Abha Khetarpal:A purposeful life

Abha Khetarpal was born as a healthy baby. She got afflicted with Polio at the age of three. The disease left her paraplegic with many other problems. Her parents though shocked and inconsolable, took the situation of crisis as a challenge and did almost everything to get her treated and rehabilitated. She underwent many corrective surgeries and used othrotic devices to walk and move. Being unable to go to school, her parents continued to teach her at home. Her formal education i.e. her schooling started from 9th standard. She was a brilliant student and always got scholarship. Her fellow mates and teachers were really fond of her. Since her childhood she has had a positive attitude and a happy disposition, always ready to fight against the odds. After her schooling was over she did her graduation from Delhi University through distance education mode as it was not possible to go regular college due to inaccessibility of the educational institutions in our country. She is now a triple masters i.e. M.A Economics, M.A English and M.Sc Psychotherapy and Counselling. All her higher education was pursued through distance learning. Hurdles again came when a decision was to be taken regarding career choices. India being very much “disabled unfriendly country” it was not possible for Abha to go out and work or choose a career according to her capabilities and education. So she decided to open up a tutorial centre where she started taking classes for school as well as university level students. Now she was financially independent and thus one of the major tasks of rehabilitation got complete. When we asked how she could do all that, she said, “My parents have been my biggest strength. Their love, encouragement and support have made me what I am today. I feel totally independent…emotionally as well as financially. Ability or disability is just a matter of perception and nothing else”. We asked her the other activities in which she is involved into. We were much impressed to know that recently Abha has launched a website of hers. She is providing online counselling to people with special needs and that too free of charges. She told us, “The main aim behind the launching of www.crossthehurdles.com is to help people who are suffering from physical challenges like me. I want to see them mentally healthy and positive about life. If we want something we can undoubtedly achieve it just by being mentally strong and having loads and loads of will power”. The website apart from providing counselling services provides information about various disability issues like facilities provided by our governmental and non governmental agencies, management articles, mental health articles, real life success stories, disability sports etc. She says, “This is just a beginning and there is still a long way to go. The major focus at present is to bring about awareness in our country regarding the counselling needs of the physically challenged. There is still a lot stigma attached to such kind of things in our country. I want people to reach out to me themselves”. Abha also writes for Jagran Publications on disability issues as a free lancer. She is attached to New Observer Post too. She says, “I met Arif ji, the Editor and Publisher of this newspaper, last year. He liked my work and my writings and I am now a member of his team as a News Editor. I really feel honoured to be attached with it.” When we asked her what message she would like to give it to others, she said, “I just want to propagate the thought that though things are difficult for us, still slowly and steadily we can move on. Nothing can hold us back. Though we may not be able climb Mt. Everest or swim across the Suez Canal, yet we have the capability to cross all the hurdles…both physical as well as mental. Getting depressed or sad will bring nothing. Even our friends and family members would stop listening to our cries and our agonies. We just need to be strong and determined. What I would like to tell the non disabled is, “just be sensitive, empathic and compassionate”. It is really nice to see that persons like Abha are there to set examples before those who have lost hope and desire to live. She has proved that being disabled does not mean we are unable.

(Courtesy: The New Observer Post)