Don’t let the walking stick, a bent back, and a frail body mislead you into thinking she is home bird, a recluse who fears socialising.
This admirable lady is a fighter whose protective gear is her will power. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis over 15 years ago, she may have had many up and downs where her health is concerned, but she is not giving in to the progressive disease.
Maheswari Narashiman, a resident of T. Nagar, has used the power of the mind to overcome her biggest fears, that of becoming bed-bound.
Her doctors could not explain why she got MS or what will help slow down its progress. Every morning she would wake up not knowing whether she would be able to see, walk or get up from the bed. There wasn’t enough awareness about this dreaded disease, nor any cure. She decided to equip herself with the knowledge and joined the Multiple Sclerosis Society of India in 1999, a year after she was diagnosed. “When I joined the society as a member it had only 35 people with MS. Being with people suffering like myself helped. Though the physical manifestation of the disease may not occur immediately, just knowing that you have it can psychologically pull you down. Most people stop socialising and in such cases the progression of the disease is very fast,” says Maheswari, who has always kept herself active so as to forget her condition.
At the society, she moved from being just a member to being a part of the executive council and now the governing council. Her role is to bring in more awareness about the disease and raise funds for the society’s activities. “In India there are over 1 lakh cases of MS, but the number registered with the chapters is just around 6,000. The Chennai chapter has around 180 to 200 registered MS persons. There is no government database on such people, no forum where we can address people. The major part of our work is to somehow spread awareness about MS. I have been a part of street plays, walks and other campaigns of the society. I also get sponsorship for the diary project which is sold to create funds,” adds Maheswari, who was elected to represent India on World Multiple Sclerosis Day last year. She coordinates with the chapters across the country and Multiple Sclerosis International Federation in London to organise events and document outcomes for the World MS day.
Apart from her work with the society, she spends a major part of her time working for the iScribe initiative of Vidhya Sagar as a coordinator. She has been part of it since the day of inception.
The portal facilitates people who want to volunteer as scribes or help in education of special kids to meet their aim. It is also a platform for people with disability to raise a request for a scribe. “We cater to all schools where disability inclusion is there. These schools give us request and we organise volunteers for them. We also do it for college which have visually impaired students. To see a disabled child fulfil his educational aspirations gives me the greatest satisfaction and makes me forget my problem,” she says.
With her bones weakening due to medication, a smallest fall can confine her to the bed or even prove fatal, but Maeshwari is in no mood to stop, she has too much to do and no time to think about herself.
