Akshanshk Gupta beat cerebral palsy to finish a PhD in Computer Science.
Akshanshk Gupta is 32 and a PhD in Computer Science. His journey from Uttar Pradesh's small town of Jaunpur to becoming 'Dr Gupta' at Jawaharlal Nehru University at New Delhi is nothing short of remarkable. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a child but he's never allowed it to come in the way of his aspiration, often smiling in the face of ridicule.
Dr. Gupta told NDTV, "As a child, I've heard people say to me -- what's the use of you studying? Some would say 'can he even understand what's being said?' Some said I'm like a 'living corpse'."
Insensitive attitudes only compound the problem for the disabled. The law doesn't help either. India has nearly 2.7 crore people living with disabilities and the only law - the Persons with Disabilities Act - recognising disabilities came two decades ago. It covers only seven broad categories and an upgrade is long due. Under the act, many learning disabilities, autism, haemophilia and thalassemia are left out.
Egged on by his mother, Damini, Dr Gupta pursued his goal. For four long years, a rickshaw would ferry him to the engineering college in Jaunpur. Later, when he moved to JNU, the rickshaw puller, Mahajan ji, too moved with him becoming the crucial support system he needed.
24-year-old Sneha Das Gupta from Kolkata struggled to understand lessons in class, first in school and then college. People simply didn't know what to do with a hearing impaired student in their midst.
In spite of hearing loss being recognised as a disability Ms Das Gupta struggled to get additional help and concessions which were due to her. It was because her family stood behind her that she completed her MA (in development studies) from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. She is now pursuing M.Phil in Kolkata.
"It took too much extra time, too much extra effort. If I had got support I would have been able to understand what was happening in class," Ms Das Gupta told NDTV.
Her mother Snigdha Sarkar said, "She wasn't refused admission because they couldn't. But that's all. She came home feeling friendless, alone and dejected. Initially, she didn't even tell me what she was going through."