Life of the disabled
I have long been contemplating to write on the disabled. Disability related writing is normally done by persons who are not disabled. Long ago I read an article by Sylvia Mortoza in which she narrated the miserable plight of her being paralysed. As she was a victim, her description was very authentic. It was a tragic part of life for an outstanding columnist and a prolific writer like Mrs. Mortoza when she was unable to put her signature on a piece of paper. An active women as she was, it was her traumatic experience when she could not longer be caring for her own or others' emotional and physical needs. The thought of being helpless and dependent on others was simply horrifying but this was what happened to her.
She was a member of a comparatively affluent society and could manage a wheel chair and maids to help her 25 years ago. One can easily imagine the misery of the poor disabled in Bangladesh how they live and what help they get from the government and fellowmen. It is an indescribable agony for the disabled to live in a harsh world as the house is not designed for the disabled. A blind person can move about in his or her familiar space which is limited to a few meters but for the paralysed it is different.
I fall into the category of the disabled of a different kind. I suffer from severe hearing impairment. Had I been born deaf things would be different. My problem started when I was 32 years old and the deterioration was gradual now without aid I live in a painful soundless world. Hearing aid though uncomfortable increase the volume of sound but not necessarily the clarity. So my suffering is more mental than physical as I live in an isolated world with the impatience from my fellow men. I feel grateful to my Creator for not making me dependent on others. I feel lonely in the family or in a gathering but when I am alone I do not feel lonely.
I look outside and gaze and wonder for the sights without sound can also convey message and fill the heart with delight.
The birds around me hopped and played. Their thoughts I cannot measure. But the least motion which they made it seemed a thrill of pleasure.
Any disabled can get strength and inspiration from Mrs. Mortoza's experience and when one accepts the reality it become easy for him or her to exist in a harsh world. There was a time when I would get hurt people making fun with my disability but now I enjoy it. I can live without them...the nature is my company and guide. The poet who wrote the following lines more than 170 years ago seems correct:
"One impulse from the vernal wood
Can teach you more of man
Of moral evils and of good
than all the sages can" In conclusion I must write a few worlds about Mrs. Mortoza who made tremendous contribution to society through her writings.
Can teach you more of man
Of moral evils and of good
than all the sages can" In conclusion I must write a few worlds about Mrs. Mortoza who made tremendous contribution to society through her writings.
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