People who fought disability and became icons
MP Anil Kumar is no longer amidst us, but the former Air Force pilot, who fought enormous odds to ensure that he lived a productive and fulfilling life, will forever remain a source of inspiration. Physically incapacitated after a motor accident in 1988, Kumar could have allowed himself to waste away at the Army's Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre near Pune, where he spent the last 25 years of his life. Instead, he chose to, quite literally, write his own destiny. He pulled himself together and, two years after his accident, began training himself on how to write with a pen in his mouth. Eventually, after months of practice, he was able to write legibly enough, allowing him, therefore, to free his mind from his paralysed body. This was a personal victory, for which Kumar was richly rewarded with a connection to the outside world that kept him alive. But it is not the only reason why he will be remembered. The air warrior not only conquered his own fears and weaknesses; he also inspired others to do so. His essay on disability is still read by school students across Maharashtra, while his writings have appeared in national dailies.
Kumar is not the only one who has turned his personal tragedy into a social cause. Among the others who have similarly used their individual examples to give ordinary folks the hope and courage to fight their own battles is 24-year-old laxmi of Delhi. Victim of a 2005 acid attack that left her as much mentally as physically scarred, laxmi has since successfully campaigned to regulate the sale of corrosive substances. Her efforts have won her praise worldwide; earlier this year, she was felicitated by the US First lady at the White House. laxmi could have locked herself at home and hid behind her disfigured face, but she came out and forced the global spotlight on a dangerous social problem. In the process, she also gave courage to other acid attack victims who had shut themselves out of the world. Arunima Sinha too has a similar story. A national-level athlete, she lost half her leg after she was thrown out of a train in 2011. That did not prevent her from scaling Mount Everest in 2013; now she leads a campaign to promote differently-abled sportspersons. Across the world, in the US, Elizabeth Ann Velásquez is also fighting the good fight. Born with a medical condition so rare that only two other people in the world are known to have it, the 25-year-old cannot put on weight. She has a weak immune system. When in high school, bullies circulated a video of her on YouTube, labelling her as the ‘world's ugliest woman'. But instead of retreating into a shell, she became a globally-known motivational speaker, reminding people that physical appearances don't matter, and urging them to love themselves (and others) for the kind of people they are.