Chidambaranathan
 A rehabilitation centre for the physically
handicapped is situated in Kotturpuram in Chennai. This centre offers training in computer, printing, tailoring and in other occupations in which self-employment could be possible.
The trained people are also employed in various organisations with the recommendations of the centre which is popular not only among the handicapped of Chennai but in other parts of Tamil Nadu also. Young handicapped men and women flock to this centre from Trichirapalli,
Tanjavur, Madurai,
Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Ramnathapuram and other places for vocational training placement, asking for
cycles and walking sticks designed for them.
Who is attending to the calls of these desperate
handicapped from all over Tamil Nadu in this centre? Is it a governmental body? No. It is founded by a handicapped person callled Chidambaranathan who suffers all the problems of the needy people who come to the centre. He sits in his wheelchair and makes swift moves to help them in all possible ways.
The interest he shows for the cause of the handicapped is just amazing. He was born to Ganapathi and Malaikkarasi at Ramanathapuram, in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. They belong to an ordinary agricultural family. Some 50 years ago, it was a very backward region with inadequate medical facilities.
Till he was two years old, Chidambaranathan was a very active and playful child. But he had a severe attack of
polio which then caused havoc among children. Today, polio has been totally eradicated from Tamil Nadu.
But 50 years ago, poor people did not know how to prevent it and save their children from the evil clutches of polio.
Chidambaranathan also became a victim. The two-year-old boy could not stand, walk or run. What a sad plight! But the poor parents wanted to do something to cure their child.
So they took Chidambaranathan to many
doctors not only in Ramanathapuram but also other places. But there was no remedy. The young boy watched his brothers going to
school, playing games, running to the shops, etc., with sorrow.
The poor parents also could not think further to improve his condition. When he became seven, he requested his parents to put him in a school. As they could not afford a servant or vehicle, Chidambaranathan's parents admitted him to a local school and carried him to it in turns.
The responsible boy studied well but seriously felt sad for his parents who carried him everyday. So he asked for two sticks and started learning to walk with them. Neither was he aware of the tricycle of the handicapped, nor be could afford it.
At last he succeeded in his attempt and started going to school which was 10 km from his home. He found it extremely painful and tiresome to cross the distance with two sticks. He had to carry the burden of his books and notebooks too. Every day he spent two hours each in the morning and evening to go to school and return home.
He had only a few dresses. He had to tackle sweat in the summer and
rain in the Monsoon seasons. His tireless efforts brought him good results. He secured good marks in his subjects and got prizes too. He wrote small poems and won prizes in poetry competitions too.
Apart from these, he evinced interest in sports and games and collected many prizes in the competitions held for physically handicapped students. It was unbelievable to note that he joined the
swimming competition held for normal students and came out in flying colours.
He became a popular student in his school and his parents were very happy and proud of their son. They encouraged him in every way. In the class-X examination he passed with high marks and in the plus-two public examination secured first place.
As he wanted to pursue higher education, he joined the pre-university class and apart from doing well in his studies, he participated in games and sports, cultural activities, students club, anti-Hindi agitation, etc., and established his identity though he was handicapped.
He was able to realise the differences in status and treatment in society. He
also studied the reason for it and was keen on putting an end to all such discriminations. He wanted to do his best to safeguard the interests of the downtrodden and alleviate the plight of the Scheduled Caste people at the hands of the so-called upper caste people.
His elder brother was also keen on social service and remained unmarried till the end. It was an inspiration to young Chidambaranathan to think of and do the needful for the downtrodden.
After finishing his pre-university class he wanted to continue his higher education. But the institution was far away from home and he found it difficult to go a long distance with the two sticks. So he diverted his attention to represent the cause of the poorer sections of society. He took up the cause of the agricultural labourers and fought against wage discrimination.
 He showed his concern for the
Dalit labourers who were exploited by their masters. He fought to safeguard the interests of
fisherman. Student problems were also taken up by
Chidambaranathan.
Scavengers, without whom the cleanliness of the area remained questionable, faced problems and Chidambaranathan came forward to speak for them. He founded separate organisations for all these working classes and labourers in the
agricultural fields.
He used to wonder whether it was because of his handicap he gained more strength to fight against these atrocities. It was shocking to hear from him that the police were so angry with him for his participation in various agitations that they pulled and threw his crutches away, disabling him further.
But Chidambaranathan never lost heart. He gained more vigour and strength to fight. He has been imprisoned six times for his activities.
The worst experience of his life was the one he faced in 1981 when he assisted the Dalit labour class. They earned their livelihood by carrying loads. There were disputes between the labour class and the owners. The powerful owners decided to burn the Dalit workers alive.
So they set fire to the huts of the poor Dalit labourers. Knowing the minds of these powerful owners, Chidambaranathan took precautionary methods to vacate the homes of the Dalits, asking them to sleep that night at the telephone office where his wife Dhanam was working. But for his cautious effort, the Dalits would have been burnt alive by the upper class people. The story did not end here. He had to face the anger of the opponents who wanted to take revenge on Chidambaranathan for ruining their plan.
After 13 years of life at Ramanathapuram, Chidambaranathan decided to shift to Madurai with his family. His wife Dhanam was an understanding person. She is giving her whole-hearted support to her handicapped but strong-willed husband.
