Hello
Copying a posting which did not make to the list.
Harish Kotian.
The hindu Magazine:
IN FIRST PERSON
Marathon mission
Disability need not stop you from "running" to achieve your objectives.
Wheelchair-bound JACQUELINE COLACO writes about her experience in the recent
Mumbai Marathon.
Photo: AP
We can too:Raising awareness for people with disabilities.
Where do I begin? Thus start the lyrics of the famous song "Love Story". In my
case, it began with an early morning exit from my home at 6.00 a.m. Mumbai was
still dark at that hour, traffic and people were much in evidence, but our ride
was smooth and fast through veggie, fruit and flower markets doing brisk
business in the wee hours; past fancy complexes now mushrooming in mostly
defunct but prime properties of once thriving cotton mills; through Mohammed
Ali Road, mostly unchanged with its traditional old Bombay cheek-by-jowl
buildings. We soon reached Crawford Market; turning the corner at the famous
Badshah cool drink house brought back memories of earlier decades, when I
downed its famous falooda and sweet lassi after a shopping spree or hockey
practice.
At starting point
While I was lost in the past, we reached the starting point for the marathon:
the CST or Victoria Terminus as I knew it. As we disembarked from the car, I
settled myself into a wheelchair borrowed locally from a home for people with
disability. Nishadh wheeled me into the assembly arena where we met up with the
14 other APD participants from Bangalore. Team APD looked smart in marathon
gear: t-shirts provided by one of our donors, my former employer Bank of
Baroda, to which we'd attached APD logos/slogans. In addition, we carried
placards with messages about APD's vision and mission on disability.
We were a bunch of about 250 wheelchair participants from different
organisations in India, gathered amid a great atmosphere of camaraderie, to
'take off' for the event. We felt like celebrities for a change, as TV crew and
newspaper reporters and photographers thronged to interview us. I even
delivered some words of wisdom in Hindi about the need for doing more for
people with disability and, as I do in the Bangalore marathon, I distributed my
handouts "Running in a wheelchair" and "Beatitudes of the disabled" to
bystanders along the route.
At 8.00 a.m. we were flagged off to much fanfare. Initially there was a bit of
zig-zagging with inexpert manoeuvring but Nishadh soon got the hang of avoiding
the other "wheels" and we found our space on the extreme left lane of the D.N.
Road, the first part of the 2.7 km course. As we moved along, I glimpsed some
Bollywood stars like John Abraham and Rahul Bose, Shilpa Shetty, Priya Dutt
lined up in the celebrity boxes hailing us as heroes as roles reversed; whew!
We wheeled along leisurely as I was not here to "race"! Nishadh, my patient and
attentive escort, let me drink in and savour the sights of my younger days as
we approached Flora Fountain, passed the CTO and stopped by the Oval for a
photograph. I had another photo op in front of Eros cinema where I'd gone on
many a movie date in my early Bank of Baroda days. We "u-turned" there and
returned via the same route. Back to base and back to the other APD guys who
had "raced off" (one came in third). All of us were very thrilled with the
experience of our first foray into the Mumbai Marathon, the third largest I
understand, in the world, in terms of number of participants.
Great run
For me this was a self-satisfying experience of proving once again that
disability need not stop you from "running" to achieve your objectives. With a
fourth marathon under my belt now and around Rs.6 lakh collected for APD's
programmes from the appeal I made on it's behalf to family and friends who have
supported my cause so generously with love, affection and money. I embarked on
this adventure with much apprehension, travelling as I did from Bangalore and
should, therefore, acknowledge the services of an "unsung heroine" of my
household, my faithful care giver Kamalamma who accompanied me foregoing Pongal
celebration with her family in Bangalore.
All in all, it's been a great run with plenty of fun!
Surreal experiences
NISHADH REGO
Pushing his great aunt along in the recent Wheelchair Marathon in Mumbai,
NISHADH REGO records his impressions of the most special race of them all.
PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Nishadh with Jacqueline.
We arrived at 7.00 a.m. to take our place among the 300- odd participants of
the 2011 Mumbai Wheelchair Marathon (January 15). A gully between the Times of
India and BMC buildings served as our holding area; a small space for a side
event on a day dominated by the usual suspects; the Standard Chartereds, the
Shilpa Shettys, and CEOs.
