Disability

She had physical and mental sufferings of her own. But instead of grieving about them, she chose to draw lessons from these and reach out to others with a similar or worse plight. Preethi Srinivasan is a quadriplegic but that’s not what defines her. She chalks out and realizes plans to help other people with severe disabilities to stand on their own feet with dignity.

We’ve seen persons with disabilities try adventure sports and impact governments. But what does it take to scale the corporate summit? Affected with Encephalitis at an early stage in life, Sharmila Divatia rewinds her journey.

An advertising creative professional, Swasti Ray, went beyond just feeling bad for the disabled, and worked hard to create a product that helps bring colour and art in the lives of the visually impaired. Read about his innovation and what inspired him to think out-of-the-box!

Delhi’s Navin Gulia hit headlines after his driving world record in 2004, but has since traveled to even more gratifying life motives, all from his wheelchair. Read about the remarkable man and his undying spirit that leads him to work towards the greater good, in spite of his disabilities.

There are several people our society does not accept willingly. The leprosy-affected and the mentally handicapped are some of them. Imagine an entire village dedicated to them, where they can live freely and without prejudice, and receive loving care and attention from dedicated staff. This is what Sahyog Kushtha Yagna Trust in Gujarat attempts to achieve.

Imagine someone who cannot walk and has no hope of even having the gift of walking on his own two feet. Polio Foundation has been relentlessly working for 25 years to bring in a ray of light in such darkened lives! Since its birth in Ahmedabad in 1987, the foundation has been striving to fulfill its objective of aiding the physically handicapped children by way of corrective surgery and giving them necessary appliances so that they can walk on their feet without anybody's assistance. This does not merely bring about physical gratification; it also has tremendous impact upon the psychological development of the child coupled with immense happiness to the family. All treatments, care and calipers are provided without any cost to the patients.

Continuing our series on disability and the strides made in this field, we visit the office of one of India’s leading accessibility technology firms, and meet their visually impaired tester Priti Rohra, who decided to break away from the conventional jobs offered to persons with disability in India and try something new!

Being blind can be difficult for anyone to accept. In a country like India, it is sometimes all the more demanding due to societal attitudes and lack of access. Preeti Monga has been visually impaired since age six. Here she recounts, in her own words, the challenges she has had to face and the courage she found to not only overcome them, but also start an organization to help persons with disability. Truly, an inspiring woman.

Remember that greeting card which said ‘painted by a foot artist?’ Malay Desai from Trinayani meets Ramakrishnan, the most famous one of them all, and discover there is much more to their lives than that.

Dr Sam Taraporevala of Mumbai’s XRCVC, one of the country’s finest resource centres for the blind, tells us of his recent victories and his continuing battles for accessibility.