Armed with Fortitude

Physically-challenged Abida, who has shown exceptional courage in the face of adversity, is desperately seeking state patronage

Abida Rani  lives in Janta Mazdoor Colony, a dingy slum near Welcome Colony.  Like everyone else living there, she has to struggle for a livelihood.  However, unlike others, Abida has to work doubly hard due to a physical handicap.  She has lost both her hands in an accident but never lost the courage to overcome the stumbling blocks that clogged her path.

Though her hands are no more in working condition, she can write.  She writes with her legs and has cleared the Class IX examination by sheer dint of hard work.  She knows Hindi, English and Urdu and can also operate a computer with her feet!

Known to the slum-dwellers as ‘Abi’ she is a well-known face in the neighbourhood.  Her father is dead and she lives with her mother and four siblings.  She is the sole bread-earner in this family of six.  She gives tuitions, knits and sells papers to provide two square meals to her family.

She has also been doing voluntarily work for the Leprosy Mission Hospital for the last one year and has been active worker in this field.  Mainly her job is advocacy and spread awareness about the rights and duties of a disabled person.  The year, 2001 was special for Abida when she stood first in an examination conducted by the Urdu Academy and also won an award from Delhi the then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for her special ability to writer with her feet.  Now Abida wants to appear for the Board Examinations, but cannot fill up the form because of monetary constraints.  She is running from pillar-to-post, but nobody has come forward to help her financially and support her dream of studying further and becoming a lawyer.

Though a social worker of the association come forward and try to help her in whatever respect feasible.  Ms Zamin Begum, her mother says, “Our family is totally dependent on her”.

The award, which was given by the then Chief Minister, is now lying in a battered state in one of the corners of her room.  “I look at the half-broken award everyday and derive inspiration,” avers Abida.

It is obvious that in the absence of government patronage, her energy and talent remain supressed.