www.crossthehurdles.org Page 1 Contents Editorial ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Multiple Sclerosis and Physical Therapy ................................................................................................. 4 Personality Of The Quarter ..................................................................................................................... 9 How to achieve your goal ..................................................................................................................... 13 Tip of the Month ................................................................................................................................... 17 New avenues of Science ....................................................................................................................... 20 We Know How to Celebrate Autism ..................................................................................................... 22 Overcoming Obstacles And Seeing Them For What they Actually Are................................................. 24 Just stand out! ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Arts and Disability ................................................................................................................................. 30 Poems.................................................................................................................................................... 34 अपने आप से प्रेम कीजिये ............................................................................................................................ 36 एक अनार सौ जिमार................................................................................................................................. 38 ऑटिज्म और भ्ाांज यााँ................................................................................................................................. 40 अवसाद से िचने के जिए उपयोगी आहार ...................................................................................................... 41 प्रयास: आओ एक पटरवार िनायें.................................................................................................................. 42 होरी खेिन चिे मुसददिाि ........................................................................................................................ 43 कुछ फैसल की रचनाएँ.............................................................................................................................. 44 www.crossthehurdles.org Page 2 Editorial The second issue of our quarterly E-magazine showcases some artistic and literary talents which otherwise would have remained invisible due to the misrepresentation or under representation of the people with disabilities. Cross the Hurdles It has been seen that disability issues mostly get relegated Editor-in-chief to background and even if any of those come up to the Abha Khetarpal surface are limited to physical accessibility, education and employment. Relationships, which are an inseparable part of a human life, always are pushed to the background. The adjustments that have to be made in the families and relationships are overlooked many times. Cover Page Design Sanjana Manchanda Acknowledgement Faisal Nawaz Adjustment is the behavioural process by which humans and other animals maintain equilibrium among their various needs or between their needs and the obstacles of their environment. Unless proper adjustments are made, people with disabilities might get prone to inferiority complex, frustrations and might be unable to sail ahead smoothly for the rest of their lives. If one is unable to interact meaningfully with the outside environment one would be maladjusted even in spite of every form of accessibility. Here, through this magazine, we try to give relevant and meaningful opportunity to the people with disabilities to express and represent themselves openly. With this they get a chance to vent out their hidden feelings and interact not only with the outside world but also with own psyche. Abha Khetarpal President Cross the Hurdles (www.crossthehurdles.org) © Cross the Hurdles www.crossthehurdles.org Page 3 Expert Speak Multiple Sclerosis and Physical Therapy Dr Preetika Kalra BPT, MPT (NEURO), MDCPT, MIAP "The longer I live, the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it." Charles Swindall Multiple sclerosis (MS) does occur in India but it is rare. No epidemiological studies have been done. The calculations based on the hospital data suggest an approximate prevalence rate of 0.17 to 1.33 per 100,000 of population in different parts of India. Neuro-epidemiological studies have been done in the southern parts of the country and have failed to capture MS cases in the community. Hospital-based studies in India have shown that over the last decade, the total proportion of MS-related neurology department admissions increased from 1.58% to 2.54%. This data is supported by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation World MS Atlas, which projects a prevalence of 3/100,000, which is nearly, triple the estimate of previous reports. Geographically North West India (above 15° N latitude) saw 4.15 new cases of MS per year as compared to 3.2 cases per year from south India (below 15° N latitude). World map showing that risk (incidence) for MS increases with greater distance from the equator. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 4 Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). It affects women more than men. The disorder is most commonly diagnosed between ages 20 and 40, but can be seen at any age. MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. When this nerve covering is damaged, nerve signals slow down or stop. The nerve damage is caused by inflammation. Inflammation occurs when a body's own immune cells attack the nervous system. This can occur along any area of the brain, optic nerve, and spinal cord. It is unknown what exactly causes this to happen. The most common thought is that a virus or gene defect, or both, is to blame. Environmental factors may play a role. Symptoms vary, because the location and severity of each attack can be different. Episodes can last for days, weeks, or months. These episodes alternate with periods of reduced or no symptoms (remissions).Fever, hot baths, sun exposure, and stress can trigger or worsen attacks. It is common for the disease to return (relapse). However, the disease may continue to get worse without periods of remission. Because nerves in any part of the brain or spinal cord may be damaged, patients with multiple sclerosis can have symptoms in many parts of the body. Muscular symptoms include Loss of balance, Muscle spasms, Numbness or abnormal sensation in any area, Problem in walking, Problems with coordination and making small movements, Tremor in one or more arms or legs, Weakness in one or more arms or legs. