Films on the disabled wow Himachal children with tales of perseverance

Isheihanbi,Shathyakumar and Changkham Sunder Singh from Manipur suffer cerebral palsy and have a common cord — they cannot work with their hands due to locomotive disorder. However,Isheihanbi not only does mundane work with her feet but also earns out by doing embroidery with her toes. “As I watched her thread the needle with her toes,I was left in tears,” said Nikhil,a student of SD School,Shimla.

“The films have left a lasting impression on me and changed my perspective about the physically and mentally disabled,” said Vijay Verma who studies in class VII at SD School. While Shathyakumar writes poems and prose holding the pen with his toes,Sunder has managed to write his exams after studying in a normal school and is now in class XII.

The short films on Dr Ram Tirath Aggarwal who became a psychologist at AIIMS despite not having two legs,polio-afflicted Anuradha Rathaur of a village near Jaipur who is an MBBS student,and Preeti Monga who despite visual impairment due to a damaged retina became an aerobics instructor for the disabled,moved the whole audience.

Vipin Kumar,a hearing-impaired student of a special school in Shimla,said through his interpreter Maya Ram,“Watching these films gave us confidence to go higher. In times of distress the people featured in these films will come to my mind and give a second wind to my dreams.”

The festival was organised by the Umang Foundation for the cause of disabled and Thalassemia patients,along with the Delhi-based Brotherhood. The aim was to sensitise people on the issue in Himachal Pradesh as part of Children’s Day celebrations.

In the past three days over 2,500 school children of Shimla,including disabled children,watched these films,said Umang Foundation President Ajai Srivastava. At the closing ceremony,Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary lauded the NGOs working in the social sector.