For 36-year-old T. Vaitheeswaran of Varaganeri in Tiruchi, a physically challenged food delivery executive, who has to crawl to move around, hard work is his mantra.
Mr. Vaitheeswaran, whose legs were paralysed in a polio attack when he was two years old, works 16 hours a day — as a senior executive at a healthcare firm and a food delivery person.
His day starts around 6 a.m., when he gets ready to receive orders in the vicinity of popular restaurants in the city. Upon receiving the orders, he crawls towards the restaurants — most of them do not have ramps or other disabled-friendly facilities — to receive the parcels, and delivers them on his two-wheeler.
Though the soaring temperature is making his life difficult, Mr. Vaitheeswaram discharges his duties with a smile. “My body condition does not permit me to do whatever I want. But whatever I do, I do it with devotion, dedication and love. This has been my attitude since childhood,” says Mr. Vaitheeswaran, whose certified disability level stands at 88%.
Since his mother died when he was seven years old, the responsibility of raising him fell on his father, Thirunavukarasu, a daily wage labourer. Mr. Vaitheeswaran gives credit to his father for what he is today. “My father taught me the importance of standing on my own feet to make ends meet. My legs may have been paralysed, but I am still standing on my own feet, as per his teaching,” Mr. Vaitheeswaran says, adding that he began earning at the age of 14.
An MA (Tamil) degree-holder, he worked in a lathe workshop after school and college hours and bore the educational expenses on his own, without burdening his father.
An avid trekker, Mr. Vaitheeswaran said he had crawled to trek the Amarnath Cave Temple in Jammu & Kashmir, Kedarnath, Rishiskesh, Velliangiri hill, Sathuragiri hill, Paruvathamalai and Siddharmalai to have darshan of Lord Siva.
He had a love marriage with Veena, of Tiruppur, who belongs to a different caste. He still has an unfinished agenda of entering government service. He has written the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) exams four times, but in vain. “I sent several petitions to various officials and politicians, seeking a government job, but did not get a response. It is unfair to test the knowledge of physically challenged persons alongside physically fit persons. The procedure should be changed to support people like me,” Mr. Vaitheeswaran says.