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 5 Bowel and bladder symptoms include Constipation and stool leakage, Difficulty beginning to urinate, frequent need to urinate, Strong urge to urinate, Urine leakage (incontinence). Eye symptoms include Double vision, Eye discomfort, Uncontrollable rapid eye movements, Vision loss (usually affects one eye at a time). Other brain and nerve symptoms include Decreased attention span, poor judgment, and memory loss, Difficulty reasoning and solving problems, Depression or feelings of sadness, Dizziness and balance problems, Hearing loss, Facial pain, Painful muscle spasms, Tingling, crawling, or burning feeling in the arms and legs. Sexual symptoms include Problems with erections and Problems with vaginal lubrication Speech and swallowing symptoms include Slurred or difficult-to-understand speech, Trouble chewing and swallowing. Fatigue is a common and bothersome symptom as MS progresses. It is often worse in the late afternoon. Tests to diagnose multiple sclerosis include Lumbar puncture (spinal tap) for cerebrospinal fluid tests, including CSF oligoclonal banding, MRI scan of the brain and MRI scan of the spine are important to help diagnose and follow MS, Nerve function study (evoked potential test). There is no known cure for multiple sclerosis at this time. However, there are therapies that may slow the disease. The goal of treatment is to control symptoms and help you maintain a normal quality of life. Medications to control symptoms may include Medicines to reduce muscle spasms such as Lioresal (Baclofen), tizanidine (Zanaflex), or a benzodiazepine; Cholinergic medications to reduce urinary problems; Antidepressants for mood or behavior symptoms; Amantadine for fatigue , Steroids may be used to decrease the severity of attacks. The following may also be helpful for people with MS i.e. Physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and support groups; Assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, bed lifts, shower chairs, walkers, and wall bars; A planned exercise program early in the course of the disorder; A healthy lifestyle, with good nutrition and enough rest and relaxation; Avoiding fatigue, stress, temperature extremes, and illness; Changes in what you eat or drink if there are swallowing problems; Making changes around the home to prevent falls; Social workers or other counselling services to help you cope with the disorder and get assistance. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 6 Living with MS presents many daily challenges. Many aspects of a person's life — relationships, education, work, parenting, social activities — can be affected. However, with appropriate symptom management and the ability to adapt, these challenges can be overcome. Physical therapy can help live better and learn to work around your MS symptoms which includes balance problems, clumsiness and poor coordination, fatigue, fitness, pain and weakness. Sometimes one to three sessions can be enough. The first visit includes an evaluation and exercises for you to do at home which comprise of Stretches to prevent or ease spastic muscles, Moves to keep muscles strong, Range-of-motion exercises, Gait training for easier walking and How to use canes, crutches, scooters, wheelchairs, or other aids. Physiotherapy plays a vital role in containing the effects of MS. In the MS Therapy Centres, qualified physiotherapists who specialise in the treatment of MS provide individual and group www.crossthehurdles.org Page 7 remedial treatments. Despite the variety of symptoms of MS, the same set of exercises can be of benefit to different people with different symptoms. Some of the symptoms of MS, such as muscle weakness or spasm, are secondary symptoms of the initial damage to the nerve. If the body is persuaded to move normally the adverse effects of abnormal movement on muscles can be delayed even if the reflex responses have diminished. “If I regarded my life from the point of view of the pessimist, I should be undone. I should seek in vain for the light that does not visit my eyes and the music that does not ring in my ears. I should beg night and day and never be satisfied. I should sit apart in awful solitude, a prey to fear and despair. But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation.” – Helen Keller www.crossthehurdles.org Page 8 Personality Of The Quarter Major D.P.Singh, from Kargil to Blade Running! A fighter to the core, who had guts to fight away death when he was declared dead by the hospital during the Kargil war. He has never learnt to surrender even when he had 40 splinters embedded in his body, with partial deafness and right leg amputated below his knee. It took him 14 years of hard work and strong will before he became the first blade runner of our country. He ran the half marathon, a road running event of 21.0975 km, in 2 hrs and 40 mins. With a loving smile and humble nature he has the capability to conquer all!! A salute from Cross the Hurdles to this brave soldier. Q. Tell us who Major D.P.Singh is? An ordinary next door guy, who, had not stayed with his grandparents during childhood, couldn’t have imbibed the teachings of Sikhism and who, had not worn olive green couldn’t have reached where he is today. Q. What does life mean to you? Life, for me is journey which should culminate by reaching as near to Supreme power as possible. Each day is the day of progress towards that goal. Each day is an opportunity to improve self as a person. In life, if I look back a year ago I should get the feeling that on the stairs of life I have climbed few more steps. If I do not find it happening that means perhaps I have wasted that year. Q. Why did you choose blade running? It not chosen by me, I have being guided towards that side. I wanted to live a life which is as normal as it was before the amputation. Running of course is a part of everybody's life. When I did not compromise on my life style, perhaps I was granted the blessings of continuing the same using Blade. It’s just a means of living a life to the fullest. Quite often in life such challenges are thrown upon every person, in order to help him to reach his ultimate goal of nearing the Supreme power, those who understand this accept the same gracefully and learn a lot rest just crib over it and stay short sighted. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 9 Q. Who has been your all time support and motivational support? It’s the teachings of being A Sikh and A Fauji and I am proud of being both. Sikh itself means "To learn", what can be better than being a student all through the life. Student of not any human being, who himself is mortal and unknown to many things, but student of life itself. Sikh history belongs to martyrdom and sacrifice and Indian Army is just an extension of the same. No combination can be greater than the one I had in my life. Over that I am blessed to being put under stringent test conditions. I am still full of many vices and habits, perhaps there are still tests to qualify and learn till I sleep forever. Q. What was the objective behind establishing The Challenging Ones? Physically Challenged is the name given to people like us. It is an appropriate term as its only those who are being challenged, in other means put to test learn something. No one has created history just by sitting idle. I just rechristened the name for those who are being tested and fighting it out gladly. The Challengers, those who have taken the challenges gracefully and learning out if them. Of course, a group of Challengers is named as The Challenging Ones (TCO). It’s not that the challengers individually, are not capable of fighting out the odds. However, a team is always better than being alone. The aim of TCO is as under: 1. To give a platform to its members to discuss, share, learn and find answers to its daily challenges. It helps to save time by not reinventing the same answers again and again. 2. TCO members work as peer support group. Any new case of amputation if comes into knowledge, we try to reach to family and person. It just helps to spread positivity and support to affected ones. 3. As true challengers, encouragement towards sports and adventure activity is the last and most important aim of TCO. It was after my 4th half marathon and first one on Blade that I got confident of the fact that results I am producing are not fluke but credible. This gave me a thought to not only continue www.crossthehurdles.org Page 10 doing it myself but also include as many more Indians as possible to change the overall scenario of amputees in India from being a Physically Challenged to A Challenger. And thus, this group came into existence. Q. You have been a soldier. So what is your opinion about fighting this battle of life after amputation? Soldier never quits. Any type of ailment needs to be fought back. Be it as small as fever or as big as paralysis. It is only the gravity and duration changes else it is just an ailment. There are few who have never fallen sick in their life and if any day they catch fever, it becomes hell for them. On the other hand, some one who is quadriplegic is also enjoying. What needs to be understood is that these are the tests put up by life for you to become