Dance with Umesh

< World Disability Day Celebration

When: 4 December 2010

Where: Dili Haat Pitampura New Delhi

The event didn’t draw as much crowd as we wanted. Primarily because (I think) the venue is off course of many commuters and is not yet as popular as the other Dili Haat. Secondarily, the majority of Indian society is still apathetic to issue of disability. If the information I got was reliable there was a paid ad that came out in a major daily to invite the public to join the disabled people in commemorating World Disability Day. But only those who are already aware of the issue and/or families with at least one disabled member came.

The National Trust (NT) and ARUNIM staff, together with unnamed volunteers, put up banners and drawings and pictures about disability that transformed Dili Haat into an effervescent and festive place. They were meant to raise awareness and knowledge of the wider public about disability in India, unfortunately aside from the already ‘convinced’, there was le­ss than 20 shops open with occasional or accidental shoppers and young lovers in no-longer-odd-these-days public display of affection.

Later that day was a program at the outdoor amphitheater, the celebration would be graced by the State Minister Shri Napoleon, expected to arrive at 5 pm. Let me just click the fast forward button to when the minister arrived. He was impressed with the displays of information and campaign materials but was dismayed to see a small crowd, less than 30 by the time he arrived (most of the PWDs have left by 5 pm). It was disappointing, but looking at it in a positive way I think the Minister will work harder to help the disability movement to get more attention, priority and support from government and public. With two disabled sons, he assured the crowd that the disabled people could always count on his support. In solidarity with the occasion, he rendered a Tamil song.

And now back to the scene before he came. While the small crowd waited, Indian and American music were played on very loud speakers. People with intellectual developmental disabilities went on stage and danced, or moved to the beat of “All is Well” and “We will Rock you”. It was charming to see autistic children, teenagers with mental retardation, adults with multiple disability along with their parents or caregivers shaking their bodies, stamping their feet, swaying their hands, bobbing their heads; often off beat but they were dancing just the same.

The thrill was contagious, not long after, everyone was going up the stage including the chairs of NT and ARUNIM. Mike moved his body in spite of the beat and was having fun. I, with confessed two left feet and lacking rhythm, was compelled to go up on the stage, summoned the intrepid spirit of the VSO volunteer in me and did try to shake my body. Just 2 minutes up on the stage and my nerve weakened, subdued by debilitating inhibitions that only ‘normal’ people could have

Among the audience were young male adults with crutches or on wheelchairs huddled with one another as they marveled at those on the stage. I could understand that dancing wasn’t for them. I presumed they were proud enough to see one of their wheelchair-bound pals on the stage emceeing the program, and perhaps occasionally mentioned their names.

Towards the evening the crowd thinned even more, the one-day party animals have left, the Minister had sung and bade goodbye. The loud music came back on, only there was no one left to dance. Or so I thought. These young male adults with the aid of their crutches clambered up the stage and displayed their Bollywood dancing prowess. One guy, asked me to dance with him; he, Umesh, who could not even get up and needed my help so he could raise his wheelchair on the platform. I shook my head almost fiercely and hollered, my voice competing with the loud music, “No, no, no. I can’t dance. I have two left feet,” with my thumbs pointing down at my legs.

He laughed at me and pointed to his legs. I may have two left feet but both are functional, while he’s got two disobedient and lazy legs. He offered his hands for me to grab and said, “Just dance, just dance, come, come”. With cheering from his friends and from Mike, I took his hand and he escorted me to the center stage. He caused all his able body parts to move with the music. He raised his arms sideward, palms down and pushed his shoulder left, right, left, right. He wriggled his neck front, back, front, back. I copied all his body movements and soon I thought I was really dancing. He was singing and smiling at me, and every time I felt like giving up he would exaggerate his moves to encourage me to go on. And I did go on.

When the music died, he thanked me. But it was I who needed to thank him for I did something that I had always thought I couldn’t do even with my full mental faculty and physical capacity. Yet, here was this man, here were the men and women, whose physical or cerebral conditions limited their ability to perform things ‘normal’ people could do , who did not allow their disabilities to impede them from and have the courage to do things only ‘normal’ people can do and enjoy, even if they had to do it differently.

NT promotes inclusion of disabled people in all aspects of society, with focus not on their disabilities but on “discoverabilities”. At the end of the day, the disabled people also helped me discover my abilities.