Having missed her polio vaccine in her childhood, Nimmi is crippled for life. Her disability restricted her to the four walls of her home as well on the wheel-chair, gradually pushing her into depression. "After my mother died, I felt all alone. There is nothing worse in the world than being lonely," she says.
With the timely intervention of Delhi-based 'Yes, We Can' NGO, the 35-year-old today actively participates in range of social activities like watching movies to quizzes conducted by the organisation throughout the year, particularly during special occasions like festivals.
Meenu Arora Mani, a wheelchair-user herself and head of the 'Yes, We Can', notes: "Usually, specially-abled people don't interact with a lot of others. Neither do they have enough exposure to the outside world. So they barely meet new people. We want it to be changed and try to provide a platform to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities besides physical disabilities to let them enjoy the sense of freedom and mingle with others.
"With the help of philanthropists and volunteers, we also organise workshops to focus on their financial empowerment so that they can lead a dignified life."
In fact, Meenu's is just one of the NGOs in the sector which are trying to give the 'wings' to the specially-abled people. For instance, Bengaluru-based Anuprayaas is trying to making India a blind-friendly nation. Founded by Pancham Cajla, the NGO has installed Braille signage at Mysuru, Mumbai and Bengaluru railway stations.
Says Cajla, "In India, accessibility at public places is still a distant dream for people with disabilities. Hence, travelling becomes difficult. We are here to change all this."
Similarly, Chennai based Vidya Sagar has started a project called 'Get Going' to enable people with disabilities to travel and feel empowered whenever they need to. Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has donated two wheelchair-friendly vehicles to help the NGO to reach out to people with disabilities.
The transport will make travel for disabled people easier and will be available to people with intellectual as well as physical disabilities, said S N Subrahmanyan, CEO - Managing Director, L& T.
Planet Abled NGO is engaged in providing accessible travel solutions and leisure excursions for people with different disabilities. With a tagline —'Together let us make the planet accessible for everyone to travel, one trip at a time', the organisation run by Neha Arora— whose parents are differently-abled — has developed more than 35 destinations including Leh-Ladakh across the country around various themes. It is almost a hit among the people who love travelling despite their disabilities.