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Everything's different

The disabled are yet to be able to go to a public place with dignity, on their own, in our country, as there are hardly any ramps

PHOTO: S.R RAGHUNATHAN

NE'ER SAY DIE A physically challenged student displaying his skills

Is disability really a setback? Not if you choose to believe so. Because it is said the only disability in life is a bad attitude. Society is gradually awakening to the needs of the disabled.

For starters a handicap is now referred to as a challenge and the handicapped are termed differently-abled. But is just being classified under a new title the only thing in the agenda or is there a lot more in store for the development of the less fortunate?

Though fresh winds of change are blowing towards their welfare the process of acceptance and integration of the disabled is still slow. Many bills and acts passed for the welfare of the physically challenged are still only in paper. For laws cannot change if attitudes don't.

When a differently abled individual walks into your life he comes to you for a reason, for a season. Accept them into the mainstream. Interaction with them leads us to take stock of many of our own shortcomings and handicaps. Dealing with a colleague or a friend who is handicapped shall impart not only lessons in tolerance and understanding but also expand one's perception of life. For many of society's accumulated fears and superstitions about disability are more of a handicap than the actual limitations caused by the impairment.

A.P.Prabhath, Senior Officer of Tata Tetley Ltd, Cochin, a company that employs a physically challenged person, Paresh Palicha, who has cerebral palsy reveals, "Paresh who has been with us for a few years has proved himself to a be a sincere and hard worker. His mental faculties are sharp to pick up new assignments and give a satisfactory performance. But more than this having him in our midst has been a learning experience for it has given us a deeper insight into life. It has

instilled in us qualities like patience, tolerance, compassion etc. Besides the company has also the satisfaction of making his life meaningful."

Better awareness

Many special schools have sprung up in and around Kochi to create a better awareness and to improve the quality of life of the challenged individuals. But the road is still long. Many basic needs like accessibility to public buildings for the orthopaedically challenged is still ignored. The fact that very few educational institutions, flats, libraries etc have a ramp for the handicapped is a bitter realisation of the indifference towards the disabled. Travel for them thus can be a nightmare due to inaccessible transport. Many thereby languish indoors with all their creativity and potential untapped. Disabled people become further disabled by such indifference and callousness.

Says Vasanth Sukumaran, an architect, "in our country there is no such rule that buildings should have provisions for easy entrance for the physically challenged, whereas abroad it is mandatory. Public buildings there won't get sanction if they are not disabled friendly. Thus not only the entrance to the building but even special toilets for the handicapped are constructed. In India unless such a law comes into force the handicapped will continue to suffer."

Nevertheless it is heart-warming to see certain challenged individuals brave the tide and cast aside feelings of neglect and indifference.

Give them an inch and they grasp for the infinite. Seeing their disability not as a set back but a challenge and an opportunity to excel, many of them with nerves of steel are aiming for the stars. It is said the ultimate test

of an individual is not when he stands in moments of ease and well-being but in moments of challenge and struggle.

Thus it is crucial to encourage people to change their attitude towards disability. Both the able-bodied and the challenged should see their lives as part of a much greater and higher purpose and co-exist in harmony. For there may be many Stephen Hawkings in our midst

HEMJIT BHARATHAN

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