Sasikala
 Sasikala had severe fever which resulted in an attack of
polio when she was two-and-a-half years old. She has two brothers and one sister and her father Gnanaiya was a retail fruit-seller earning very little money which was not sufficient to feed six mouths. In that situation he did not know how to face the medical expenses of the polio-affected daughter Sasikala. The affected child lost all her senses in her two hands. Fortunately, the legs were all right and she slowly tried to walk. Though she needed the balance of her hands, she managed to move around with initial difficulties.
When her sister and brothers were attending school regularly, Sasikala also wanted to go with them as she did not like her confinement at home. She told her father to put her in a school. The poor father was wondering how it would be possible when her hands were unable to hold and turn her books and notebooks and use the pencil to write on a slate or notebook. Sasikala was confused but she started trying another method to educate herself. She held the pencil with her leg and with great difficulty tried to write on paper.
It was not easy for that disabled girl to write with her legs but she was steadfast in her attempt. When the pencil slipped from her toes, she made it coarse by bitting it on all sides so that it would lose its smoothness and give her grip.
When her brothers and sister were away in school, Sasikala vigorously continued her leg practice. By evening she would have exhausted many papers in her attempt. Her poor father could not even afford a chair for his daughter so that she could sit at a convenient height and use her leg for writing. Sasikala did not lose heart. She took a few bricks and laid them near the wall inside and made a seat for herself. Sitting on it, she practised her writing.
Understanding her interest in education, her father admitted her to a school. It was a surprise to all the teachers and students to see the way in which Sasikala was writing with her leg. She was a show-piece to them in the beginning. She showed that she could finish copying from the black board even before her classmates.
More than that, she studied very well and stood first in the tests and examinations. In her tenth standard public examination she scored centum in all subjects except history and geography. She could not complete her map question on time as it took more time for her to draw the map with her legs. All the newspapers flashed the achievement of Sasikala and M G Ramachandran, the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu appreciated her efforts and passed an order to increase her examination timing by half-an-hour more.
 She continued her studies and in the
twelth standard public examination too she secured very good marks. She expressed to her father her desire to go to college. Gnanaiya agreed and decided to improve his earning by selling more fruits in many other places too. It was a great day for him when Sasikala passed her B.Com from Agasthiswaram Vivekananda College. Her father celebrated the occasion by giving sweets and feast to his friends and relatives.
She got admission into the M.Com course in Scott Christian College at Nagercoil and completed it successfully. In 1996 she got her B.Ed. degree from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University at Tirunelveli. Her thirst for education persists. She joined the M.Phil course in Madurai Kamaraj University and completed it so that she could take up teaching in a college. But her hard work and dreams ended in failure. No college came forward to help her. She is duly qualified but her physical disability blocked her career.
Even the government had no pity for her, and in spite of her high qualifications, she remains unemployed. In 1999 she met the then chief minister M Karunanidhi and expressed her pathetic situation. She wrote with her leg what Karunanidhi spoke and gave a petition to him seeking justice. But she did not get any favourable reply at all later.
She realised that she had wasted her time and learnt tailoring and practised it well. It only helps her to earn her livelihood. She does cutting, stitching, etc., with her legs. She goes to customers, gets orders, buys necessary
accessories, and delivers the stitched clothes. She teaches tailoring too. As the income is not sufficient, she learnt to make cottage industries products like soap, candle and incense-making and made more money.
She is not only a professional degree holder and small scale industrialist but also good at all household work. She knows to cook, clean, sweep and wash. She bathes herself with two legs and washes her clothes too. But the poor woman has to depend on others for two things. She needs someone to feed her what she has cooked. Similarly, she stitches clothes but she cannot dress up herself.
One unexpected thing happened in her life. Tangaratnam, a poor labourer, read about Sasikala in a paper and was impressed by her. He has studied up to eighth standard only. He met her and expressed his admiration for her, which led to their marriage.
Perhaps this man has brought luck to Sasikala. She has got a job in the government which helps her run the family with the meagre income of her husband.
It is necessary for both the public and private sectors to take care of the handicapped, that too well-qualified ones. ln spite of her great efforts, Sasikala was helpless. Proper recognition by the government would be of great encouragement to people like Sasikala. A stitch in time would save many. Sasikala's life is a fine example for the success of a desperate handicapped person. People like her are to be appreciated and encouraged.
Shanmugam can be contacted @:
No: 54 Kamaraj Road,
Ramakrishna Nagar,
Alwar Thirunagar,
Chennai- 600 087.
Phone: 248 60 221
E-mail: shanmugam@azagi.com
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