better person. To help you in your progress towards the ultimate goal of reaching near the Supreme power. The day this is understood, no one will have to fight with any type of situation. Be it amputation, paralysis or fever. It’s not easy and that is why it is known as test. Only amazing part is that in such tests there is no preparation time, one can not practice the situation before hand. Same was my case; I first got into the situation and then started practicing about how do. I fought it out. It’s just that I was lucky enough to not to feel sad or bad about this loss. As I was alive, there was no other option but to live. So, when living was the only option left I had to practice the way out to reach back normalcy. Q. Depression, trauma, frustration, anger are the natural outcomes after such a major setback in life. How did you cope up with that emotionally? I think the most important factor which helped is my bindas attitude. God was kind enough to give me strength to take things in stride. I remember the day when I was lying in ICU and I had asked for my tape recorder. My family used to wait for my coming out of danger but I was never thinking about my condition, rather I used to listen to radio and tapes. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 11 Q. Has your physical condition affected your relationships in life? Well, this is very tough question to answer. But I guess like any other thing, it was also in my hand. I only gave opportunity to people to consider me as normal as I was earlier. In the bargain I landed up many a time in situations where I tired myself more than usual. In some situations, however, I felt people gave me opportunity to excel by doubting on my capabilities. In fact as and when I was rejected by anyone, it gave me kick to excel and perform even better. In a way “Every rejection became a catalyst for me" Q. What is the major most hurdle, you think, you still have to face? It is the Prosthesis support. This is something which is yet to be developed a lot in India. Most of the time I feel it is not that I do not have capability, but this dependency on external support sometimes restricts my output. Q. Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? As I said, what is life if every year I do not see myself improving over me. I never thought for as long as 5 years, but I guess I would be performing better and on much wider platforms. I mean, international platform. On the other hand, it would be my endeavour to change the mindset of Amputees, so that 5 years down the line, the Challengers, would be living as normal a life as anyone with better attitude, better relationships and of course performing on national and international arenas to bring fame and name to India. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 12 How to achieve your goal Friends, in this article, I propose to take you on a journey about achieving our goals in the quickest time possible. These are my thoughts which have come from my own experiences. I’ll share my experiences, and some other examples of the legends in different fields, as and when required as per the context. Why to have a goal- without a goal, life will be like travelling without destination. So we’ll be directed by life instead of us directing it. Not having goal means, living the life just for the sake of it. It’s said, “Never let life direct you in any way, instead direct your life in the best way possible”. And for this having a goal is a must. Why don’t we have a goal-We don’t have a goal because of fear of failure and doubt in our abilities. We fear that if we fail, what the others would say. Believe in your potential- each of us has great potential but we don’t recognize it. God never creates any waste. All of us are have the same ability. It may happen, we might be lacking skills in a particular field but we can make it up skills in other fields. So, on the whole, we are all equal in potential and ability. How to decide our goals- analyse your interests. Each of us is good in one or more areas. We’ve to find out what interests you. Do your own SWOT analyses- every person has strengths and weaknesses. We’ve to find them out as regards our interests. That is to say, we have to find out, what we have and we don’t have in order to excel in our interest. For example, if one wants to be a singer, he/she has to consider, whether that person possesses good voice, if not, can it be made good by practice etc. if the answer is yes, then only that interest can be pursued. Likewise, we’ve to find out, whether we possess the required skills for succeeding in our interest, if not, then we’ve to analyse another thing. The process goes on, till we find the right interest with the right set of skills for us. Write down your goals- it’s a must to write down your goal on paper and hang the same on the wall, so that we can see it frequently. Writing down our goal and seeing it frequently, www.crossthehurdles.org Page 13 reminds us of our target and stops us from deviating from it. Goal should not be too high or too low. We’ve to decide, in the currant position that we are in, will we be able to achieve the goal. Be creative- creativity is one of the greatest gifts given to us by God. We’ve to use it to find out ways and means to reach our goals faster. It’s found out that children up to the age of 5 are the most creative. Afterwards, we restrict ourselves in certain rules and our creativity decreases and eventually, we forget it. This doesn’t mean that we should not have certain rules, but within those rules, we should exercise our creative powers. Today, there’s cutthroat competition in the world. One who can be most innovative, creative, or inventive will survive. Take full responsibility of your life- many times; we have the habit of blaming others and justifying the same. We should get rid of this and remember that there r no excuses for not getting the thing done in time. Also, taking this responsibility ensures, that we are the only once to be creditable for our success and fuller. Have positive attitude- you should believe very firmly in your ability and values, then only goal can be achieved. It’s said, when we desperately want a particular thing, all the forces in the nature come to help us. So never be afraid of anything. When we face certain bad situations, our attitude towards the goal is tested and one who comes through it with positive attitude will reach the goal. Others remain where they are. Never be fearful of problems- life is not a bed of roses or a smooth and easy walk in the park. Life consists of various problems and solutions. Only thing is that we’ve to find out the solutions. Many times, we leave our goal, just because there’s a small problem. But we fail to understand that higher is our goal, higher will be our problems. Also we do not realize that each problem comes with a solution. Don’t give up on account of failure- we always fear failure. Its said that life spent doing mistakes is more honourable than the one spent doing nothing. Einstein said that one, who doesn’t make mistake, doesn’t try anything. Remember that, the most successful people have seen the highest number of failure and have made the most number of mistakes. But they don’t panic and learn from the mistakes and failures. A scientist was trying to do some research. His experiments failed 1000 times. Someone asked him about the fact, and he answered, “I’ve not failed. I’ve learned that this thing can’t be done in 1000 ways.” This www.crossthehurdles.org Page 14 should be our attitude towards failure. It’s said, “The correction of mistakes and learning from failures is the first step towards success.” Many people leave their goal on account of failure, but they don’t realize that they had left, when they were very close to achieving the goal. Always set a deadline- once we fix a deadline, we automatically start working towards the goal for which it’s set. If we feel, that work can’t be done in that time, then set another deadline, and so on. Become an expert in your field- we always should have the