I want you to take a moment and think real hard on the above sentence. Each and every word signifies so much more information. In a country like India, where population is growing faster than all the trees that produce oxygen, being ‘physically challenged’ is not a cakewalk. To top that, if you are a teenage girl, shit just got real my friend. My life was pretty much what flashed in-front of your eyes just now. Middle class family. Teenage girl with a ‘disability’. Societal pressure on parents (and me). Inadequate medical care. Sympathy showers. And all the glory details that you can take out of any soap opera. But among all of this shit-storm I was an exception.

“That’s right, you heard me.

So what if I’m a girl?

So what if I’ve got a disability?

I could give a f*#k but I’m busy getting drunk and publishing papers.”

LGMD affects mostly a victim’s arms and legs. Sometimes it spreads to other parts of your body. In my case I had lost the ability to walk and my womb was fried. Barren as desert. But I still had my wits about me and for that I was really grateful. For me, my brain was the only thing I valued more than my life. As it is, I was ‘living the dream’; but thanks to some miracle my brain was left alone. Intellect was the only edge I had. And I say this not to cope up with my ‘disability’ but I was really smart. Straight ‘A’ student till graduation. Science trophies. Mathematics competitions and everything they had to offer. I nailed it. Also I won ALL of the ‘disability’ crap too. I was an inspiration to the community and bla…bla….blah. Intellect was my forte and I was proud of it. But what separated me most from other ‘challenged’ people was my attitude.

One might think that how can a person be so self-engrossed? Praising one so much? But I am one of those people. With great power comes great responsibilities. Or in my case great illness brings more wisdom. Look at people with cancer, and not just the patients but their families as well. They’ve accepted their fate. Death is inevitable and they’ve come to terms with it. Also there are some exceptional cases where some of these achieve greatness. So my question is why should ‘disabled’ people be any different?

The only difference between us and cancer patients is that we have to live with our illness. If a cancer patient had a choice between death and a life with a disability what do you think would he choose? There you have it. Now comes the part where YOU have to live with YOUR life. So what I look funny when I walk? So what if you need help to go from one place to other? Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed, be proud of it. Own your ‘disability’ is what I say to you.

READ ALSO – I’m differently ABLE, not DISABLED (words from 11-13 yrs old kids)

Do we really need to go through this? I can start giving you examples of many great ‘disabled’ people and their achievements. But it’s not what I say, but what you perceive of it is what can change you. Me, I look upto those people. Sure many of us won’t be that great, but hey if you keep trying you’ll at least be somewhere near. Maybe you will achieve something maybe you will fail. But it’s the effort that matters. You won’t become a great scientist (Stephen Hawking) or a Mighty war chief (Ivar, the Boneless) or a great music composer (Beethoven) but at least you will be an inspiration for someone else. If not that then just live your life on your own terms.