50 Fractures, 6 Surgeries, 65% Disabled: Dr Fathima Asla Let Nothing Break Her
When Kozhikode-native Dr Fathima Asla, lovingly called Paathu, enters a room, one first notices her heartwarming smile. It justifies the name of her autobiography Nilavupole Chirikkunna Penkutty (A...
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Daughter’s Down Syndrome Made Dad Ensure That Disabled Kids ‘Always Have a Home’
It’s an early Tuesday morning in Wadala, Jalandhar. All seems to be quiet. But in a few hours, at 10 am to be precise, this silence will be replaced with the sound of laughter and chatter of 30 young...
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One Initiative Brings Smiles to Thousands of Kids With Cleft, Empowers 100s...
This article has been published in partnership with Smile Train India. Ashim Garg recalls that day in 2009 when his classmates from an elite school in New Delhi mocked his ability to speak. While he...
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Born Without Lower Limbs, I Always Dreamt of Riding to Ladakh; Here’s a Look...
It was Ahmedabad-based Shivam Porwal’s dream to experience Ladakh on a bike. While this is a dream that many have, for Shivam to see it through was not an easy feat. Born with Phocomelia syndrome, it...
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Mechanic Built ‘Mini Jeep’ Customised for Disabled Friend, Now Sells Across...
When Babbar Singh, an automobile mechanic, innovated a mini jeep for his friend Shakti Kumar, he thought it would be a one-time thing. The Punjab native built the vehicle, which looks like a jeep but...
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Entrepreneur at 16, Disabled Hero Brings Quality Education to Smaller Indian...
At just 9 months, Ajay Gupta was diagnosed with polio, which left both his legs and left hand paralysed. Today, he has a 70 per cent locomotive disability. He faced many setbacks in his childhood, the...
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‘Always Been Treated As Equal’: Lessons From Accenture’s Disability-Inclusive...
This article has been sponsored by Accenture. Like most fathers, Prateek Shrivastav, a Managing Director with Accenture, wanted to give his son Pranay the life of his dreams. But he recalls how...
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One Moving Question Inspired This Mom To Provide Free Therapy to 800 Disabled...
When Pooja Parashar gave birth to twins in 2007, the entire family was ecstatic. But something was amiss — because the babies were born prematurely, one twin, Som, had issues with oxygen reaching his...
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IIT Student Innovates Portable Braille Printer 20 Times Cheaper Than Imported...
Around a year ago, Bengaluru-resident and IIT-Guwahati student Kaviraj Prithvi was searching for an idea to help the disabled as part of a college project. On visiting one of the blind schools in his...
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Living With Polio, He Became Entrepreneur at 16 & Now Takes Education to...
Ajay Gupta was diagnosed with polio when he was only nine months old. However, being disabled himself, he spent his life working for the cause and starting ventures for the betterment of others....
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‘It’s Their Right to Play’: Teacher Uses Sports to Empower 12000 Kids with...
#MakingSportWork: We celebrate the potential of sport to build a #BetterIndia with opinion pieces, stories and profiles of how sport can improve the lives of every Indian. Read more from this...
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Learnt Online, Father Builds ‘Maarobot’ to Help Disabled Daughter Eat Food...
Plato famously wrote in ‘Republic’, “Our need will be the real creator”. Many centuries later, this echoes far away from Greece in Goa’s Bethora village, where a man has once again proved him right....
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Helping 800+ Disabled Children Enroll in Schools, UP Principal Is the Hero...
Supreme Court Justice D Y Chandrachud has called on the government and private entities to work towards a more just world for people with disabilities while noting the lack of accessibility for them...
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J&K’s 1st Wheelchair Basketball Champ Fought Acute Depression to Reach a...
“You can always dream another dream.” That’s how Ishrat Akther starts the conversation. For a 23-year-old who has had to battle challenges in several walks of life in the last six years, her ‘never...
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Designer’s Artisanal Brooms Woven by Blind Women Make Them Financially...
Right beside the doorway at the entrance to Lakshmi Menon’s home in Kerala, there is a sight that one does not see very often — two broomsticks side by side adorning the wall like any other piece of...
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Lessons From Unique ‘Village’ On Using Innovation to Support Persons with...
Every morning, 25-year-old Jernise Pang Gin Wei makes her way to the Enabling Village — a community where people with disabilities are welcomed into an inclusive environment. Jernise, who has mild...
