What is ability? What is disability? Why are some people called disabled and others not so? What is the metric of ability and indicator of disability?
Seemingly, these questions are easy and have obvious answers. Or, do they. Probably not.
Yesterday, as part of the annual division level gathering of Nepalese Toastmasters fraternity at the Himalayan Hotel, I was struck by this question again and the answer I contemplated was not so easy and obvious. At the pinnacle of an already exciting moment of learning, leadership and lessons for life was the amazing motivational and inspirational speech by Dr. Rajdeep Manwani, a person of immense intellectual ability and unbelievably positive outlook of life. If one were to listen to his speeches or his words of wisdom with closed eyes, one would never contemplate that he is actually visually blind since his teenage. His compass of learning is so wide and his ability to connect with his audience so immaculate that a physical disability that would have been crippling to countless ordinary beings seems to be of no hindrance to him.
But, like that Chinese bamboo sprouting after years of nurturing (another metaphor so well used in the event, especially by the master of ceremony), what I would have seen yesterday is the tall, green and lush bamboo tree but I did not see the years of struggle, despair, perseverance and self-motivation that would have driven this amazing human being become what he is today. Still, his down-to-earth attitude, candid confession of his own shortcomings, his sincere efforts to overcome them and his compassionate connection with everyone else make him one of the humblest achievers around. No wonder he was awarded by the President of India as a role model and achiever.
It is these moments of inspiration and learning that makes one's life worthwhile. Yesterday, it was such a moment for me. The proximity with such an amazing achiever also made me and many more contemplate on the value of life and the things that can be done to enhance it. It is not the physical challenges that stop a person but the mental attitude and outlook towards life that do.
10:52 AM 02 December 2018
PS: Coincidence is an amazing thing. Today, I read another story of inspiring venture by a visually impaired person. This time, it was a Nepali citizen who was blinded at the age of 20 in a workplace accident. He also persevered in situation of despair and triumphed. Not only that, he created an enterprise to produce incense sticks and employed the disabled and visually impaired people in his manufacturing unit as well as nationwide marketing & sales network. For people like him also, disability has a new meaning. Physical disability is not that big a hindrance if the power of will is there. Details in the Onlinekabar article.
13:02 PM
PS: Coincidence is an amazing thing. Today, I read another story of inspiring venture by a visually impaired person. This time, it was a Nepali citizen who was blinded at the age of 20 in a workplace accident. He also persevered in situation of despair and triumphed. Not only that, he created an enterprise to produce incense sticks and employed the disabled and visually impaired people in his manufacturing unit as well as nationwide marketing & sales network. For people like him also, disability has a new meaning. Physical disability is not that big a hindrance if the power of will is there. Details in the Onlinekabar article.
13:02 PM
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