Discriminations That Prevail

We render our support to various things over the course of years. While the support for a few things can put them in the limelight, a lack of support can often make a society oblivious to certain things that should be considered common sense. The passage of time always sends us an indication of whether we are right in extending our support to diverse issues, but are we receptive in a fast paced world? Often people excel in certain fields that they develop a fan following. Their fan base increases to an extent that these celebrities criticize international celebrities who go out of their way to highlight a major human rights issue, yet why do we extend our support to such people who trample over human rights? Though a section of society may be experienced in judging issues shown in the media, we have failed to decipher issues in our backyard.  

Breaking barriers is a trend set by some and Tukaram Shanu Gaonkar is an excellent example of that as he is a visually impaired talent who also doubles up as a cricketer. Emerging on a journey as a cricketer from 2017, his parents encouraged him to pursue it as they received a boost in their confidence when Tukaram won a Gold Medal among the visually impaired contestants of Goa in the Paralympics held at Bangalore in 2012. Being a member of the ‘Blind Cricket Association of Goa’, he travelled to other states like Punjab, Rajasthan among others with his team mates. His adventures across states led him to milestones like scoring his first half century in the famous Wankhede Stadium. 

The squad of 'Blind Cricket Association of Goa'

 

 

Though time and again history has proven that disabled people can excel in diverse fields while competing with others in a society, people are guilty of discriminating against these talented individuals. Jolene Dias is one such talent who never let Muscular Dystrophy deter her from pursuing her passion. Developing an interest in the world of music from the early age of five, she introduced upcoming talents to the world of music through ‘Blue Ocean Waves,’ an initiative she began since 2009 where she used to mentor students from her home in Goa. Though she loved singing and enjoyed her time as a musician, she never pictured herself as a music teacher, and hence was sceptical of this suggestion by her parents. Today she is passionate about imparting others with the knowledge of music that she has continued her passion in the U.K after the completion of all the musical grades required. She additionally has a belief that everybody can pick up music which is why she began teaching children with special needs since 2015.

Jolene Practicing

Despite being a student of an ICSCE school, the discrimination Jolene endured forced her to skip school. Her condition meant that Jolene had difficulty in getting up from low seats. Rather than being compassionate, her classmates just found another excuse to poke fun at her. She underwent an ordeal while climbing the stairs, as she could climb the stairs very slowly with the help of a railing. As sources of humiliation started piling up, she would avoid school from Tuesdays to Fridays to get away from the taunts of her classmates. Avoiding an encore of the humiliations meant that she had to think of diverse tactics like headaches and others to remain at home

A happy Jolene

 The worsening of her disability in 12th Std meant that she would limp, and have frequent falls whenever she used to encounter either uneven paths, or surfaces which were very smooth. To make matters even worse nobody from her school used to assist her, and it was only the labourers who used to help her. Her knees used to bleed frequently and she used to cry a lot because no one from the school used to be come to her aid. Though things improved slightly, her disability made it impossible for her to continue her studies from college, and had to continue the remainder of her course from home.  Whenever she used to advertise about her music school too in public places, people used to tear the posters down.  When she released her first single, the public used to discourage those who assisted her. Marriage was again another area where she faced massive discrimination.

Jolene outdoors

 These repeated taunts of society forced her to migrate to the UK. As UK is a disabled friendly country she gradually had the courage to replace the previous bitter memories with happy ones. Accessible structures and significant amounts of help from the government which she could never have dreamt of in Goa have aided in making her life in UK a memorable experience. After witnessing the concern which UK displays towards the disabled, she has renewed hopes of achieving her visions which includes converting Blue Ocean Waves into her music school, and finding a husband in the UK. Despite these discriminations finding its way in the 21st century, I am not surprised that society has devised new methods to sweep these under the rug, especially in ‘modern India’ where people gain international fame for finding unique ways to highlight issues, only to be jailed for their efforts. What’s even more humorous is that Indian lawmakers who are aware of article 19 devise methods that drive a wedge between people, and emerge from it unscathed.