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250 People with Autism, Down Syndrome Have Jobs Today, Thanks to 3 Friends
In 2008, three friends began a weekend hobby class aimed at people living with intellectual disabilities to integrate into the world. Today, this has turned into a full-fledged training centre for...
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Suffering From Polio, Woman Left a Legacy That Helps People With Disabilities...
Bharat Tani, a 22-year-old, was living a life full of hardships till he came across a camp by a Bengaluru Non-Government Organisation (NGO) called the Association of People with Disability (APD) in...
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This Heartwarming Story Of Determination and Resilience Started With a Simple...
This article has been sponsored by KFC Some stories bring a smile to your face, and Kshamata, a short film directed by Shoojit Sircar, is no different, and is just the right dose of emotion we needed...
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‘Many Families Abandon Them’: Agra Man Builds Home for 75 Kids with Disabilities
Anil Joseph knew from a very young age that he would do something to give back to society. So, when he completed his diploma in special education in 2002, he started looking for the right opportunity....
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IAS Officer’s Endeavour Helps 120 Visually Impaired Tribal Children Enroll in...
To be able to go to school, appear for examinations, sing on stage, share lunch boxes like her friends — young Priya has always held these aspirations in her heart. But her inability to see a...
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How to Prepare a Pitch for Shark Tank India? Winner of Rs 30 Lakh Shares...
Vineet Saraiwala, who lives with a visual impairment, says that people with disabilities are often looked upon with a sympathetic lens, but their abilities are questioned. So when he made it to season...
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Meet The Coach From Lucknow Who is Behind the Wins of India’s Best Para...
For 20-year-old Palak Kohli, a career in sports was a distant dream. Born with an underdeveloped left arm, all she could do at sports courts was sit in a corner and watch others play. As a teenage...
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Road to the Sky: Injured in War, 49-YO Soars High as Asia’s 1st Disabled Solo...
Life took an untoward turn for 24-year-old Devender Pal Singh when he lost his right leg while serving the country. Posted in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor region in 1999 during the Kargil War, Singh...
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Winners of Rs 15 Lakh Award, Duo’s Mobility Innovation Helps 5000 People with...
This article has been sponsored by Infosys Foundation. In 2019, engineer duo Sumanth Mudaliar and Vishrut Bhatt were presented with the Aarohan Social Innovations Award by Infosys Foundation for...
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My Disability Pushed Me to Build a Locomotive Device for Disabled People &...
This article has been sponsored by Infosys Foundation. “What stands out about the Aarohan Awards is that it does not see background or educational qualification, but simply whether the idea has...
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‘I’m Disabled. So What?’ Woman Fought Polio & Broke Taboos to Clear CA in 1st...
Shilpa Mehta Jain was born and brought up in Mumbai, but her family had strong roots in Sanchore, a small village in Rajasthan. So, even though being a woman with a disability was never a twofold blow...
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Infosys Foundation Awardee Won Rs 10 Lakh for ‘Self-Learning’ Braille Device...
This article has been sponsored by Infosys Foundation. “Children who are visually impaired have a different way of interacting with the world,” explains Sanskriti Dawle, co-founder and CEO of ed-tech...
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Shattering Myths: How India Can Make Public Events Disability Inclusive
In early 2022, Srishti Pandey visited a popular Gurugram restaurant on a night out. “This was one of my first outings in so long and I wanted to have fun,” she recalled. However, on arriving at the...
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‘Lessons I Learnt From My Son With Asperger’s Syndrome’: Mom Trains 1000s of...
As a young PhD fellow, Neena Rao from Hyderabad had always envisioned her professional life to be in the impact sector. At the time, however, she never fathomed the difference she would go on to make...
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‘An Invisible Disability’: 7 Ways Workplaces Can Help Employees With Blood...
Throughout Radha’s (name changed) younger life, large bruises, severe nose bleeds, heavy menstrual cycles were her “normal.” “I hated physical education classes, because my ankles and knees would...
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Duo Runs One Stop Shop to Buy All Things Made by NGOs to Help the Poor &...
“We wanted to do purposeful work,” says Bhumika Marwaha, a 43-year-old engineer from Mumbai, on how she and her colleague Bipin Joshi started their enterprise Jhappi, which translates to ‘a hug of...
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‘My Dolls Travel the World’: 23-YO With Rare Disease Sculpts Global Success...
Life was on tenterhooks for Coimbatore’s Radhika JA when she came to know about her brittle bone disease at a young age. Year after year, the disease made her prone to bone fractures without any...
