Disability

Raushan Jawwad, a 23-year-old student of KEM Hospital and College in Mumbai, secured first class in her final MBBS examination. This success comes eight years after she lost both her legs in a train accident near Andheri station in 2008.

When Maria Josephine’s 5-month-old daughter Priya was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, this mother took on the challenge of giving her daughter an independent life. But that is not all she did – over the years she became a certified special educator to help other kids with this condition and created awareness among hundreds of parents, hospitals, anganwadi workers, and more.

Meet Vilas Shinde – a man whose indomitable spirit is taking Ataxia, a debilitating condition, by its horns. This is his inspiring story as he fights a daily battle for dignity and survival.

From the outside it may look like a regular spa, but step in and you will realize why it is special. The Metta spa, which gets its name from a Pali word translated as ‘loving kindness,’ only hires visually impaired masseurs. And for its kind and special owner, Joanita Figueredo, there is no greater joy than seeing her employees fulfil their ambitions in Mumbai, the city of dreams.

Meet Anil Gavade, the owner of a tea stall in Mumbai, who is known for his charitable work and concern for people living with disabilities. But Anil wasn't always like this. His early life revolved around robberies, thefts, cheating and fraud. This is his story of transformation.

Bengaluru based Samarthanam Trust for Disabled has 5,000 audio books to help students with disabilities achieve their educational goals. More are being added every day by an army of volunteers because the goal of the founder, Mahantesh, is to have the entire university syllabus available in audio format.

Sandeep Kumar was just seven when doctors gave him an expired penicillin injection. It left him in a coma for a year followed by paralysis in the lower half of his body. Today, this 24-year-old man, who is the first paraplegic to be employed by the aviation industry, glides around on a wheelchair at Delhi airport – helping other people with disabilities.

Arundhati Nath was born with bilateral congenital cataract. After many surgeries, she gained 25 percent of her vision, and can now read print, though from a very close distance. Today, she is working with State Bank of India. She still faces challenges but is very happy with her many achievements. This is her journey.

The Accessible India campaign is auditing 27 international airports and 75 railway stations to identify areas that need to be improved and made disabled-friendly by July 2016. This inclusiveness aims to give equal opportunities to some 2.68 crore differently-abled in the society.

An accident left Rohit to deal with neurological disorders. Tagged as “different,” he lost his friends and went into depression. This is when his cousin Rahul brought out the dancer in him. Today, Rohit is a dancing star, a cyclist, a swimmer, and also a Limca Book record holder.