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Budding actor not shy of his problems

His honey-dew smile touches a chord deep within, his eyes, wide and innocent, speak volumes as he shyly looks up to a visitor. They don't show the pain that Meningomyelocele, a life-long disability, has brought but sparkle with joy for the new reason that life has to offer.

Ten-year-old Chandu Mukharji was recently selected from thousands of kids across Maharashtra for a leading role in a Marathi feature film Samar Ek Sangharsh that stars Ashwin Nalavde of Ashwaas fame. Chandu suffers from Meningomyelocele where the baby is born with a sac protruding from an opening in the spine.

The spinal cord does not develop normally and certain nerves are damaged, and as a result Chandu's feet are paralysed and he needs leg braces and crutches to get around.

Also, the disability leads to communication gap between the nerves that send and receive messages, so it's hard for him to know when he needs to relieve himself. But Chandu found a guardian angel in the Society for Education of the Crippled (SEC) and Ashadaan who jointly bore the expenditure of his navel surgery.

Through the procedure, a sterilized tube is inserted into his navel to empty his bladder into a catheter at fixed intervals, thereby taking care of this problem. Sister Yvonne said that during the film shooting, Chandu would get up early in the morning, get ready and wait for the chief assistant director - Charles Gomes, who would take him to the studio.

And he loved wearing the red shirt and getting make-up done for the shoot. Even the director of the film Atmaram Dhrane is all praise for him. He said that he is a very smart and cheerful boy, so most of their takes were easy. Only the emotional ones were tough.

Gomes, whom Chandu got very close to during the shoot, is amazed. He said that despite being non-Marathi, the ease with which he picked up Marathi was commendable.

Everybody on the sets adored him. Produced by Kid's camp productions, Samar Ek Sangharsh is inspired by the real life story of a former student of SEC, Deepak Jadhav, who is now an assistant director with the film.

The protagonist of the film is a carpenter's son who is disabled by polio, but overcomes all odds to become a lawyer. Chandu plays the role of young samara, while Arun Nalavde plays the carpenter father. Actor Umesh Kamat plays the role of grown-up samara.

Source: 10-year-old gets his fix from challenges. DNA Mumbai, March 7th, 2006.

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A visually challenged boy developed a Braille-Hindi translating software

It was an overwhelming moment in the life of 17-year-old Satvir when he wrote CBSE's Hindi paper with the help of the Braille software he had developed. Titled "Braille Face," the software translates Braille commands into Hindi print language.

With such an invention, the blind students writing in Hindi would no longer need the help of scribes during exams. A software to translate Braille command into English print is already available in the market.

A class X student of JPM Senior Secondary School and a resident of Blind Relief Association (BRA), Satvir, has developed the software with the aid of the visual basic programming language.

Satvir said that one had to use six keys - F, D, S, J, K and L for typing any letter or word. These keys had the same dots used for writing in Braille. The software takes the Braille command, identifies the character combination and then automatically translates it into the print form of the 'devanagari' script and thus displays it on screen.

The 'devanagari' script is used for writing Hindi, Sanskrit and Marathi. He was not allowed to use his own computer for the exams, so he had to install the software in the computer provided by the examination centre in the presence of the examination instructors.

Though he wanted to write all the exams with the aid of the computer, he could not do so as the software faced some technical snags and could only be used for his Hindi exam.

By installing 'Vaachak' the screen-reading software, Satvir has made the use of computers more convenient. Braille Face makes the 'Vaachak' recognize the character combinations and speak out the word that appears on the screen, which helps the student in checking if the word has been written correctly.

Being an honest examinee, he has not added special features in the software that could do a spell check as available in the JAWS software, the English screen reader.

He said that even though the software has the capacity of line and character reading, it is developed in such a way that it could be used as a plain answer sheet by the examinee with no availability of spell check features.

With the software, the visually-challenged students writing in Hindi would no longer be at the mercy of scribes. He said that there is always a shortage of writers and even if they are available, they are not dedicated as they do not benefit in any way.

So if the software is promoted and upgraded by the government, the visually challenged students would benefit by being able to write in Hindi. Pavnesh Kumar, the controller of examinations, CBSE said that they allowed visually-challenged students to use computers for writing exams but the answer sheet was provided by the board.