thirst for knowledge, and keep on acquiring newer and newer skills and put it in use. Today is an era of learning, delearning, and relearning. Knowledge doubles every 10 years. So, it’s imperative for us to keep on acquiring it and remain up to date in our field. Be flexible to changes- change is the only permanent thing in life. We’ve to go with each change which takes place in our chosen field. We’ve to analyse our ways and means to achieve the goals with various changes and that’s where our creativity helps us. “Those who will change after the change will survive. Those who will change with the change will succeed. And those who will cause the change will lead.” Divide the main goal in to small parts- it’s said, Rome was not built in a day. Great things don’t happen quickly. We’ve to divide the same in small parts and then try to achieve the same. When I was pursuing CA course, my main goal was to become a CA. I divided it in to smaller parts. The first part was to pass the PE1 or the first exam with good marks. For studying the syllabus, I divided this into further small parts like deciding how much time to study each subject. And so on. This helps tremendously in achieving the goal by relieving a lot of pressure. Get on with the right kind of people- we’ve to always find out people who will help us towards our goal. They should help, and guide us through our all thick and thins, hard and soft. The power of subconscious mind- our subconscious mind works for us 24*7. When we r unable to find a solution to a problem, just put the problem in subconscious mind and after sometime you’ll get some solution. For example, if you are working on a problem fiercely, but can’t find solution, leave the problem there, and get engaged with something else. Meanwhile, suddenly your subconscious mind would find solution to your problem. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 15 Time Management- Never say that you have no time. Remember, you are getting the same time given to Helen Keller, Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar and Einstein. Only thing is that we have to manage that time efficiently. We’ve to find how to utilize time in its most productive way. We’ve to find out our priorities and fix our schedule in that manner. Remember the same time can be used for various purposes; we’ve to find out what purpose is the most beneficial for us and use time for the same. Apply 80 20 rule- 80 % of our efforts only gives 20 %result and 20 % effort gives 80 % result. So concentrate on that 20 % effort which gives 80 % result. Delegate other 80 % effort to your subordinates. Remember, success is a journey not a destination. We’ve to keep on looking at higher and higher goals to reach the pinnacles in our life. There’s no shortcut to success. Success only comes with strong willpower, hard efforts and proper guidance. Many times, we are worried about our ability, and so ask “can I?” In fact we should have the courage and attitude to say “I can.” As you may have noticed, we’ve only reversed from “can I?” to “I can”. This attitude makes a huge difference in our way of living life. Try that our signature becomes an autograph. Contributed by CA Bhushan Toshniwal. He delivers speeches in many CA conferences and colleges on motivational topics. He is also a singer and motivational speaker, finance and accounts officer in Videocon Pune. His visual impairment has never comes in his way of achieving success. Email:bhushant18@gmail.com) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 16 Tip of the Month Pain and home remedies Disability is any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being. --World Health Organization Disability and pain are quite interrelated. They can share cause and effect relationship. A disability can lead to chronic pain and having a chronic pain condition in turn can affect the ability to perform activities of daily living. These include self-care, family, work, social and leisure activities. If a person is unable to fully participate in the normal life roles he/she may be considered disabled. Not everyone with chronic pain is disabled. Everyone is unique. One may suffer more or less from your condition than others, depending on: biological makeup intellectual capacity socio-economic status family make-up and cultural heritage physical susceptibility emotional susceptibility predisposition to other diagnoses Chronic pain and disability Severe pain is experienced in conditions like Muscular Dystrophy, Post Polio Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Cerebellar Ataxia etc. When pain becomes chronic, your life begins to change in important ways. Some changes may be sudden. For example, after a car accident, one sudden change could be that one may stop exercising. Other changes may be slow and gradual. One may not even notice them happening. For example, others may notice that one is not as happy as you used to be. Some changes are small and annoying, while others are major and upsetting. All this can have impact on work, relationships, mood, sexual intimacy, sleep, hobbies, self-esteem, and future goals. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 17 Impact of chronic pain Chronic pain can impact our life in many ways: Limit activities Change roles of life Weak, tight muscles Physical deconditioning: becoming "out of shape" Withdrawal from social activities Anxiety Depression Anger Decreased memory and concentration Home Remedies Taking bath with warm water is a best remedy to avoid joint pains. Oil massage on the affected part helps in relieving from joint pains Consuming tea made out of papaya seeds is very effective in preventing joint pains. Garlic roasted with butter is very effective remedy to avoid joint pains Chapatti made of flour which is composed of roasted gram flour with clarified butter when consumed gives great relief from joint pains. Banana fruit has certain properties that help in restoring lost nutrient in the joints thus is recommended in joint pain cases. Consuming warm milk with one table spoon of turmeric helps in relieving from all forms of body aches. Aloe Vera juice can reduce cramps To strengthen the ligaments consumption of carrot juice is highly recommended. Consuming apple cider vinegar has also proven it worth in relieving from joint pains. Massaging warm vinegar on the affected place at bed time is very effective in joint pains Cherries, cherry juice or cherry concentrate really help their joint pain Grape juice is also found effective in joint pain Consuming plenty of fluids also helps in flushing out of toxins from the body thus is effective way to avoid joint pains To get immediate relief from pain perform hot and cold fomentation of the joint. Massaging olive and camphor oil is also recommended www.crossthehurdles.org Page 18 Exercise as per your bodily strength and physical condition Some other remedies Epsom salts Jump in a hot bath with Epsom salts to ease the pain of your strain (but wait at least 24 hours before you try this). Epsom salts contain loads of magnesium that is absorbed through the skin. Magnesium helps promote the healing of torn muscles. Add 2 cups Epsom salts to a tub of hot water. It also relieves any swelling. Banana Eat a banana or two a day and you may cut down your cramping. That's because a potassium deficiency may be to blame for muscle cramps. Though there's no official recommendation for how much potassium you should have per day, the American Dietetic Association suggests adults get about 2,000 mg a day. One banana has 450 mg of the muscle-protecting nutrient. Milk Getting adequate amounts of calcium in your diet may help curtail your cramps. Women, especially, seem to need plenty of calcium for muscle health. Three glasses of milk a day will meet the calcium needs of most adults. Water Yes, it's the elixir of life as well as your best bet for avoiding a painful muscle cramp while you exercise. When you exercise, you sweat. That sweat depletes your body of needed fluids that can cause your muscles to mutiny. Drink plenty of water before, during, and after you do your activity of choice. If you're running, aim to drink about a cup per hour. Don't overdo it, however, because drinking too much water can cause a dangerous imbalance in the body's mineral stores. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 19 New avenues of Science Science is a knowledge relating to a particular subject acquired through classification, induction and deduction method, analysis, synthesis, experimentation, cause and effect and finally the result. It is through this knowledge that man has overcome many hurdles. One of the most important hurdles of human being is considered to be the blindness. Therefore lots of efforts are on to win over it. The Vedas tell a story of a blind man Dirghatamas, whose sight got back by the doctors of the time, “Ashvani Kumaras”. In the present time big news is scattered that three totally blind mice got their sight back through the unflinching efforts of UK doctors. I thought that this is a pretty interesting story in the field of the research for ophthalmology hence taking a privilege to present it. Similar results were achieved in the field of night blind mice earlier, which lost their sight due to degenerative eye disease. In the same context a report published by Jenny Hock on May 2012 may be taken to consideration which tells about an earlier experiment under which Microchip restores the sight of Retinitis-Pigmentosa. This is the disease that affects condition in one of 3,0004,000 people. However this was a small achievement in this field because the patients with this chip could hardly recognize objects in full. However scientist still struggles and as reported by James Gallgher through British Broadcasting Corporation www.crossthehurdles.org Page 20 On January 6, 2013, there was a report about the new structured retina created in three totally blind mice through injecting “precursor” cells and within a fortnight not only retina was reconstructed but sight back to all the three mice resulting a new dimension in the field of eye research; thus creating a new expectation for millions of blind people in the World. This research was conducted by UK scientists. This research took place by Prof. Robert Mac Laren, who claims that through this method light-sensitive layer can be reconstructed. How unfortunate is for India where millions and millions of INR are spent in the field of Ophthalmology not a single step is taken of such kind by Indian doctors. It is a shame for Indian Government which boasts the competence of its doctors. (Dr. Udai Narain Sinha, Associate Professor, Ancient Indian History and Archaeology Department, Lucknow University, Lucknow. He is M.A. in Ancient Indian History and Culture, Ph-d in Ancient Indian History and Archaeology. He is Doctor of Philosophy and a degree holder of "Sangeet Nipun" from Bhatkhande University Lucknow in vocal music, performed as a drama artist in All India Radio Lucknow with effect from 1974 to 1994. He was honoured "Bharat Jyoti" award from India International friendship society on August of 2012. His visual impairment has never been a hurdle in his spirit to move ahead in life). www.crossthehurdles.org Page 21 Parents Speak We Know How to Celebrate Autism The first reaction that I normally get after sharing or explaining that my son has Autism, is the sympathy from the other person. When they ask me, how difficult it is not having a “normal “child and not having much chances of celebrating having a good achiever leaves me often amused, sometimes dumb founded and even bewildered at times. All I do is smile at the other person and explain how I celebrate having a child with autism. I celebrate being more patient My son has developed me into a much more patient person than I was before he was born. I have learnt how not to give up…and I have taken full control on my impulsive self I have become a more positive person for sure. Better realization of beauty in even small things around us Life is busy, fast and hectic but with my son’s developmental delays I learnt how to look around for beauty and goodness in even smallest of things around us .I can’t rush as I have to move at the pace of my son so I take time to enjoy it too instead of just whizzing past it. Being less ambitious I have been a teacher for ten years especially of the board classes and I have seen how difficult parents can be on their children with their overwhelming ambitions and expectations. but I have learnt how to control it instead of imposing it on my son and making life even harder for him, I prefer celebrating his smallest of achievements and all that I dream is making my son self dependent and a good human being .I think it’s a equally good target . Taking nothing for granted I don’t take anything for granted especially regarding my expectations from my life. For me even the tiniest of gestures from my son are a cause of celebration for me, may it be a hug, a kiss, my son wiping my tears…each one of it. I don’t wait for big declaration of love from my son. I revel in his little tokens of love. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 22 Milestones For parents like us…milestones is not just a list of developmental achievements, they are a sense of achievement, however minor or simple they may be. After my son being non verbal till 3.5 years of age I celebrate each and every word that he speaks now. First words, first steps, first alphabet that he learnt I celebrate every day as it unfolds. I celebrate being a special person being chosen to nurture a special child. I celebrate being alive, sane and kicking. (Nalini Srivastava, is the mother of a six year old boy, Kabir, with Asperger's Syndrome. Kabir is doing well in his studies in a mainstream school) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 23 Overcoming Obstacles And Seeing Them For What they Actually Are I believe that the only true obstacle any of us really face is the belief in ourselves and the belief of a higher power of assistance. If you think for a moment and really grasp that, you will see that when all looks bleak and doubtful, it is an illusion that we are seeing in our true reality. One may ask, “How can it be an illusion if there is food that needs to be put on the table and there are bills that need to be paid?” The illusion is there. Abundance is, we must know, our birthright. When you stop focusing on the problem and turn your attention with wholehearted open mindedness to the solution, it will start showing up in your life. However, the catch here is; you must be willing to welcome and embrace the changes that come into your life with the desired solution. Doubt in our own selves and doubt in a loving and gracious higher power is what creates the dark shroud that covers our reality. We were created to be creating individuals. We are here to act and not to react. We have the perfect ability to weave our world around us as per our exact need and specification… without depending upon anything external, ever. Belief in yourself and your god-given gifts or abilities is the first step to opening your eyes to a new reality and inner awareness that creates miracles. In order to use a gift, one must own a gift. Be willing to own and use the blessings that have been given to you. While watching the Olympics one day, I observed the men who were doing the hurdles and it became apparent in a metaphoric way that hurdles could be handled with great ease. They ran their event with such positive belief and without doubt that they leaped over the hurdles with great ease and flow of motion. It was beautiful to watch the agility and grace that having such faith and knowing can create. They did not proceed to the hurdle and then stop and say, “What if I can’t do it?” They knew that it was possible and hence, performed the act in hand i.e. crossed the hurdles with great dexterity. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 24 It seems a great dishonour and injustice to allow some of life’s greatest moments to go unlived simply due to lack of belief. Believe in yourself and your dreams. Believe that you possess the power to create their reality. Even if your conscious mind does not have all the answers, know and believe that your subconscious mind does. Believe in the power of the subconscious mind and whenever there is doubt, tap into the creative magic that is available to you through the subconscious. Ask your questions, especially before going to sleep at night, and stay assured that the answers would come. Infinite wisdom has created you. The Source has given you a direct and powerful lifeline that is in direct communication with itself. Believe in this direct communication and make use of it with knowing and belief. You do have a direct communication to Infinite Wisdom. Ponder the amazement and wonder of that reality. The way you choose to manage your challenges is important. It is our belief that everything happens for a reason. If a person expands their awareness and starts viewing a challenge or a hurdle as an opportunity to see beyond limiting beliefs then that hurdle has now served him well. There is a new insight or piece of beneficial knowledge that the person now possesses that he did not possess before. Every situation is put into our life to benefit us in some way. It is our responsibility to seek, harness and appreciate each blessing no matter what form they are delivered in. Our thoughts, expectations, and beliefs can help determine the form that the blessing takes place. If we send out vibrations of peace, love, and joy, then our lessons come to us in those forms. That is not to say that nothing will ever happen to us that we perceive to be negative, but again we must remember that how we perceive something and the reality, which we create, are all relative. Being conscious of our thoughts and vibrations gives us power to manifest situations and people in our lives of our choice. The power is within all of us, we just need to realize and utilize that for our own good. Jitendra Kumar Biswal (He is an Astro-spiritual Analyst & a Counselor) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 25 Just stand out! We all, at some time, have seen running races. In the beginning all the players run equally well. But after reaching half the distance they start competing to throw the others behind. This same technique is used in car or horse races. Finally the one who wins is barely some centimetres away from 2nd and 3rd Place Winners. A difference of few seconds classifies people and gives them Ranks. So as we put it, the winner performed a little better than the rest. This does not mean that he or she has to be the most intelligent of all or powerful person or own a magic wand. By being a little different in your performance and output, you can easily create your own unique identity. What does being different exactly mean? It means to do the same thing as others do, yet in a different way. ‘’Good Food and Tasty Food has the difference of a Pinch of Salt’’. Moral: A Unique Step can also make you stand out from the crowd. Akash Kumbhar who changed the meaning of mobility, a 29 year old who has created new horizons of hope for those who think their life has no value. Akash lost power in his both the legs when he met with an accident on 20th August, 2006. Next day he was operated for the same and continued his hospital stay for 12 days where he received medical and physiotherapy management. After discharge he continued basic physiotherapy treatment at home only in the form of bed mobility and approximately 15 to 20 minutess of wheelchair sitting. He was given a pair of Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (KAFO) which he used only for few days and due to postural hypotension in upright position he stopped standing attempt. Afterwards family members took care of him. So, he was bed ridden for 5 years and tolerated only 30 to 60 minutes of wheelchair sitting. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 26 Such a long period of recumbence (lying down), brought a sense of irritation and depression in him. Secondary to bed recumbence, he developed complications like grade 3 bed sores which remained for 4 years. He visited many doctors in the 5 years but to no avail. He couldn’t see a ray of hope anywhere. It’s said that life throws obstacles at times when we try to attempt a sky ride. So was it the same for our 29 year old Akash? Like a silver lining behind a dark cloud, he saw the suggestion given by a friend and came to Sancheti Hospital. He consulted Dr. Rajas Deshpande, a Neuro-physician who referred him to Dr. Gajanan Bhalerao (PT), a neuro-physiotherapist for his physiotherapeutic treatment. He came to the physiotherapy department, where he was evaluated and treatment plan was designed for him. His treatment objective was to train for bed mobility, transfer activities, sit to stand with walker and walking with KAFO and walker with community wheelchair ambulation. He made him stand with the help of a pair of KAFOs in parallel bars or with walker. Akash took 3-4 steps initially. First he was made to walk in closed environment under therapist supervision and then gradually progressed in open environment in community under supervision of a care taker. He was advised to walk at home and in the community for daily lifestyle needs. He progressed by increasing the distance every day. Knowing the kind of positive urge that Akash holds towards making the best of his handicap, he practiced more at home to show people who lacked belief in him. PT rehabilitation continued for 6 months. In the month of April 2012 he read a story about Claire Lomas in the newspaper. This inspired him even further and he decided to achieve a memorable milestone in his life just as she did. Claire Lomas (Born 28 April 1980) was given the special honour of lighting the Paralympics’ Cauldron in Trafalgar Square, England, on 24th August 2012. The British Prime Minister David Cameron, Mayor Boris Johnson and Lord Sebastian Coe were all present for this occasion. Claire was delighted to light the cauldron in the robotic suit, and relieved that she was able to manage it, as lifting the torch was quite challenging due to his injury. www.crossthehurdles.org Page 27 A British woman paralysed from the chest down by a horse riding accident has become the first person to take home a robotic exoskeleton that enables her to walk, though bionic exoskeletons have been used in hospitals and rehabilitation centres for some time now. Claire Lomas, in 2012, used the suit to complete the London Marathon in 17 days, raising about £200,000 for research into spinal damage, and she was given the job of lighting the Paralympic cauldron in Trafalgar Square. But she said that more routine activities were equally gratifying. "One of the best experiences was standing at a bar," she said. "To be standing up in this way, means everything to me." Lomas said that after her accident, she rejected pleas from doctors to give up on the idea of using her legs, saying that as a young, active woman before her 2007 accident, "I didn't want to have a big stomach and spindly legs". After the accident she got married, had a child, and next year plans a London-to-Paris bicycle ride using a so-called Functional Electrical Stimulation bike that artificially stimulates the paralysed rider's own muscles to propel it along. Coming back to Akash Kumbhar—he again visited Sancheti Hospital’s physiotherapy department, this time not only for rehabilitation purpose, but also with a desire to participate in the marathon. For this, he underwent intense practice sessions for 6 months. He first attempted his walk on the road for half an hour on 2nd December 2012. This gave him the confidence to walk the marathon that he did. The whole program of walking was planned with help of Sancheti Hospital, Shivaji Nagar Pune. He was provided with 2-3 therapists and one ambulance for next 12 days. He used to come to hospital daily around 6.30am from where the team used to go the place where they stopped last day and again continue the walk from that point for next 3-4 km. He was advised to stop and record the vital parameters