It’s often believed that philanthropy is the prerogative of those to whom life has dealt a good hand. They are grateful and feel the need to give back to the less fortunate. Anjalee Aggarwal is the founder and national coordinator, and Sanjeev Sachdeva the programme coordinator of Samarthya. Both suffer from muscular dystrophy (a genetic progressive irreversible disability), but this has not prevented them from bringing cheer to many.
‘‘Every person with disability has the right to move out independently with minimum assistance and live life with dignity and grace. And it is our firm conviction that barrier-free tourism for disabled people can play an important role in integrating them into the mainstream of society...’’ so reads the leaflet describing Samarthya’s goals.
Set up in 1996, the 150 member strong Samarthya has been organising awareness-cum-excursion tours for the disabled to historical, religious and tourist places. ‘‘We are not travel operators,’’ Sachdeva asserts ‘‘Our purpose is to instill faith in the disabled. These trips widen their horizons and make them more confident of facing the world.’’
‘‘About 50 million people in India are suffering from some kind of disability and they don’t get equal opportunities. The urban lot still has some awareness of their rights. People in villages are very badly off. The problems of infrastructure, transportation and accessibility are key to the issue,’’ says Aggarwal. Samarthya is trying to make the world easier to navigate for the differently abled.
The lives of the two prime forces behind this organisation are cases of exemplary will power and determination. Sachdeva got muscular dystrophy when he was 23. For some years he underwent severe depression. But with the support of friends and family he came out strong. He went on to do an MPhil in political science and now works as a research assistant in a government agency.
Aggarwal partners him in this mission. She says, ‘‘Many years ago when my disability became obvious I got a lot of sympathy. But now they admit I have achieved much more than them. ‘We are just sitting at home watching saas-bahu TV serials, while you have chartered a different path’, they say.’’
It’s hard to get either of them to talk about the obstacles they’ve encountered in this journey. They both prefer to see them as challenges. When they approach government agencies, corporate houses or individuals with their proposals they don’t go expecting any favours because they are handicapped.
They have been fortunate enough to get exposure to access facilities offered to the disabled in the developed world. Now the aim is also to generate that level of awareness in India.
You can contact Samarthya at 2519389 or at anjeevsach@hotmail.com