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    "result": {"pageContext":{"language":"en","pathURL":"laxmi-narayan","isDefaultLanguage":true,"storyData":{"Name":"Laxmi Narayan","Alt_Photos":null,"Alt_Text_Photo1":"Laxmi Narayan (25), wearing a mustard T-shirt and sapphire-blue track pants, sits cross-legged on a white marble floor in front of a smoky-grey, front-loading washing machine. He is pushing a pista-green garment into the machine’s circular, open door. Next to his leg there are three crumpled garments coloured mauve, black, and ash-grey. His black, straight hair is cropped close to his head.","Alt_Text_Photo2":"Laxmi Narayan, wearing a mauve, half-sleeved knitted shirt, stands in the kitchen in front of a steel gas stove on a grey granite platform. There is a steel vessel shaped like a kuja (drinking pot) on the left burner. He has just lit the burner with a steel gas lighter held in his right hand, and the flame burns blue. In the background, fixed to the wall, there is a steel rack stacked with steel plates and steel tumblers.","Alt_Text_Photo3":"A smiling Laxmi Narayan, wearing a cobalt-blue half-sleeve short tucked into black pants with a black belt, is walking towards the camera on a broad, grey, concrete pathway. His mother Mahalakshmi (47) has linked arms with him, grasping his left hand with her right. She holds a black folding umbrella in her left hand. She wears a maroon blouse and a turquoise blue sari printed with large red flowers and green leaves. Perpendicular to the pathway in the background there is a busy tarred road on which vehicles pass – a white van, a white SUV and a white scooter.","Alt_Text_Photo4":"Laxmi, wearing his mauve knitted shirt and pale pista green sweatpants, sits cross-legged on the floor. He holds up against his chest a mustard shirt that he has just then neatly folded into a rectangular shape. To the left, on the floor, two pants have been folded and placed one on top of the other. The bottom one is metallic blue and the top, black. To the right on the floor there are five crumpled sweatpants yet to be folded: one blue-green, two smoky-grey and two black.","Alt_Text_Photo5":"Laxmi Narayan and his family pose in a row, diagonally on a teakwood bed in a corner of a room. The bed is bare, and has no mattress. From left to right: his sister-in-law Palavuri Laxmi Devi (21), sister Madhuri (31), mother Mahalaxmi (47), Laxmi Narayan, and father S. Nandesh (59). Laxmi Devi and Nandesh sit on the edge of the bed and the others, in between, sit cross-legged on the bed. All of them are smiling broadly. Laxmi Devi wears a salwar and a short-sleeved kameez in the same black material printed with pinkish-red flowers. A black dupatta is draped in a U across her chest, with the ends disappearing down her back. Madhuri wears a vermillion short-sleeved, round-necked kameez trimmed with white lace at the bottom, and a navy blue salwar. A navy-blue dupatta forms a V across her chest. Mahalaxmi wears her turquoise printed sari and maroon blouse. Laxmi Narayan wears his mustard T-shirt and sapphire track pants. Nandesh wears chocolate-brown shorts and a half-sleeved knitted shirt that is pale sky blue from chest downwards, navy from chest up to the neck, and has ash-grey sleeves and collar. The floor is beige marble, the wall behind them is cream, and the adjoining wall is pale grey.","Alt_Text_Video":null,"Photo1_URL":"https://egsweb.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Laxmi_Narayan/_O2A5213.jpg","Photo2_URL":"https://egsweb.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Laxmi_Narayan/_O2A5111.jpg","Photo3_URL":"https://egsweb.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Laxmi_Narayan/_O2A5064.jpg","Photo4_URL":"https://egsweb.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Laxmi_Narayan/_O2A5171.jpg","Photo5_URL":"https://egsweb.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/Laxmi_Narayan/_O2A5270.jpg","Name_English":"Laxmi Narayan","Language":"en","Disability":["rec7wLjRz1nopX3Cz"],"Gender":"Male","Instagram_Content":"Laxmi Narayan (27) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands told us his favourite actor is Telugu filmstar Allu Arjun. Laxmi is 100 per cent Blind, so we guessed it was Arjun’s dialogue delivery rather than his body or his celebrated dancing that made him a fan. \n\nLaxmi’s father S. Nandesh (59) and mother Mahalaxmi (47) both came to the Islands as children when their parents migrated from Andhra. Nandesh has been working in the government’s Electrical Department since the age of 19. “I used to work day and night to make ends meet and bring up my four children,” he said. He had to shoulder an extra burden because two of the four kids were born with Blindness.