I am Sayan Ghosh aged 21. I am a BSc student Graduate from Kolkata.
I was affected by polio at an early age of 1 year. just after I was
given oral dose of polio in the morning and in the evening I was
showing signs of polio. I was diagnosed by the Doctors in BR Singh
Railways hospital, Kolkata as having contracted the water born
disease Polio. . This affected the lower side of my body in varying
degrees but the main area that had been weakened by Polio was my
legs, which meant I would need to use a pair of calipers to get
around safely. Both of my legs are affected by polio and I use
crutches to walk.

As a child and an adult I have learned to live with the disability
and to find ways to overcome whatever problems that come. I am by
nature a lively person and I think this is what counts. If one is
lively he will be happy most of the time. It's mental attitude that
helps to overcome any disability. There can be people willing to
help but only if you are ready.

By the age of 5, I was still quite small but very stocky for my age.
My earliest memory is of going to kindergarten school sitting on my
dads shoulder. My dad used to carrying me everywhere and I knew,
that knowing dad he carried me on his shoulders for two reasons. He
was probably worried that the 10 to 15 minute daily walk to school
would tire me out for the rest of the day, and in that time, I was
not habituated to braces & crutches.. As he carried me to `Anandam'
Kindergatren School at Shyampukur in North Kolkata, and I can
recall, when I came adjacent to my school, I cried to walk my own
such that my friends don't tease me.
My parents had battled "tooth and nail" for about three months with
Baranagar Ramkrishna Mission Ashram School authority to get me a
place there. They were both quite worried, just like any parent
would be about their five-year old child's first day at school, let
alone the fact that I had a disability. I am pretty sure that the
questions running through their minds were;

"How are the other kids going to treat him because he uses a caliper
and walks differently, with help of crutches?" and "Would he get
fair treatment from his teachers?"

People sometimes have a tendency of seeing you as a "slow learner"
and as a lot of the classrooms were upstairs and with no lifts there
were added fears about how I would cope with the access. I know that
deep down my parents believed in their hearts they were doing the
right thing but at the time those thoughts must have still caused
them a great deal of anxiety. I did very well on my first day at
school although I didn't start too brilliantly in the playground.
Mainly because, like my parents, I had some niggling doubts running
through my mind that also needed answering and these took on a
slightly different pretext to those of my parents. One of those
doubts was, "Why had my mother sent me to school in an outrageous
pair of typical metal shoes?"




I remember my first day in school that seeing all the kids after
they got bored of asking me questions like "Why do you walk funny,
with help of these things (crutches)?' `What are those metal things
sticking out of your leg?' `How come your wearing this typical shoe?
(The school uniform was white sporty cades, but I had to wear black
shoe attached to my brace).' They were all running off to pick
teams, throwing their shoes on the floor to make goal posts and I
watched on as they frantically, chased the ball in a free-for-all of
tangled arms and legs. Then, one kid emerged from the melee and
blasted the ball past the goalie who seemed more worried about the
pain the well kicked ball could inflict, than stopping what was
going to be a certain goal.

The frantic euphoria that ensued had hypnotized me. The way
everyone hugged the goal scorer and treated him like a hero brought
a big smile to my face. My immediate thought was `I want some of
that!'. It only took until the morning play time before I convinced
them to let me join their game. The usual lie-up with two captains
began and they started picking from a line of us. Guess what? I got
picked last and very reluctantly. I remember an old mate of mine at
the time, Stuart Harvey, saying `Put him in goal', as generally
that's where they stuck the worst players. No one ever wanted to go
in goal! I asked a kid to keep my crutches near the Goalpost, and
stood below the post on the calipers.

I think my acceptance with the other kids really came after another
scramble in the corner when someone broke loose and was on course
for a goal against me. He blasted the ball and I don't know if it
was out of sheer naivety or just madness but I instinctively threw
myself to the right, and with an outstretched arm I just managed to
parry the ball away. The ball really stung the palms of my hands and
it was hurting like mad. Then I heard someone shout, "did you see
that boy with the bad legs and the funny name, he just saved that
shot". They were pointing at my legs and as I looked down I could
see that during my goal saving heroics, my trouser leg had risen a
little to expose my calliper and reveal two iron rods protruding
from my upper leg going into either side of the medical boot. There
was loads of whispering and pointing and then two boys broke up the
crowd - one of whom was a legend at school for his football
skills. `Nice one mate, that was a good save' he said. The other
one, a big guy called Spencer Greenfield was well known as one of
the best fighters in the school and he came over to help me up, hold
my hand such that I can again stand up.

I remember, after the word had got around about my goal keeping
skills, a few of the older kids from the play ground also came up to
me, and in typical dada style they said, `If anyone troubles you
mate, about your leg, then just look for me and I'll sort them out'.
They were the hard boys of the school.