There is only one visually-challenged student in Delhi who writes in English with the aid of a computer while Satvir is the first to use it to write in Hindi.

Source: Visually-challenged boy developed Braille-Hindi translation software. The Times of India, New Delhi, 27 March 2006.

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Sujatha's battle to fulfill her dream

It's been six years since Sujatha cleared the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET). Like many, she wanted to be a lecturer. Based on her performance in the test, she was called for an interview in September 2003.

But two-and-a-half years later, the 31-year-old is still awaiting an official communication. At first sight, Sujatha seems to be one among many on the waiting list. But her disability, caused by a condition called achondroclasia wherein her limbs are short, makes it difficult for her to get employment in most other fields.

She says that it has been her dream to become a lecturer, to be able to become independent and support her family and this is the only opportunity available for her to realize that dream.

Sujatha graduated from Bharathi Women's College in 1996 and she joined Presidency College for her post-graduation and in 1999 she passed her M Phil too. But her academic progress has been filled with hurdles.

A topper in the Class XII examination, the college authorities were hesitant to admit her for the Zoology course she had applied for fearing she might find the practicals necessary difficult. They offered her the Arts stream instead but Sujatha did not loose faith and she petitioned to the Secretariat.

The college authorities eventually offered her the course of her choice. After her father's retirement from the State Government service, the family depends almost entirely on her. Thus, despite being academically well-qualified, Sujatha has been forced to pursue vocational training in tailoring and a course to become an LIC agent.

She rued that her disability has hampered her ability to cope with the pressures of an agent. In fact, she cannot even meet the yearly target. M Sultana, Sujatha's professor in Bharathi College said that she was a very good student with exceptional talent, who always came first in her class beating all odds and opposition.

Other lecturers said that though vacant posts of guest lecturers were being filled up, Sujatha's name was not considered, apparently due to her disability. A professor of the college said that if her dream of becoming a lecture came true, she would be a better teacher than most of them.

After surmounting many impediments that a disabled-unfriendly public domain threw at her, Sujatha is now fighting a final battle to change other's perception about her abilities.

Source: She walks tall amidst crumbling hope. Indian Express, Chennai, 24 March 2006.

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Success that comes after many hardships is sweeter

Numerous readers responded to Shoba Warrier's write-up on GJ Siddharth that appeared on rediff.com in April, 2005. One of them was APJ Abdul Kalam, the President of India.

Kalam saw in Siddharth, who is affected by cerebral palsy, a role model for those who are battling various forms of disability and the stigma attached to it which he told Siddharth in a letter and also promised to meet him. The president kept his promise when he came down to Chennai.

In four minutes, Siddharth made a presentation on his laptop and expressed to the President the need to implement the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act in letter and spirit. Siddharth emphasized on the 3% job reservation for the disabled.

The next day, the President spoke about Siddharth while presenting the national awards to those working for the welfare of persons with disabilities. During the course of the speech, he dwelled on the job reservation issue and also drew an administrative structure that would ensure that this provision would be implemented.

Later in the month, the President spoke about Siddharth during a visit to the Adarsh Charitable trust, Kureekad, Ernakulam. Although Siddharth says he waged a battle and fought for his rights, he does not pretend that he was alone in the fight.

He is grateful to his teachers at Vidya Sagar, who kept in touch with him even after he matriculated and were constantly challenging him to achieve greater feats. He is all praise for the ABN AMRO Bank; they were willing to consider his credentials at a time when he was losing hope in interviews.

The bank offered him a responsible job that required him to check documents presented for loans purely on merit. In his higher secondary exam, he scored 200 on 200 in computer science, 197 on 200 in mathematics and 189 on 200 in English.

He received a bachelors degree in commerce from RKM Vivekananda College, with an impressive 74% and a masters degree in Economics from Loyola College with 77%. He says he has had to cross many barriers at every stage.

For his history paper in his tenth board exam, he was saddled with a scribe who had a problem with English words and an even greater problem writing them down correctly. So Siddharth had to spell out every word.

And then just a day before his twelfth boards exam, he was running from pillar-to post to obtain the extra hour or two granted to people with disabilities. Siddharth truly knows the meaning of the adage: Success that comes after many hardships is sweeter.

Source: Turning odds even. The Hindu, Chennai, 22nd March 2006.

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