I noticed a woman in a wheelchair beside me. She looked middle-aged, but her
face bore a tired spent look. Nevertheless, she was there pushed by her husband
and accompanied by banner bearers. The banner said she was a long-term spinal
cancer patient (and hence paraplegic) who had started a school for young
paraplegic girls. What the banner did not say was that she was also a doctor.
Genuine mission
It struck me, as I stood in the holding area, that this was no race, no Sunday
stroll in the park, no hobby, no publicity stunt or tokenistic commitment to a
big name corporate. These were arthritis and cancer patients, paraplegics, and
polio victims who had come from far and wide on a genuine mission to spread
their message; best exemplified by Jacqueline Colaco, my admirable arthritic
grand-aunt, taking part in her fourth marathon. It was her wheelchair I was
pushing. She had come all the way from Bangalore to raise awareness for people
with disabilities. At 61, and in incredible pain, she braved the difficulties
of air travel and the pace and chaos of Mumbai to participate.
The buzz among the participants; a genuine sense of excitement... cameras
clicked, wheelchairs clanked, and people of every conceivable age and accent
chatted, eagerly anticipating the start of this important occasion. Most
'runners' came in groups, decked out in colourful, conspicuous uniforms, many
with slogans and banners. What is more, there was a beautiful sense of
solidarity among them as they exchanged greetings, pamphlets and e-mails. I
felt somewhat disconnected and empathetic at the same time. I couldn't really
share this solidarity because I hadn't experienced their pain and suffering,
but I felt like I was beginning to understand the commitment, and dedication of
my fellow participants in the face of all adversity. Yes, they were in
wheelchairs or used walking sticks but were people just like me and they
deserved more attention, respect and support than they got.
The race itself was a surreal experience. I never imagined my first marathon
being in the wheelchair category. It was inspiring to see the entire field take
to the track with such zest and enthusiasm. I felt happy that Jackie seemed to
enjoy herself taking photos at landmark locations from her old life in Mumbai
while handing out flyers and pamphlets promoting The Association of People with
Disability (APD), Bangalore, and telling her story. Participating alongside the
senior citizens was also a welcome experience. It made me think of my parents
who are not senior citizens but are notoriously inactive when it comes to
exercise and physical wellbeing.
That said, the whole experience was much too short. We were much too sidelined
to make/have any real impact on the day's proceedings, neither the media nor
the crowd noticed us. I felt as though we were the time-fillers, the 30-minute
opening local act, forgotten by most the moment the main performer comes on
stage. The Standard Chartered cheering squad (employees/volunteers assigned by
SC to cheer at strategic points in the race) was vocal and gave us momentary
superficial satisfaction but the fact that SC needed to have an assigned cheer
squad for the wheelchair spoke volumes.
All over
Our race happened to coincide with the end of all of the other races and, in
sharing routes, we were shoved to one side of the road by our suddenly dutiful
traffic police contingent and some self-important, aggressive runners. The end
of the race saw us 'marched off' back to our little gully and it was over.
I have to thank my grand aunt for asking me to push her along because I would
never have had this experience. I might have been running in the main event,
worrying about my water intake or my left ankle, my timing and medal, immune to
everything around me. I might have been a husband or brother coming to support
my spouse or sibling, or a celebrity making a fleeting appearance for
publicity. Thankfully, I was a participant in the most special race of them
all, a temporary insider looking out at the sympathetic, but distant, world.
This is what it took for me to start thinking, "I, Nishadh Rego, could be in my
own wheelchair some day, any day. How about that?"
Nishadh is a post-graduate student in Canberra, Australia
With thanks and regards
(Rajesh Asudani)
Assistant General Manager
Reserve Bank of India
Nagpur
Cell: 9420397185
o: +91 712 2806846
R: 2591349
"The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find
it, the courage to get on to it, and
the perseverance to follow it. Wishing you great journey."
-Kalpana Chawla
(An excert from the e-mail Kalpana sent to the students of Punjab Engineering
College from aboard Columbia.)
"The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find
it, the courage to get on to it, and
the perseverance to follow it. Wishing you great journey."
-Kalpana Chawla
(An excert from the e mail sent from Columbia
-mail Kalpana sent to the students of Punjab Engineering College from aboard
Columbia.)
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Get numbers right this time, help the census with correct disability info!
Question 9 relates to disability.
