Disabled vs Specially-Able

Because many of them have achieved what we couldn’t, even when we have all the means, period.

Hello everyone!

World is so full of different kinds of people. Long legs, short hair, warm complexion, skinny frame, large eyes, small mouth, nose that does not look straight (I do not know the exact word. Please, enlighten me!) etc. You name it and there they are.

Among us, many are, what I always refrain from saying, umm (God! It is so difficult) handicap? Differently-abled? Disabled? Physically/mentally impaired? But, to me, they are more of specially-abled people who are much, much capable than anyone of the normal ones.

When I posted Social Evil: The Four People, as a result of the discussion with The Inked Autist, I decided to do a post on my perspective on this.

Let’s begin with reflecting up on our own lives. Rewind your life and look what all have you achieved till now. Did you follow your passion and now you are an expert in the same? When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone? Did you overcome any of your fear in past years? Do you remember anytime when you moved away from the coach and explored the world rather than sitting in front of the idiot box?

Most of us (mind you ‘most’ not ‘all’ of us) will have a negative answer. And I know, I understand we are human beings and we tend to be a lazy, procrastinator, hidden in comfort zone brats (and this comes from the Goddess of Indolence). Let me ask you question now, what makes you special when you, having all the body parts and the brain functional, cannot conquer your fears and achieve your passions?

No. I am not demoralizing you. I just want you to reflect up on this and introspect about the question I just asked, in the end of the post. Let’s not disrupt the flow, shall we?

Now, let me give you some real life examples.

• There’s a painter, an amazing one, whose paintings never fails to mesmerize anyone. He paints by holding the brush with his legs, because he isn’t blessed with hands.
• There’s a swimmer, who despite the fact has no legs, never fails even a day to show up to the pool.
• An autistic child remembers the map of world, solves the maths problem that gives you nightmare, is a living 1024 TB memory device. (Yeah, I don’t know what comes after Tetra Byte).
• A physically challenged lady topped the UPCS exams, the most difficult exam to crack in India.
• A visually impaired guy’s voice is as beautiful to hear as the one of cuckoo.
• For this one, I guess the name is enough – Stephen Hawking.
• Albert Einstein, we all know what his school teacher said about him, don’t we?
• Tom Cruise was a dyslexic child. And how many times  have you seen the Mission Impossible series?

There are millions others, about whom you and I aren’t even aware about. And they have, despite all the challenges, achieved what otherwise seems impossible for others. They have faced so many hurdles in life; their own challenges, the ignorance and negligence by beloved ones, de-motivation and ‘you cannot’ from the world, emotional sufferings and what not? Some of them are so heinous that even mere mention of it can give shiver down your spine.

But you know what? I truly feel that God made them in a certain way because the Almighty has unbelievable faith in them that they are the ones who can truly get past the physical and mental challenges and set an example for the universe. God has given them a chance that not many of us are blessed with, to prove themselves despite the barrier. To break the stereotypes that only the fully equipped can do everything. They are the special ones because God has sent them with a special purpose. They are specially-abled because they have the ability to do even the normal day-to-day stuff in an extraordinary way.

And no this post is not to demoralize rest of us. This post is a message to rest of the ones that the specially-abled people are already facing so many challenges in their life. If you cannot help them, at least don’t take their right away to do what they want to do. DON’T take their right away to live a normal life. Don’t take their right away of happiness. Don’t take their right of being with us.

Look at them the way you want others to look at you. Because you know what, an accepting look and a warm smile is that is needed to bring back a person from darkness.

It is my humble request to all of you, introspect about it and next time when you see a specially-abled person, do let that person know how special he is.)

P.S. – My eyes are sagging because of the amount of time I spend on blogging. I look like a zombie. “I. Want. Your. Brain. I. Want. Your. Brain.” says in cranky, scary, idiotic voice. Hey! Wait! Do zombies say the whole sentence, no, right? Let me give it another go.

With locked fingers and awkward walk, “Brain… Brain…..”

‘kay. Bye.