that education would help her become financially independent. Suman completed her B.A. and M.A. through a private university in Kanpur. During this period she was supporting herself and Rajkumari (whom she looked after till her death in 2019) by giving tuitions and doing other small jobs, until a neighbour told her about the anganwadi job.
 
Suman has been working in the anganwadi, around 10 km from home, for the past 15 years. She gets up at 7 a.m., finishes her household chores, has breakfast, packs lunch and is ready to roll. She used to travel by public transport but three years ago she received a battery-run mobility vehicle from the government which has eased her daily commute. She earns ₹5,000 per month and hopes to gain a boost in her salary by getting promoted to supervisor. Her parents have died and her brother and sisters, whom she meets occasionally, have families of their own. She is close to her two nephews Aman (26), who runs a small general store, and Aakash (24), who is doing his Bachelors in Law. They are always ready to take her to places she wants to go.
 
It was Nitin Gupta, a national-level wheelchair athlete and model, who contacted her through Facebook and asked if she was interested in modelling. There’s an online group where modelling opportunities for the disabled are posted, and Suman registered, put up some photos and was selected. She has been doing shows in cities such as Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Gorakhpur and Dausa. “Sometimes organisations pay for travel and stay but most often it’s my nephews who fund me,” says Suman. “I would not be able do this without their support.”
 
Reading is Suman’s hobby. She likes meeting people, especially those who are less fortunate than her, whom she tries to help in whatever way possible. “When we get a chance we should grab it without bothering about what society will say,” she says. “If we decide to, we can do everything.”