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OFFTRACK:
DELHI
 Tour
de Force
Differently-abled
people embark on journeys with a difference
By Methil
Renuka
 |
| Samarthya
wants to make the world accessible to all |
Sanjeev
Sachdeva, 36, can never walk again or so much as lift a finger without
help. He suffers from muscular dystrophy with unstable angina, a progressive
and irreversible genetic disorder that afflicted him when he was only
23. Today, the former trekking enthusiast is shackled to the wheelchair.
But that hasn't stopped him from undertaking over 28 trips across India-from
Chamba, Dalhousie and Mussorie to Amritsar, Udaipur and Calcutta, up steep
hills and across choppy lakes in boats and on his wheelchair. When the
disease manifested itself he was just completing his PhD. It had seemed
then like the whole world had crashed around him. But trauma and anger
gave way to resignation and acceptance and suddenly the wheelchair was
not so much of an impediment any longer. "The worst had happened,"
recalls Sachdeva, now a research assistant in a government agency, "and
the only way to get around it was to get over it."
In 1996,
he met Anjlee Agarwal, a bubbly 30-year-old fashion designer running a
boutique in west Delhi. Apart from the fact that she was also suffering
from dystrophy, what drew them together was their shared love for travelling.
Thus it was that they embarked on a visit to Shimla with an assortment
of differently-abled friends-people with cerebral palsy, polio and visual
impairment. They banded to become each other's hands, legs and eyes. It
was a beginning. It opened their eyes to the numerous hurdles on the way-inaccessible
buses, trains, toilets, stairways and more.
The group
came back to Delhi, and "Samarthya: Yatra with a Difference"
was born in 1998 to "instil confidence" and help those with
a disability journey out of their homes to tourist destinations they had
never thought they would see. "Everybody talks of education and employment
for the disabled, but what of our leisure and entertainment needs?"
argues Sachdeva. The group's first trip was 14 km up and down the formidable
hill to the Vaishnodevi shrine. Since then, their excursions (which they
fund by pooling their own resources) have thrown up crucial issues on
tourism for people with disability and the non-viability of transportation
and infrastructure for them. "Fortunately, the disabled will be included
in the next census," says Sachdeva. "It will be an eye-opener
to our sizeable numbers and potential and will help the government formulate
policies for rehabilitation and employment."
Travel
Therapy: Having just come back from the Asia-Pacific Conference on
Tourism for People with Disability in Bali, Indonesia, that culminated
on September 28, the two are raring to take the event's new coinage-travel
therapy-forward. The meeting opened their eyes to the crying need of the
tourism industry "to introduce barrier-free tourism and accessibility
as a criterion in the ranking of hotels and restaurants, and to sensitise
and make the world accessible for all". As a first step, Samarthya
has crusaded for ramps in all commercial establishments in Delhi, and
dream of seeing the Taj Mahal being made accessible for wheelchair users.
"It's a pity that one has to negotiate about 20 slippery steps to
see the historic monument," says Sachdeva.
Through
their ongoing "excursion with awareness" tours, Samarthya also
adds more members whilst propagating its mission statement. With their
assemblage of toilet chairs, walking sticks, medical kits, crutches and
wheelchairs, the travels, for Samarthya's current 157 members, are not
just a synergy of physical but mental strengths as well. And unlike other
NGOs, they are not keen on celebrities to espouse or drum up support for
their cause. "Samarthya means capability," beams the ever-smiling,
optimistic Anjlee, "and we want to campaign for it ourselves."
Right now, Samarthya members are putting their heads together to bring
out a travelogue on information for the differently-abled.
Against
physical odds and raised eyebrows, Samarthya is on a journey of self-discovery,
making inroads into uncharted terrain and taking an important step forward
in the process.
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