\n\nTheir eldest, Mahesh, had no disability. Next, their daughter Madhuri, was born with partial Blindness. Then came Sunil, non-disabled, and finally, Laxmi Narayan. Madhuri (31) was never admitted to school; she has been a home bird all her life and helps her mother with household work. Laxmi went to a mainstream school and did a correspondence course in computers. “I want a job but though I have applied to many places I have not heard back yet,” he says. He spends his day at the Composite Regional Centre (CRC) which offers education, therapy, skill development and rehabilitation for the disabled. “I learn cooking, gardening and other life skills, and attend therapy sessions,” he says.\n\nSunil and his wife Laxmi Devi are part of the household but Mahesh and his wife live separately. Mahalaxmi says all the children get along with one another. “My husband and I support one another and have jointly looked after the children,” she says. Their only wish is for Laxmi and Madhuri to be able to live a good life independently.","Quote":"“I did my diploma in computers. I’ve been applying for jobs, but haven’t found any”","Status":"Published","Video":null,"Website_Content":"When Laxmi Narayan (27) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands told us his favourite actor is Telugu filmstar Allu Arjun, we took a moment to mull over his statement. Laxmi is 100 per cent Blind, so it wasn’t Arjun’s handsome visage or his celebrated dance moves that made him a fan. It must be the dialogue delivery, we concluded.\n \nLaxmi Narayan belongs to the third largest ethnic group in the Andamans: Telugus. The northern districts of Andhra Pradesh have a long history of migration to the Islands, dating back to colonial times. Another wave emerged post-Independence, attracted by prospects of lucrative jobs. Haddo (in Port Blair), where Laxmi lives, became a major hub of Telugus in the 1950s.\n \nLaxmi’s father S. Nandesh (59) and mother Mahalaxmi (47) both came to the Islands as children when their parents migrated from Andhra. Nandesh has been working in the government’s Electrical Department since the age of 19 and is due to retire in a few months. “I used to work day and night to make ends meet and bring up my four children,” he said. He had to shoulder an extra burden because two of the four kids were born with blindness.\n \nFirst came Mahesh, who had no disability. Next, their daughter Madhuri, born with partial blindness. When Sunil was born, the couple must have heaved a sigh of relief when they realised he was sighted. But then came Laxmi Narayan. The couple didn’t waste time moaning about their fate. “It is what it is,” they said, and accepted their circumstances.\n \nMadhuri (31) was never admitted to school; she has been a home bird all her life. “I haven't studied so there is nothing else for me to do,” she told us. “I spend my day helping my mother with household work.” Neither she nor Laxmi Narayan use a white cane that would enable them to move outside independently. Laxmi started going to the mainstream government secondary school – many Blind children are able to hear and memorise lessons – but the school authorities decided they couldn’t retain a child with vision loss. Nandesh recalls, “My cousin, a teacher at a different school, had a friend who taught at the secondary school. He asked his friend to put in a word. So the secondary school re-admitted Laxmi.” \n \nLaxmi learnt his lessons thanks to his classmates reading them out aloud to him. In this way he managed to complete school, answering exams with the help of a scribe, and did a correspondence course in computers. “I like typing on computers,” he says. “I want a job but though I have applied to many places I have not heard back yet.” He spends his day – from 9 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. – at the Composite Regional Centre (CRC) which offers education, therapy, skill development and rehabilitation for the disabled. “I attend therapy sessions at CRC,” he says. “I learnt cooking, gardening and other life skills there. I go in an auto and I return by bus. My mother picks me up from the bus stop.”\n \nThe household also includes Sunil and his wife Laxmi Devi; Mahesh and his wife live separately. Laxmi relishes “the fish my mom makes” while Madhuri is happy with “any non-veg food”. Mahalaxmi says, “All the children get along well with one another. My husband and I support each other. Our children are our joint responsibility.” Nandesh adds, “My only wish for Laxmi and Madhuri is that one day they can take care of themselves and have a good life.”\n\n","State_name":"Andaman and Nicobar","Display_Order":252}}},
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