The Moonstruck Mystique...

When I told my 3 year old a story of a mommy and child going out, she quickly asked ‘Does the mommy have two legs?’ I said ‘Yes’. She remarked, ‘My mommy has one leg when at home and two when we go out. For her that is normal. As a teenager there come a time when she thinks less of me because of my physical issue. But I hope that by then we normalize these physical differences enough for people not to make an issue of them. I have never met a child who has found me ‘different’. They are only curious to know what the difference is. Never to weigh it down. Let me also mention in the same breath that most adults I meet are quite unlike that. The first thing that people notice is that I walk with a limp. In a few seconds they’d have formed an impression about me in their minds. I can feel the vibes. And as our initial conversation progresses, I can also sense how the other person slowly begins to see the person behind the amputee. While I am quite used to this and do not find it unn...

I have a physical infirmity. I'm missing a leg and in pain many a times. I struggle to do things that 'normal' people would find easy. And yes, I have a 'normal', young, good-looking husband. Ever since I have been in this relationship, people around me have been in awe of the guy who chose to look beyond my physical disability and chose accept me. They looked up at the guy who despite being able bodied, smart, tall, educated, and handsome wanted to make me his life partner. Not the me who might be smart, intelligent, caring, thoughtful and pretty. But the me who is defined by my physical abnormality. Yes. I respect him for what he's done. For looking beyond the physical. For seeing the real me. Something that most guys I have met wouldn't. (Not that I was dying to be in a relationship or get married, mind you.) Yes. He has chosen to put up with my issues. To watch me helplessly as I suffer in pain. To make adjustments to suit my requirements at ever...

Jennifer was warming up for the 200m sprint at the finals of the National Athletic Meet. Running had been Jenny's passion ever since she could remember. Initially, she would effortlessly outrun her classmates. Gradually, with guidance from her school coach she would win most track events that she enrolled for. But now, this was one of her biggest challenges and she wanted to win this like never before. She took her mark, closed her eyes, said a silent prayer and focussed her entire concentration on the next few moments that would turn out to be the most consequential seconds of her life. As soon as the signal went off, she felt herself lunge forward and felt herself collapse to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she was at a hospital with her mom and dad at her bedside. She asked to be told what happened. The look in her father's eyes told her to expect the worst. She learned that she had had a stroke that left her paralyzed waist down. They would try to bring her back to as...

Most of us hate going to a government office of any kind in India. The snails pace at which the employees discharge their duties, the importance they give to chatting amongst each other rather than attending to people, the lack of concern towards our time or energy and so on. And the thorough mismanagement of affairs. No one knows what the rules are, most don't know who is in charge of what and the one you go in search for is on a week's leave! I came across such a thing when I was travelling home two weeks back at the Chennai Central. Having been suffering from severe backache further aggravated by my use of the prosthesis, I had decided to engage the services of the golf-cart like carriage within the station meant for the physically challenged to get to my coach rather than walk as I was advised rest. I went to the enquiry counter and I was asked to wait. I asked them if they had a phone number by which I could request for this service once I alighted at the station to whic...