For the Disabled

When life turns against you, there are two options. Either you beat a retreat or you take on the beatings, stand stoic against all odds, remain optimistic and emerge triumphant. Advocate K. Kathiresan belongs to the second category.

When polio strikes a normal healthy boy at the age of four, it can be devastating for the parents. And so it was for Kathiresan’s. Though crestfallen, they blamed it on destiny and knocked every Government and Corporation-run school in Madurai requesting for their son’s admission.

The year was 1979 and every school apparently turned away the child. Finally, a neighbour and a teacher of Seventh Day Adventist School took up Kathiresan’s case and got him admitted there. 

“Though I was small, I think I understood that I was being rejected everywhere for my handicap and I vowed to outshine even normal students. God helped me and I was hard working. Right through my school and college, I was a rank holder, got scholarships to fund my studies and hence was never a burden on my poor mechanic father. And my asset all through has been my set of friends,” 

School life was protected and because he excelled in academics, he was the school hero too. 

“Everybody knew me and I enjoyed the luxury and comfort of my status. Only when I joined college, I felt lonely and lost in a big world.”

Initially Kathiresan dreamt of becoming a doctor, but subsequently enrolled himself at The American College for Computer Studies and also sat for the law entrance exam under the open quota. “I was not aware of any Government welfare scheme for the disabled. My scores earned me a scholarship for the five year B.A.B.L course,” he narrates. But restless about the lack of attention paid to the disabled population and also low awareness levels of the disabled about various programmes run for them, Kathiresan with the help of his like-minded school and college friends floated the ‘Akshaya Rehabilitation Trust’ when he was still in III Year.

“I was looking at social inclusion of PWDs (Persons with Disability), equal opportunities for them in every field and also getting their full participation,” says the founder chairman of Akshaya.

Executing dreams are always tough but Kathiresan is the types who get tough when the going gets tough. “My idea is to act as a resource centre for both PWDs and the non-disabled youths through a process of organisation, training, networking and education and facilitating for collective action for a holistic development,” he says. A decade on, Kathiresan is far from satisfied. Changes have been negligible here, he rues. His organisation with 1600 enrolments, provides free legal aid to PWDs and stakeholders (parents and family members), he feels the society as such remains largely insensitive. For instance, the Collector’s office, the new court building of Madurai Bench, few hotels and schools are the far and few disabled-friendly buildings in the city. “People should understand that the disabled are very much a part and parcel of the society and not beggars asking for charity alone. It is our right to be safeguarded by the system but then it is unfortunate that the Government machinery is failing to utilise the huge human resource and talent that is with the disabled. It is going a waste.”

What irks Kathiresan further is the attitude of people who are appointed to serve the disabled. “There may be lot of benefits announced by the Government now for the disabled. But the truth is there are even more hurdles to avail of those benefits,” he points out.

Providing psycho-social care to the disabled is uppermost in Kathiresan’s mind and his another major concern is the exploitation of the more vulnerable section among the disabled, the women. Also, he is keen on breaking the myth that disabled individuals should marry from within their community only.

Kathiresan prides in the fact that he married his childhood sweetheart from school amid 

opposition from her family. She is a normal girl and a qualified fashion designer from NIFT, Chennai. Two years ago, the duo married after convincingly working together for years for the welfare of the disabled people. And only last week, they were blessed with a healthy son and obviously Kathiresan can’t hide his joy. “I have been promoted as a father,” he smiles and adds he felt equal happiness when he was admitted as an Advocate on the Roll of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu five years ago.

“Today, my parents are very happy and proud. They feel they are getting all sweet blessings after going though lot of bitter pain and suffering,” says Kathiresan, who is now preparing for the Judges exam.

Incidentally, Kathiresan’s accomplishments have not only been in the field of academics. He has also returned with medals from the British Open Athletics Championship, 2005 in wheelchair race and discus throw. And he adds, he loves to watch films and enjoys music but time is a casualty.

But for those like Kathiresan, people may perhaps choose to remain ignorant and insensitive. And the young physically challenged advocate, who fights civil and criminal cases, is determined not to let that happen.