Overcoming barriers!

We all have our limitations—many of us reconcile ourselves to it and live with them, while there are others who fight them and move ahead in life. Neenu Kewlani believes in the latter way of life. Physically challenged since childhood, Kewlani, who has polio and scoliosis, fights for a barrier-free environment. 

Neenu was nine months old when she got polio. Someone administered her the wrong polio injection and that decided her life thereon. She remembers her school years. “I had a difficult time in school, as I was wheelchair bound. Imagine how, as a little child, I would feel when I saw other children running around and playing, or going to the library, while I was unable to move to from one place to another. Even during lunch breaks, I was confined to the classroom. I had started hating school. Something as simple and routine as going to the washroom posed a huge problem, as there were no provisions for the physically challenged. Till I was in class 10, my father used to pick me up in his arms and carry me up and down the school stairs,” says Kewlani.

Spirits lift-ed
The physically challenged are often looked upon as a burden in the Indian society. “Luckily, I had a family which was very supportive and protected me from these types of evils. I even had schoolfriends who used to help me a lot,” added Kewlani. “When I was younger, we used to live in a building which had no lift and my father had to carry me up and down the stairs. It was only after my class 10 that we moved to a building which had a lift. The first time I used the lift, I felt so powerful. It felt great when I realised that I did not need anyone’s help to go up or down. It changed my life completely,” remembers Kewlani.

For a better world
Even today, not many schools and societies have infrastructure for the physically challenged. Kewlani believes that India has a long way to go before it can be deemed disabled-friendly. Public places as well as public washrooms should be made accessible with proper ramps, lifts, handrails, etc. “What if I want to use the ATM? I cannot because there is no provision for me to go inside the kiosk and I cannot possibly give my ATM card to anyone.”

At Able Disabled All People Together (ADAPT), she met others like her, who also had to deal with similar problems. Together they approached builders of IMAX Wadala and asked them to make it disabled-friendly. Due to their efforts, two out of four screens were made accessible to the physically challenged.

In 2004, Kewlani joined KPMG. She worked there for four years. “It was like jumping into a pool without knowing how to swim. It took a lot of time for me to settle down. It was nice working there since they treated me like any other employee. It was very encouraging as that is how I wanted to be treated,” says Kewlani.

Beyond Barriers
The most memorable event for Kewlani was her participation in a project called ‘Beyond Barriers-The Incredible India Tour’ in 2011. With three other physically challenged participants, Kewlani travelled all over India. They visited 28 states, 40 cities, and covered a distance of around 19000 km. They met vice-chancellors of various universities across India.

Though a brilliant tour over all, she still remembers a not-so-happy incident from the tour. “We had gone to see the Taj Mahal at Agra. The problem was that the authorities do not allow private vehicles to go near the complex, for about a kilometre. They have their own electric buses plying till the Taj Mahal. We could not get into those buses because they were very high for us and when we reached the complex, we had great difficulty in entering it because there were no ramps. We got to know that ramps had been put up for Stephen Hawkings, who had visited the monument a few days earlier and had been removed after his visit. The monument was supposed to make us feel happy, but it made us feel miserable. Other than this, the whole trip was very nice and it was a good learning experience for all of us. We learnt quite a lot from each other.”

The trip had been undertaken to spread awareness to provide better infrastructure for the physically challenged. It is heartwarming to hear Kewlani resolutely say, “The progress is slow, but we will not give up till the end.”