They continued their social service with full vigour. They created an awareness on the problems of the handicapped as well as the downtrodden. He stresses the importance of literacy programmes and wants everyone to be educated.
For that purpose, he founded a general library in Madurai and named it as Bharathi Karkil
Library. It consists of more than 4,000 volumes on literature, science, history, politics, general knowledge, etc., so that many could benefit from his collection.
He made a survey of the visitors to his library and categorised them at various levels as children, youth, students, girls, women, etc., and started separate organisations for each group. He conducted literary competitions, sports event, etc., and became very popular in Madurai region.
He saw the pathetic condition of the physically handicapped in Madurai. They had lost hope in life and did not want to face people and reality in any form. He wanted to do something to improve their condition.
So he founded organisations for the physically handicapped people in Madurai. He arranged to send the polio-affected boys and girls to school. He gave training to many handicapped in self-employment and got them suitable jobs.
In this way he proved to be a Good Samaritan. Chidambaranathan has made the Physically Handicapped Association collect the various handicrafts made by its members and through stalls set up in exhibitions, fairs, etc., sold them to the public so as to enable the handicapped earn their livelihood.
He took up the cause of the disabled and fougbt for their right to employment in public services. He agitated for concessions in public transport for them. He was keen on forming branches of his organisation in all the districts in Tamil Nadu. He succeeded in amalgamating the organisations in the 13 districts.
Chidambaranathan wanted to create an awareness about the handicapped not only in Madurai but all over Tamil Nadu. His tireless efforts proved to be successful when he organised in 1996 a conference of the handicapped in Madurai.
More than 5,000 disabled participated in the conference from all over Tamil Nadu. A great rally was conducted, attracting the attention of many people. Various problems of the disabled were discussed at the conference.
Even the illiterate and poor handicapped felt it an honour to participate in the rally and conference as they had never been cared-for. This was a tremendous achievement of Chidambaranathan and his endeavour to uplift the disabled was highly commended.
His venue of action was changed from Madurai to Chennai in 1997 as his wife Dhanam got her transfer to the capital city. He found Chennai very ideal to continue his welfare measures. He came in contact with many non-governmental organisations working for the disabled.
While in Madurai, he amalgamated the southern district organisations for the physically handicapped. Now he concentrated on the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. His tireless efforts resulted in bringing all the organisations for the disabled under one umbrella.
As a token of recognition for his unique services for the handicapped, all the organisations approved Chidambaranathan to be the president of the welfare body. In 1998 he coordinated the associations of the blind, deaf and dumb in Tamil Nadu and organised a mass rally of the disabled at YMCA grounds in Chennai.
It was a historical event in the life of the disabled in Tamil Nadu. As in Madurai, he organised a great conference too to discuss the problems and prospects of the handicapped. It is an unforgettable event in the life of Chidambaranathan also.
Not only the government but also private organisations turned their attention towards the handicapped. He realised the importance of the media which would reach the public faster. He started a monthly journal called 'Nandhini', to voice the opinions of the disabled.
It created and awareness among the public on issues related to the disabled. He wanted it to reach more people. Hence, he collaborated with the editor of 'Nandini Voice for the Deprived', and started computer training classes in six districts for the disabled.
He also organised training courses for them so that they could earn their livelihood without any problem. The credit goes to Chidambaranathan for changing the different handicapped into confident personalities with self-respect. Those who came to him do not depend on anyone else for their living.
They have been trained to stand on their own legs by the able
Chidambaranathan. He always dreams for the empowerment of the handicapped. In realising this dream he forgets himself as a disabled person. He travels to Trichy, Tanjavur, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram and other parts of Tamil
Nadu.
He goes to the remote villages and meets the disabled in large numbers and discusses their problems and gives them solutions. He devised self-employment schemes for them and gave training for smaller groups so that they could benefit to a large extent. He infused self-confidence, hope and self-respect in them by conducting frequent awareness compaigns for the disabled in many yillages.
To divert their attention he conducted sports and literary competitions for them. These actions brought the handicapped nearer to Chidambaranathan with great respect and admiration. As his services have been well understood by the needy people, they come in large numbers to his office seeking his help and advice.
 He keeps them in his office and offers not only suggestions and advice, training and occupation but food also. He meets at least 10 such people every day. He recollects his younger days in school and college and how he trained himself for agitations to save the interests of the Dalits in the earlier stages and the disabled later and how the agitations have become a part and parcel of him till the present day.
He faced innumerable ordeals in the course of his life but he took them as challenges and faced them boldly. Though he had initial sufferings, ultimately he proved to be a great success. He has made it his motto to see that all handicapped should take up to education and occupation and stand on their own legs, though they are useless physically, without depending on anyone else. They should make their life useful and fruitful.
God has blessed him with four daughters who have established themselves well in life. The first daughter in a computer engineer in USA, the second one is a dentist, the third girl is a postgraduate and the last one is an engineer.
Who said having a daughter is a burden? The life of Chidambaranathan is full of challenges and achievements. He is an inspiration to the physically disabled who have lost confidence in life. Everyone has to learn from him how to live and let others live too.
Shanmugam can be contacted
@:
No: 54 Kamaraj Road,
Ramakrishna Nagar,
Alwar Thirunagar,
Chennai- 600 087.
Phone: 248 60 221
E-mail: shanmugam@azagi.com
(Extracted
from the book 'Hope is Life')
|
A
guide to the handicapped
