With a will to do

M Rama Rayulu

He has been deaf and dumb by birth. His disability might have been a result of his father's marriage with the latter's maternal niece.

But M Rama Rayulu, the budding tennis player, seems to have inherited the sports genes from his maternal grandfather Babu Rao, who resolved to nurture his grandson's talent in spite of the disability. Babu Rao, a retired employee, was a badminton player in his prime and took part in national events.

One day when he was taking a stroll in Sardar Patel Stadium, he saw it brimming with young boys laying tennis courts under the supervision of the coach.

He hit upon an idea of introducing his 10–year–old grandson to tennis. Immediately, he took his grandson along with him to meet coach Vijayavardhan. Moved by Rayulu's disability and his grandfather's determination, Vijayavardhan agreed to coach him.

“Initially, the boy did face some problems from the other players. At one stage, I too realised that coaching him would be a Herculean task. I used to teach him the nuances of tennis separately after the other boys left the court,” says Vijayavardhan.

Rayulu was 10 years old when he started playing tennis. He used to be very short then. He started growing taller because of playing tennis and even started conversing a little, much to the surprise of his coach and delight of his parents.

According to the coach, the boy had not missed the court even for a day during the last six years. Today, 16–year–old Rayulu is participating in national tennis events.

At a State meet held in 2003 in Hyderabad, he entered the second round and in matches held in Tirupati and Vizianagaram in 2004 and 2005 respectively, Rayulu reached the pre–quarter stage.

He qualified for Lanco Series National Tournment held in Hyderabad in January 2006 and even reached up to the second stage. Rayulu reached the quarter–stage in an All–India Tennis Association Tournament held at Loyola College in Vijayawada.

Source: B Satyanarayana Reddy. Player with a difference. The New Indian Express Group, Chennai, 14 January 2008.

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Divya Arora

If people can accept Rani Mukherji in Black, then why not me,” asks Divya Arora, theatre actor–director–writer. That's a question Bollywood – with all its clichéd portrayals of the physically challenged – will have to answer as Arora gets ready for her first feature film, Kyun Nahin.

But Arora isn't waiting for answers. At an age which lies between “a quarter of a century and below 30 (she refuses to divulge her age), she has 27 plays to her credit and she sits strapped to her wheelchair. Arora suffers from cerebral palsy, a condition which disables motor action or movement. But she has converted her disability into a special ability.

Arora, who is on the panel of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), revived the famous Broadway comedy Barefoot in the Park, 40–odd years after it was first screened. “I make only romantic comedies. Life is too full of tears and everyone wants love and laughter, So, what not give people what they want,” she says.

Arora, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two–and–a–half, began acting during her LSR days where she studied sociology. Her first play, Ability in Disability, staged in 1999, was a tribute to her gritty attitude. Her forthcoming play, The Melody of Love, which will be staged on February 17 at the India Habitat Centre, is an English translation of Marvaux's original in French titled Le jeu de I' amor et du hazard. It's the first time anyone has attempted an English translation. And then, she has to plan her film. It's not a sad movie, let me tell you.

It's commercial, Bollywood film which will delicately raise the issue of a physically–challenged woman,” she explains. “I don't want any superstars. I'll play the protagonist. I have talent and I am going to prove it,” Arora says with determination.

It's this resolve that keeps her going in the face of all odds. “People say, wheelchair par hai, phir to pagal bhi hogi,” Arora says. She was expelled from junior school because the principal said she had no seats for children with disabilities. “I have lived in France, UK and the US. But people in India are cruel and insensitive to people with special needs,” says Arora.

But this didn't deter her from doing what she wanted. Apart from acting, Arora has a passion for swimming and horse–riding. She also runs an organisation called Association for Humans, Environment and Development (AHEAD). Her organisation serves as a facilitating body for other groups which work in the areas of environment and development.

“It's named AHEAD because I always look ahead in life. Had I been 'normal', I would have been like anybody else – insensitive towards society. Today, though theatre, I am determined to make a positive difference. My motto is: theatre with purpose and entertainment with meaning,” she says.

Source: Defying Disability, Indian Express, New Delhi, 30 December 2007.

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