after every 1 km. If they were within normal limits the next walk would be continued. And if there were abnormal parameters noted, he was advised to stop that day’s walk and return to hospital. He was accompanied by two PhysioTherapists(PT) Chintan Kataria (PT) and Gaurav Kutaskar (PT) throughout his walk. This was successfully completed under the guidance of Dr. Gajanan Bhalerao (PT) and Dr. Abhijeet Toshniwal (PT). www.crossthehurdles.org Page 28 As per the decided regulation, Akash had to walk 3-4 km each day, following the same route as that of the 27th Pune International Marathon. Depending on his strength and motivation, average distance covered was approximately 3kms to 4kms/day. He was given appropriate rest periods and there was a careful monitoring with which he successfully completed a 42.5 km marathon in 12 days. The journey of his marathon was not as easy as it sounds. It included obstacles in the form of uneven roads, slopes, traffic and people! Even with all these difficulties he kept his cool and maintained his balance and speed and continued his walk. Finally the most awaited day arrived-The 14th of December, 2012. He reached Nehru stadium around 12 pm. As he was near to the finishing line, he was greeted with loud applause and roars of appreciation by the students of the Sancheti Healthcare Academy. At the stadium, he was felicitated by Mrs. Manisha Sanghavi, Administrator Sancheti Hospital and Executive Director of Sancheti Healthcare Academy, Dr. Mrs. Meenakshi Pandit, HOD Physiotherapy Department and Dr. Gajanan Bhalerao, HOD Neurophysiotherapy Department, SIOR. He was accompanied by his wife and his brother. Thus he chose to commence his walk to win, on the December 3rd, 2012 which happens to be the World Handicap Day. Claire Lomas & Aakash Kumbhar’s Success Stories tells us "That Success has only One Formula: Stop thinking In terms of LIMITATIONS and start thinking in Terms of POSSIBILITIES" (Mani Laxman Panse takes active part in Sports meet and has won Medals in the Field of Athletics. He is a familiar face at every year's Pune International Marathon's Wheel Chair Race which takes places in Pune on 1st Sunday of December each year. He loves to read a lot. Mani contracted Polio at the tender age of 9 Months old). www.crossthehurdles.org Page 29 Arts and Disability A rt work based on D isability is any art , theatre, fine arts, film, writing, music, poetry that takes disability as its theme or whose context could be considered to relate to disability . It is an area of art where the context of the art takes on disability as its theme. Disability Art is about exploring the conceptual ideas and physical realities of what is to be disabled or concepts relating to the word. Disability arts is different from other forms of art and refers more to the active participation or representation of Person with Special Abilities (PwD’s) in the arts rather than the context of the work being about disability. Such Arts does not require the maker of the art to be disabled nor does art made by a disabled person automatically become disability art just because it was a disabled person that made it. As I am more confined to the Artwork in regard to the special bodies to whom we called person with different disabilities, so as an small attempt, here I am presenting some of my art works on wheelchair users done on some software application like MS Paint as well as by hand work too along with some of my inspiration poetries. I am dedicating this collection to all the persons with special abilities (PwDs) as well as to Non Disable Bodies of our society! www.crossthehurdles.org Page 30 www.crossthehurdles.org Page 31 www.crossthehurdles.org Page 32 Some of My Poetry’s in context to raising awareness in special and Non-Disable bodies ! ( Mohd Faisal Nawaz (Polio and Kyphosis Survivor) Engineer (IIA) and Ex Paramedical Staff (IHBAS) Bangalore, India. Email id : faisalngo@gmail.com ) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 33 Poems www.crossthehurdles.org Page 34 www.crossthehurdles.org Page 35 अपने आप से प्रेम कीजिये हम मनुष्यों को ईश्वर ने अनजगन खूजियााँ और अच्छाइयाां दी हैं। सोचने और समझने की क्षम ा हमें उन्होंने आशीवााद के रूप में दी है। इसजिए िीवन को िस यूाँ ही िीना या व्यर्ा करना उस परमात्मा का जनरादर होग। हर व्यजि के भी र सफि होने की एक िहु ही प्रिि इच्छा हो ी है। वह अपनी एक पहचान पाना चाह ा है। कु छ िोग अपनी इस इच्छा को ददन पर ददन िढा े हैं और कु छ िोग समाि या पटरश्रम के डर से इसे दिा दे े हैं। परन् ु याद रजखये दक सफि ा के कई सारे कारण हो े हैं िैसे दिढ जनश्चय, मेहन करना, सपने देखना और उन्हें पूणा करने की ददशा में काया करना, सच्चाई, इमानदारी,िोजखम उठाने की क्षम ा इत्यादद. पर सफि ा का एक कारक है जिसे हम काफी िार अनदेखा कर दे े हैं और वो है स्वयां से प्रेम करना. अपने आप से प्रेम करना। अपना आदर करना सफि व्यजियों का एक िहु ही प्रिि गुण हो ा है। कभी आप आराम से िैठ कर सोचें दक आप सिसे अजिक दकस से प्रेम कर े हैं। इस प्रश्न के उत्तर को चाहे स्वीकार कर पाना मुजककि है िेदकन सच यह है दक हम सिसे अजिक खुद अपने आप से प्रेम कर े हैं। िी हााँ! इस दुजनया में सिसे अजिक प्रेम आप स्वयां से ही कर े हैं। अगर देखा िाये ो हर काम हम अपनी ख़ुशी के जिए ही ो कर े है। फका जसफा ख़ुशी पाने के रीके में हो ा है कु छ को दूसरों को ख़ुशी दे कर सुख जमि ा है और कु छ को दूसरों के कष्ट से। समाि सुिारक भी िो समाि सेवा कर े हैं, वो भी ये काम अपनी ख़ुशी के जिए ही कर े है। इन्हें दूसरों को प्रसन्न देख कर ख़ुशी जमि ी हैं। कु छ िोग स्वयां से प्रेम करने को अनुजच समझ े हैं क्यों दक िोगों के मन में अक्सर ये िारणा रह ी है दक िो व्यजि स्वयां से प्रेम कर ा है वो स्वार्ी हो ा है और दूसरों से प्रेम कर ही नहीं सक ा. परन् ु ये म भूजिए दक अपने आप से प्रेम करना कभी ग़ि हो ही नहीं सक ा क्यों दक िो व्यजि अपने आप से प्रेम नहीं कर ा वो दकसी और से सच्चा प्रेम कर ही नहीं सक ा. िो अपने आप से सां ुष्ट नहीं वो दकसी और को सां ुष्ट कै से रख सक ा है? अपने आप से प्रेम करने का अर्ा है दक आप स्वयां को जनखारें , अपने अन्दर की अच्छाइयों को िाश करें , अपने जिए सम्मान प्राप्त करें , अपने आप को प्रेटर करें और अपने सार् हुई हर अच्छी िुरी घिना की जिम्मेदारी खुद पे िेने की जहम्म रखें। ये हमेशा याद रजखये दक आप दूसरों को प्रेम और सम्मान भी िााँि पाएांगे िि आप के पास वो अजिक मात्र में हो। स्वयां से प्रेम करना उ ना ही स्वाभाजवक है जिां ना दक साांस िेना. दूसरों से भी उ ना ही प्रेम करना चाजहए जि ना हम खुद अपने आप से कर े हैं। दुभााग्यपूणा हम कभी-कभी हम अपने आप से प्रेम करना भूि िा े हैं। अपने आप को अगर आप उदास िनाये हुए हैं और अपने िीवन से जनराश हैं ो इसका अर्ा है दक आप स्वयां से प्रेम नहीं कर े। दकसी भी भाव को िि क आप अपने ऊपर अिमा कर नहीं देखेंग,े उसके सुख का स्वाद िि क खुद नहीं चखेंगे ि क दूसरों के सामने उसे िेह र िना कर कै से पेश करें ग.े स्वयां से प्रेम करने का अर्ा ‘मैं ’ से नहीं है िजकक इसका अर्ा है अपनी अच्छाइयों को पहचान कर उसे िहार जनकाि सही अर्ा में अपने आप को प्रगज के पर् पर चिने की कोजशश कर रहे हैं। मनोजचदकत्सा में भी अपने िीवन से जनराश और अवसादग्रस् व्यजियों के उपचार के जिए, उन्हें अपने िीवन का उद्देकय ढू ाँढने के जिए अर्ाहीन ा को दूर करने के जिए कहा िा ा है। आत्महत्या की मनःजस्र्ज के वि भी उत्पन्न हो ी है िि मनुष्य का स्वयां से कोई िगाव नहीं रह www.crossthehurdles.org Page 36 िा ा। वह दकसी विह से अपने आप से घृणा करने िग ा है और अपने आप को दांड दे ा है। ो सोजचये! दक अपने आप से प्रेम करना दक ना ज़रूरी है क्यों दक जिस ददन आप स्वयां से प्रेम करना छोड़ देंगे उस ददन आपके िीवन का अजस् त्व भी नहीं रहेगा। अपने िीवन की शुरुआ भी आप से ही है और अां भी आप से। इसजिए खुद से प्रेम दकजियॆ और अपना सम्मान करना सीजखए। आभा खे रपाि www.crossthehurdles.org Page 37 एक अनार सौ जिमार हाि के कु छ वर्षों में मांहगाई-रूपी-राक्षस का सुरसा से भी कई गुने िड़ा मुांह फै ि चुका है। दाि, सब्िी, फि, दूि िैसी आवकयक वस् ुएां गरीिों की र्ािी से जनकाि कर सि उसके पेि में समा रहा है।