Able and willing
Balaji
Balaji was born in a poor agricultural family with one younger brother and sister. His father was an agricultural labourer getting very little income that was not sufficient for the family. Balaji was an active boy but when he was two years old, he had an attack of polio and lost all sense below the
hip.
He became immobile and his parents were upset that their eldest son became handicapped. They had high expectations from him. They wanted to
educate him and hoped that he would improve the financial condition of the family. They took him to many doctors and gave good medical treatment.
As they were very poor, they borrowed money for interest too. There was no improvement and Balaji lay motionless in a corner of the house. When he turned five, his parents tried to put him in school. But no nearby
schools were willing to admit him as they felt that a handicapped boy would be a bother.
Balaji was upset and cried bitterly. Four more years passed. One day, Balaji's father went to the house of a headmaster in the locality and pleaded with him tearfully to admit his son in the school.
He tried to appeal to him by asking what he would do if he had a disabled child of his own. The headmaster was moved and with great sympathy agreed to admit Balaji. That was a red letter day in Balaji's life. He forgot his disability and started going to school with all interest. He was not bothered about his
food or dress.
Even if he could not afford a book, he sought the help of his classmates, borrowed from them when they went to the games class in the playground. Even after reaching home, he often revised his portions enthusiastically. It was a pleasant shock to Balaji and his parents that he secured first place in the class in all examinations.
During holidays, he went to a nearby workshop where bottle lids were being manufactured and worked as daily labour. Thus, he saved some money during the holidays and when the school reopened, he utilised the money to pay his fees and buy books. He came out in flying colours in the class-10 and plus-two board exams.
He joined the B.Com course and completed two years successfully. But, unfortunately, he could not get enough money to pay for his final examination though he had saved some money out of his daily labour. There was no money at home as the debt accumulated for his treatment was yet to be paid off fully. There were only two days left for the last day to pay his fees. He did not know how to manage the situation.
Then he heard about blood donation and that the donor would be paid for donating blood. He jumped at the idea as it came as a boon to him at a critical time. He went to the nearby hospital and explained his position and offered to give blood. With the money he received from the hospital, Balaji paid his fees and completed his B.Com successfully.
He wanted to pursue postgraduation and joined the M.Com course. As he had no money to buy books he used to go to his friends' house and study with them using their books. Sometimes he borrowed books and read after they went to sleep. His joy knew no bounds when he came out in flying colours in M.Com.
He could not get any big job in spite of his qualifications. So, he thought of acquiring knowledge and training in computer. He joined some companies and earned a little money. He did not hesitate to spend it on learning computer. He became a well-qualified person and got a good job as computer engineer in a computer firm with an initial salary of Rs 12,000 a month.
He worked hard with all sincerity in the company and pleased the management. Within a year, his salary was doubled. His hard work and talent attracted one of the women colleagues from a very well-to-do family and she expressed her wish to marry him. Though it was a pleasant shock to Balaji, he did not agree. But she was persistent and compelled him to accept her. When he gave the green signal, opposition came from her parents.
They did not want her to marry him as he was disabled, though well-settled in life. Balaji controlled his feelings as he was aware of his disability. But that woman did not want to change her mind and stood very firm in her decision. Her parents influenced the company authorities and got him dismissed for no fault of his. It was a crude blow to the talented Balaji, but he did not lose hope and confidence. The girl's parents hounded him wherever he went.
Balaji was unable to get employment though he was well-qualified. He hunted in
Chennai, Bangalore and
Hyderabad. He became very upset and decided to go to north India. He got a good job for Rs 30,000 per month in an international computer firm in
Delhi.
While travelling in trains, he used to take his wheelchair. The Railway authorities charged 25 per cent charge for it. He has already become a member of the association for the physically handicapped persons. He took the matter to then Minister
Nitish Kumar and appealed to him to do away with the charge.
His request was well-received and the 25 per cent charge was withdrawn by
Railways. It was a great success for Balaji who won a good concession for the disabled. When this news was flashed in the media with his photo, he became a great hero and the disabled came to him in large numbers to seek his help to solve their problems.
Balaji presented the needs of the handicapped to the government. As the disabled found it difficult to climb staircases in railway stations, a request was made to the Railways to build a special way for the handicapped. For the benefit of the handicapped and blind, a special path has been constructed at the railway station in
Madurai.
Balaji expressed his gratitude to the government and appealed for the extension of this facility to other stations too. Though it remains unfruitful, Balaji does not give up hope and sends reminders to the authorities.
When the poor handicapped people appeal to him for wheelchair, Balaji takes all efforts to approach various organisations and get them the vehicles.
In Balaji's life it is a paradox that his able-bodied younger brother and sister did not do well in studies and remained a burden to his parents. The well-settled Balaji came forward to render financial assistance to them. He sent nearly Rs 2 lakh for the wedding of his sister and for his brother to establish a factory. Apart from spending on his food and housing, most of his earnings go for the betterment of the handicapped brethren of
Balaji.
Thirty-year-old Balaji finds happiness in serving the disabled. The nature of his job takes him to many parts of India. He does not mind performing it with his disabled body.
He has to move with his hip which is very tiring while going from one place to another, or drive his wheelchair which he has devised using special gears and clutches to make his movement a little more comfortable.
Whenever he goes to Mumbai,
Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Madurai and other places, he takes his wheelchair with him.
As Balaji works for an international organisation, he gets good opportunities to meet great entrepreneurs from Germany, France and USA. He wants to start an export industrial centre with foreign collaboration so as to provide employment at least to a 1,000 unemployed Tamils at the initial stage. If it works out successfully, similar centres could be established in other places so that the unemployment problem of the youths could be reduced.
He takes all efforts to realise his dream and went to England and USA to learn to work and earn more. He has also planned to meet big industrialists in foreign countries to achieve his goal. There is no doubt that he would launch his project successfully and many unemployed educated youth would derive the utmost benefit from his efforts.
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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(Extracted
from the book 'Hope is Life')