As a child affected with polio, though most of my childhood memories
are cheerful ones I had my dark moments due to this disability. I am
very fond of playing games and unfortunately I could not play the
games. Therefore, I used to spend lot of time watching the children
play games and wishing I could also play. A common problem that
people with disability face is the teasing they receive mainly from
children. One has to learn to overlook it. Saddest part is that even
when the children are making fun of disable children and sometimes
even adults, the parents of these children, if watching, hardly make
any effort to educate them. This is particularly the case with
uneducated people. Of course this is not true only for the children,
many a times even adults gawk at you or worse frown.


Another problem I faced as a child was the transportation. Coming
from a middle class family my mode of transport was Bus. The people
sitting in the busses in the disabled seat were not eager to left
the seat to me, so even I have to go school standing. In the school
I had to be very careful at the time when the school was beginning
and getting over as children tend to be in a hurry to come and go
and would push anyone in their way. So, after leave, I have to wait
when everyone rush to their mom, and when there was no chance of
collision, then I walked slowly, came out of school.

Being accepted by the other kids was definitely a big step for me
but it wasn't the only problem I incurred during my years in primary
school. Hindu School was one of those old buildings that you still
see around Kolkata today. Built in 1817, it had plenty of character
and rumors of it being haunted made for great classroom
conversation. Yet, it held many access problems that, to my
teachers must have seemed like a real nightmare at first sight.

There were 4 floors and during your time at school you spent a year
on each floor. The first years had all their lessons on the ground
floor, the second years on the first floor and so on. Fortunately
for me, as I got older and progressed through each year I became
stronger. This was mainly because I used my upper body a lot more
and so getting up the stairs became easier as I got older. I also
had some special mates at school and any time they saw me struggling
they would carry me up the stairs with me hanging on to their
shoulders.


My personal experience has shown me that parents
have a major role to play in the lives of disabled children at least
in the initial stages. Parents should understand that their child
has some limitations and they must contribute towards making the
child overcome it. The main key that all the efforts should be in
the direction of making the child independent, as sooner or later
the child will have to face the World on his own. Many parents try
to keep such a child at home most of the time which denies him an
opportunity to mix with the other children, enjoy, learn the ways of
society. Situation is really pathetic in many rural areas or even in
some educated urban families where such children are either denied
any education or in some cases even necessary accessories such as
crutches, wheelchairs etc. Not only such child remains uneducated
but mostly immobile and mobility is life.
It is responsibility of parents to think of the future of their
disabled child. If they need help or guidance they can approach the
NGO's working for the disabled. Parents should remember that only if
their disabled child becomes independent and manages most of the
daily chores on his own that they can die peacefully knowing that he
will not only survive but will do well.

What I expect from people is to look at the disabled
people like any other normal person. Most of the disabled people who
come on the road can manage most of the things for themselves,
otherwise they would not have ventured on to the road. All they need
is an occasional help. This particularly is directed towards
employers. These people either have aversion to the disabled people
or doubt their capacity to work.
I would like the Govt. to see that whatever posts reserved for
disabled peopled are filled. I do not know if there is a scheme for
free education for disabled people. I would like Govt. to start free
education scheme for disabled children and even for adults (if they
are unemployed). This is mainly due to the fact that it is very
difficult for a middle class family to spend on education of such
child as they have to spend more on transportation. Also I would
like the Govt. to start rehabilitation centres where help is given
to such people. Crutches, wheelchairs etc. equipments are the
constant companions of the disabled people. They have to spend on
these throughout their lives and hence should be easily available at
subsidized rates. These accessories are very costly and often
substandard as well in the private shops.

I have often come across this problem. It is very
dangerous to come down the staircase without railing. Another
problem added now days is, glossy and ceramic tiles. Crutches slip
of them, due to which I have even changed my bank. But everywhere
people are using these tiles. They are so dangerous to walk on and
when wet an open invitation for a free fall.

I would like to see support groups coming in
every city and even in rural areas. Meeting of disable people should
be arranged to give them platform to present the difficulties they
face in life. It would be very humanitarian if some members of this
group / volunteers visit those people who are disabled to such an
extent that venturing out is impossible for them. It is great to
have somebody apart from family member to talk to. Here where I work
we have this system by which our Medical Social Worker and
volunteers visit the terminally ill cancer patients at their homes.
This would also help in assessing the financial position of the
family and giving guidance to them as to where they can get help.

As for my adjustment towards life, I live
like any able bodied person. I can do most of my work myself. I can
walk at least 1 km and hence most of the marketing I do on my own. I
have a scooter with side car attached for conveyance and for
carrying material from market to home. But I can and do travel by
public transport system. Most of the time I do not feel I am
disabled except when someone reminds or when I see people playing. I
think if not for this disability I definitely have become a good
sportsman. I do take physical exercises to keep me fit and to retain
my movements.