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‘Leave No One Behind’: 18-YO Helps Neurodivergent People Find Jobs, Has...
During their formative years, parents often strive to shield their children from life’s harsh realities by keeping them within a protective bubble. However, for Tarini Malhotra, this sheltered...
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From Prejudice to Pride: Evolving Representations of Disability in Cinema
Popular media can be a powerful facilitator in inculcating disability pride, acting as a mode of representation for people with disabilities to see those like them included in the mainstream. However,...
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‘To Me, This is Unconditional Love’: Lessons I Learned as a Mom to a 23-YO...
“I have learnt to take life as it comes,” Sejal Shah tells me when I ask her how she navigates the ups and downs of life while bringing up Viha, her 23-year-old daughter who lives with multiple...
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Trio Help 50000 Deaf Persons Sit for Govt Exams & Become Job-Ready With Skill...
Indian Sign Language (ISL) was the first language Nita Gopalakrishnan learnt. English was second. Born to deaf parents but being able to hear perfectly well herself shaped Nita’s formative years, and...
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‘Vision Nanny’ by 3 Friends Uses Tech To Make Therapy Affordable for Kids...
Prathyusha Potharaju had a really hard time writing the alphabet as a child. She recalls that she would often end up writing mirror images of the letters and struggled to form words. The school she...
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Retd Army Major is on a Mission to Make Adventure Sports Inclusive for People...
At various points in our lives, we all grapple with the timeless existential question: ‘What is the purpose of life?’ For Major Vivek Jacob, this profound question surfaced after dedicating more than...
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‘Why Me?’: What Patients of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Want India to Learn About...
“My parents say that I could walk as a toddler but over time, I started losing balance. I would fall over, my spine became slightly curved, and I needed assistance with daily activities. My parents...
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Shocked By A Student’s Rape, Teacher Starts Self-Defence Training for Girls...
Trigger warning: Mentions of rape, sexual assault Nearly nine years back in 2014, Bharti (name changed) left her home to relieve herself in the field. The minor girl has speech impairment and learning...
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When An 80-YO With Multiple Sclerosis Opened Her Home for Kids Every Summer...
Three decades ago, when hobby summer camps were not that common, Siddhi Creations took birth. The brainchild of Sudha Iyengar, this was a venture to keep young children engaged fruitfully and joyfully...
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‘We Know What Parents Feel’: Couple’s Loving Home Offers Love & Safety to...
The Sugwekars, a couple based in Thane, believe that their son Akshay was born to make them realise their purpose in life — to serve other children with disabilities like him. That’s exactly what...
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I Fought Polio, Overcame Depression & Cracked UPSC CSE Twice
Trigger warning: This story has mentions of depression and self-harm “Throughout the first half of my 40 years on this planet, the only question I asked both myself and God is ‘Why me?’ When I closed...
View Article8 Inclusive Indian Cafes That Hire to Empower Transgender People, Abuse...
Whether it’s your beloved coffee spot from college days or the tea shop with your favourite samosas at your workplace, cafes are often sources of nostalgia. While cafes are profitable for owners and...
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‘We Talk Only In Signs’: What It Means to Be Children Of Deaf Adults
The excitement of a crowd can be either a very thrilling or a very daunting experience for us. If you are a child, then this can easily shape your outlook on life and personality. But for one such...
View ArticleThe Colours of Hope: ‘My Daughter, A Bharatnatyam Dancer, Was Told She’ll...
Ujjwala Sahane and her husband were excited to start their family in 1985 when they were blessed with a baby girl. Things were wonderful until their baby had a fall when she was six months old, which...
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‘Everyone Said You Can’t Do It’: How I Run My Spice Business While Being on a...
Born and raised in the picturesque Kashmir valley, life was cheerful for Sumarty. She enjoyed going to school and meeting her friends. But one day, she returned home running a high temperature. “We...
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‘Be Limitless’: Woman With Rheumatoid Arthritis On Travelling to 59 Countries...
Parvinder Chawla was just a schoolgirl when her family began to observe something amiss with her body. She struggled with the proper movement of her joints and jaw. By the age of 21, she received a...
View ArticleWho is Sheetal Devi? World’s No. 1 Para Archer & Winner of Arjuna Awards, All...
On 9 January 2024, para-archer Sheetal Devi was conferred with the prestigious Arjuna Award for her extraordinary accomplishments in para-archery. The teenage girl from Jammu and Kashmir is renowned...
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