JNU recently held a special convocation at their vice chancellor’s office to award PhD to one of its students. As the vice chancellor S K Sopory handed him his degree, the student’s eyes shone, but he struggled to grasp the degree. But Akshsansh Gupta or Bunty Dada as he is popularly known on the campus was not perturbed by his inability to grasp the degree, it was just another minor obstacle in his daily life.
A victim of cerebral palsy, Bunty’s fate during his early years did not even show primary education, let alone a PhD, reported Times of India.
Bunty’s lower limbs are of no use, his slurred speech is difficult to decipher and his arms have the stiff, awkward flailing of someone not quite in control of his movements. In a system that insensitively rates disability in terms of percentages, the 32-year-old is deemed 95% disabled – he grew up with cerebral palsy.
“When I saw my siblings go to school, I wanted to do likewise. But in my condition, which school would admit me?” he says. