There was nothing special about the evening of May 29, 1997. Saravana Kumar, who'd just given his Class 10 exams, headed out with friends to play hide and seek. Hours later, the class topper and sports lover was found crumpled on the ground. He had fallen off the terrace, hitting the sunshade on his way down. Life changed, irrevocably.
Gregarious Saravana, who harboured dreams of the IAS, marrying a doctor and living the good life, was confined to a bed, 24x7. “It was traumatic. I even contemplated suicide,” confesses Saravana, who is paralysed chest down. His only companion those days was The Hindu . “I would read it thrice every day, from the first story to the last,” he recalls.
Today, he runs a successful content writing enterprise from home. Saravana takes orders from companies in the U.S. and U.K., and employs six people, some physically challenged, from across the country. He also speaks to others like him to pep them up. But, the journey till here was arduous. Initially, it was difficult for the fiercely independent boy to accept his lot. It rankled that he needed help for everything. “Realisation slowly sunk in, and I decided to break out of my cocoon of self-pity. I told friends and family that they must accept what happened.”
Films as inspiration
Saravana has a passion for movies, and that's what came to his rescue. “‘Ghajini' and ‘Anbe Sivam' were huge influences. Like ‘Ghajini''s protagonist who had a memory span of 15 minutes, only 15 per cent of my body was in my control. And, ‘Anbe Sivam' taught me that whatever the situation, one can be of use to others,” he says.
So, he broke down his problems into achievable bits, and took a small step towards normality — he used his strength in academics to train others, some much older than him, for exams.
Friends and family formed a wonderful support system. “My parents helped me with everything, and never pressurised me. That got me out of depression. ” His school buddies came together to take him on a ‘normal' cinema outing — after eight long years. “It was exhilarating to smell my city, see the changes that had come about, and watch a movie on the big screen,” he smiles.
Saravana learnt to use the computer and move around on a wheelchair. He also tapped into a reserve of mental strength he never knew existed. He decided the computer would be his ticket to freedom. That's how content writing happened.
Now that he's come so far, what's his advice to others like him? “Accept your condition. It is okay to feel self-pity, but snap out of it fast. Explore the available options and immerse yourself in it. Keep negative thoughts aside. Dream, but realistically. And, set small achievable goals,” he urges. Most importantly, be prepared to face failure, he says. “We face more disappointments because we don't have too many successful models to follow. But, never let that bog you down.”
Saravana is pursuing a degree in public administration through distance education. He has a paper left, for the day he “drives and walks on callipers on his own”.
He hopes Coimbatore turns into a more disabled-friendly city. “When going out, I can't be fully independent, like paraplegics in some other countries are.” But, he tries his best. Recently, when in Chennai for an IPL match, his gang of friends had to walk back to the hotel. Though he's been told to walk only for 10 metres on his callipers, Saravana hit the 100 metre mark. “I wanted to push my body.”
He has read up about stem cell transplant and the cure it might offer people such as him. Until then, he's gone ahead and modified his car to cater to his needs. All the controls are in his hands, and he's waiting for a licence before he zooms off. He's also modified his room so he can be self-reliant. And, finally is working on a calliper-cum-walker that will help him climb stairs.
Saravana's favourite word is versatile. He explains, “That word was used in my school book to describe Rabindranath Tagore. I wanted to live that word!”