अि ो हद यहाां क पहुांच गई है दक िकदी ही उनको अपनी रोिी सेंकने के जिये िकड़ी, कोयिा, िुरादा आदी सािनों की ओर झुकना होगा क्योंदक गैस र्ा जिििी दोनों का ही खचा सहन करने में वे सक्षम नहीं होंगे। इस मांहगाई की मार से मध्यम-वगीय-पटरवारों की कमर िू ि गयी है। ऐसे में गरीिी रे खा के नीचे िीने वािे पटरवारों की ककपना आसानी से की िा सक ी है। एक अनार, सौ िीमार की कहाव अनार क सीजम अर्ा सांकोच त्याग कर फि दूि सब्िी, दाि, अनाि आदी सभी के रूप में अपना अर्ा-जवस् ार कर रही है। महांगाई-रूपी-राक्षसी से छु िकारा ददिाने वािा मुझे कोई हनूमान निर नहीं आ ा। ऐसे में मेरा हृदय भयावह ककपनाएां कर ा और जसहर ा रह ा है। मैं सोच ी हाँ यदी िोग मििूर होकर पारां पटरक ईंिन की ओर झुक े है ो प्रदूर्षण से गांभीर जिमाटरयों का जशकार भी होंगे, िो पौर्षटिक खाना नहीं खा सक े वे अपना इिाि कै से कराएांगे। कहीं ऐसा ो नहीं होगा दक इस ईंिन के भी दाम िड़ िायेंगे और वे कच्चे खाद्य-पदार्ा को ही खाने के जिये जववश हो िाएां। कभी एक ददन ऐसा ो नहीं आिाएगा िि खादय-पदार्ा उसकी पहुांच से िाहर हो िाएां और देश िड़ ी िनसांख्या के दिाव से मुि हो िाए। हो सक ा है एक अिा की सांख्या घिकर एक करोड़ में हो िाए प्रशासजनक कायों में राह प्राप्त हो ो इन जवर्षयों पर गमभीर ा से जवचार दकया िाए। हमारे देश की ो परां परा भी यही है दक पहिे घिना घि ी है दफर उस पर जवचार दकया िा ा है। इकीसवीं सदी जवकास की सदी है इस में जवकास िहु होगा. दौड़ ी मैट्रो होगी, िांिी सड़कें होंगी, फ्िाई-ओवर होगें। ददकिी अि ददिवािों की नहीं, दौि वािों की होगी। ददि न हो ो कोई ग़म नहीं दकन् ु अगर दोि न हुई ो यहाां से िाना होगा। हमारे देश को आिाद हुए 65 वर्षा हो चुके हैं इस दौरान हमारे देश ने वहु जवकास दकया है— 1. सरकारी एवां जनिी या ाया में क्रान् ी-कारी पटरव ान हुआ है 2. हटर -क्रान् ी, दुग्ि-क्राजन् यों ने ो आवकयक ा से अजिक उ पादन दकया िोग स्वस्र् व सेह मन्द रहे वा ावणा स्वच्छ रहे, इसके जिये साँचार माध्यमों द्वारा नागटरकों को िागरुक िनाया गया. अि समस्याएां खत्म हो गई है ऐसा नहीं है, समस्याएां ो िहु है दकन् ु इन सभी समस्याओं से िड़ी समस्या यह है दक िोग अि इन्हें दूर करने के जिये आवाज़ उठाने िगे हैं, यदी सभी समस्याएां दूर कर दी िाएां ो समस्याओं का अभाव हो िाएगा। यह जस्र् ी ठीक नहीं होगी। चुनावी दौर में दफर क्या वादे दकये िाएांगे. िोक- न्त्र को िनाए रखने के जिये समस्या-पीजड़ ों का होना िहु िरूरी है क्योंदक जि नी अजिक समस्याओं से िोग पीजड़ होंगे उ ना ही आसान होगा आांजशक, अस्र्ाई सहाय ा दे कर वोि प्राप्त करना। समस्याओं का अभाव अपना प्राभाव न डाि सके समय रह े हाि के कु छ महीनों में िहु से ठोस कदम उठाएां गये हैं। मोह-मम ा ने अपने अर्ा-िमी गुण को त्याग कर िड़ी कठोर ा से इन नीज यों का पािन दकया है। यह नीज याां िकदी www.crossthehurdles.org Page 38 ही कारगर जसद्ध हुईं है, कोयिे की अांगीठी ििा कर चाय की दुकानें खुि गई हैं। मिदूर आत्म-हत्या की अनुम ी माांगने िगे है| अिीि सी ऊहा-पोह मेरे मन में उर्िपुर्ि मचा रही है, कु छ शब्दों को िाहर आने से िुिान को रोक रही हां दफर भी िाहर जनकि रहे हैं| गाांघी िी ने कहा र्ा, '' ुम िो करना चाह े हो उसे इस कसौिी पर कसकर देखो दक, िो सि से कमिोर आदमी है उसे इस से दक ना फायदा होगा'' गाांिी िी का सपना क्या पाठ्य-पुस् कों क ही सीजम रह िाएगा? मैंने अपनी िा कही ो देश-जह में ही है दकन् ु दफर भी हृदय िड़क रहा है दक कहीं इसमें देश-िोह के जिये िाएां और मैं जववश होकर अपना अपराद्ध स्वीकार कर िूाँ। त्त्व न ढू ांड़ (री ा नामदेव ददकिी जवश्वजवद्यािय के भजगनी जनवेदद ा कॉिेि के जहांदी जवभाग में सहायक प्रविा हैं। नेत्रहीन ा ने इनकी सोच का ना दाएरा कभी छोिा नहीं दकया और ही इनका निटरया कभी सांकुजच हुआ हैं ) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 39 ऑटिज्म और भ्ाांज यााँ ये िच्चे अकपिुजद्ध वािे हों, ऐसा िरूरी नहीं है। ऐसा देखा गया है दक कु छ िच्चों का िौजद्धक स् र सामान्य िच्चों िैसा या उनसे भी अजिक हो ा है। कु छ ऑटिजस्िक िच्चे ो िहु किात्मक गुण वािे भी हो े हैं। चूाँदक ये िच्चे समाि में मान्य रीकों को सीखने में असमर्ा हो े हैं और ज़्यादा र इन िच्चों में भार्षा सांिांिी दोर्ष हो े हैं, इसजिए इनका अजभव्यजि का रीका सामान्य िच्चों से हिकर हो ा है। इन िच्चों को समाि में सहभाजग ा से रहने, खेिने, उठने-िैठने की िहु ज़्यादा आवकयक ा है। अ ः इनसे भागने की ििाय हम सिको जमिकर इन्हें अपनाना चाजहए। हम जि ना इन िच्चों से िा ें करें ग,े उ ना ही ये समाि से िुड़ेंगे। यदद हम अपने सामान्य िच्चों को इनसे दूर न िे िाकर, इनका ज रस्कार न करके सामान्य िच्चों को इन िच्चों की समस्याओं से अवग कराएाँ ो हम सामान्य िच्चों के मन में इन िच्चों के प्रज सम्मान एवां सहयोग की भावना ो िगा ही सक े हैं, सार् ही सामान्य िच्चों को ऑटिजस्िक िच्चों के समस्यात्मक व्यवहार को अपनाने से भी रोक सक े हैं। ये िच्चे आक्रामक नहीं हो े। इनका व्यवहार एवां अपनी िा को प्रकि करने का रीका कु छ अिग हो ा है। उनके अनोखे रीकों को देखकर अक्सर हमें ग़ि -फहमी हो िा ी है। 1 या 2 प्रज श के स में िच्चे के आक्रामक होने की सांभावना हो सक ी है यदद ऑटिज्म के सार्-सार् िच्चे को कई िड़ी समस्या भी हो ो। इसके जिए हमें ऐसे िच्चों के सार् िा ें कर े समय साविान रहने की आवकयक ा है, उनसे भागने की नहीं। यह सोचना दक ये िच्चे कु छ नहीं कर सक े, जििकु ि ग़ि है। चूाँदक इन िच्चों में िौजद्धक क्षम ा अिग-अिग हो ी है, इसजिए ये सभी प्रकार के क्षेत्रों में आगे िढ सक े हैं। इनको जसर्फा सही मागादशान की आवकयक ा हो ी है। ये िच्चे दकसी एक क्षेत्र में िहु अच्छा प्रदशान कर सक े हैं िैसे सांगी , नृत्य या किात्मक कौशि में। ऑटिज्म एक अवस्र्ा है, न दक िीमारी। इसके प्रभावों को दवाइयों से कु छ हद क जनयांत्रण में रखा िा सक ा है, िेदकन ऑटिज्म को खत्म नहीं दकया िा सक ा। यह अवस्र्ा िीवनपयं व्यजि में रह ी है। िच्चे के िड़े हो िाने या शादी कर देने से इसमें अपने आप कोई कमी नहीं आ ी। हााँ, सही समय पर सही मागादशान में इसके प्रभावों पर जनयांत्रण पाया िा सक ा है। www.crossthehurdles.org Page 40 अवसाद से िचने के जिए उपयोगी आहार ध्यान देंगे ो पायेंगे दक हमारी रसोई में ही हमारी सेह का खज़ाना जछपा है। अवसाद से िचने के जिए आप इन सि खाने की चीिों का सेवन कर सक े हैं: 1. मीठी चीज़ों का प्रयोग या चीनी का प्रयोग अवसाद को दूर करने में दकया िा ा है। शरीर के शुगर िेवि को ठीक कर नई ऊिाा दे ा है। िि भी आप अवसाद के िक्षण महसूस करें ि चीनी से िने पदार्ों का सेवन करें । िूस का एक ग्िास, एक िु कड़ा के क या दफर एक दो चम्मच डेसिा को खाकर आप पहिे िैसे रो ािा महसूस कर सक े हैं। 2. कािोहाइड्रेि का सेवन अवसाद के मरीिों के जिए िाभकारी हो ा है। इसजिए ब्रेड में पाए िाने वािे कािोहाइड्रेि पर िैम िगाकर खाने से अच्छा महसूस कर े हैं। ब्रेड की िगह आप मफफां स, ओि जमकक भी िे सक े हैं। 3. अांडे में पाए िाने वािा डीएचए 50 फीसदी अवसाद को ठीक कर सक ा है। सार् ही शरीर को जनरोगी रख ा है। 4. पािक में जविामीन-िी के सार् आयरन की प्रचुर मात्रा पाई िा ी है। इसजिए अवसाद की अवस्र्ा में कम से कम दो कप पािक का सूप पीने से इससे आप उिर सक े हैं। आयरन युि भोिन से शरीर में उिाा की प्रजप्त हो ी है। आयरन की सिसे अजिक कमी िड़दकयों में हो ी है इसजिए अकसर वे अवसाद की जशकार हो िा ी हैं। इससे िचने के जिए आयरनयुि भोिन करना चाजहए, िो आपके आयरन िेवि को ठीक रखने के सार् आपके मूड को भी ठीक कर ा है। www.crossthehurdles.org Page 41 कजव ायेाँ प्रयास: आओ एक पटरवार िनायें डेजनश ने क्या जचत्र िनाया मेरा िेिा गाांिीवादी चाांिा मारो चुम्मी देगा गोिू ने िकिा छीना वो घर से िाकर गेंद भी देगा रां ग सभी, हर चेहरा िोिे आाँखों से सि कह दे ा है क्या है िो मुह से न िोिे हम सिकी आाँखों के पटरयों िैसे प्यारी मैरी कोयि सा मीठा गा ी है हम सुन दक ना सुख पा े हैं ये वो देख नहीं पा ी है ारे रािदुिारे , गवा है हमको गि ी ो कु दर ने की है क्यूाँ र्ोड़ी सी शमा है हमको हम सिका एक िैसा दुःख है सोनी ने दफर िॉप दकया है ीन जििों में अव्वि आई उसने कै सी दौड़ िगाई पावां से पर चि न पायी एक ददा है, हम एकाांकी आओ जमिकर िाांिे ऐसे िस खुजशयााँ रह िाएाँ िाकी (अनिानी कु मार गनेरीवािा, प्रयास ऐसोजसअशन ऑफ पेरेंट्स फॉर स्पेशि जचल्रन के सजचव है। ये एक सांवदेनशीि व्यजि ो हैं ही मगर एक ऐसे जप ा हैं िो अपने िेिे आशू से िेहद प्रेम कर े हैं। िेिे के डाउन जसांड्रोम ने इन्हें कभी कमज़ोर नहीं िनाया है और इनका हमेशा प्रयास रहा है की कै से अपने िेिे को आत्मजनभार िना सक े हैं।) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 42 पग टठठके पर् में उसके , हुआ नहीं जवश्वास देखा िि मााँ के ही आगे, पड़ी पुत्र की िाश उसकी भी ो होरी होगी, पर अजि के सार् रो े देखा उसकी मााँ को, मिे वो अपने हार् पी ठां डाई कहीं पे, मचिें छै ि -छिीिे होरी खेिन चिे मुसददिाि डाि रहे रां ग एक दूिे पर हरे -िाि-नीिे-पीिे िाि घाि पर रह े रह े, कहें मुसद्दी िाि होरी में इस साि सभी देखो मेरा िमाि कहीं पर िच्चे कचरे में ढू ाँढ रहे र्े रोिी होिी खेि नहीं पायें, इनकी दकस्म खोिी गोरी की इस िार रां गों से, होगी मुिाका रां ग देंगे न -मन उसका, चेहरे की क्या िा देख के दुजनया का ये रां ग कहें मुसद्दीिाि आि ो मेरे भेिे में उमड़े कई सवाि अि न ही रां ग न ही करें गे आाँख जमचोिी यहााँ मुसद्दी के ददि की ििने िगी है होिी (मेरा नाम नीरा रािपाि है। मैं २० साि से कनाडा में रह ी हाँ। िचपन से मुझे पोजियो है। िेदकन मैंने कभी भी खुद को कमज़ोर नहीं माना। पहिे मैं िच्चों को पढा ी र्ी। जपछिे कई सािों से मैं वािांटियर हाँ। एक सन्स्र्ा के सार् िुड़ी हाँ । वहाां मैंने हर रह के िीमार, िुगुझा, ददमाग से कमज़ोर, िकवा से जशकार हुए िोगों के सार् काम दकया है। उनके चेहरों पर मुस्कराहि िाने की कोजशश की है। िीवन से कभी हर नहीं मानी।) www.crossthehurdles.org Page 43 कु छ फै सल की रचनाएँ www.crossthehurdles.org Page 44 www.crossthehurdles.org Page 45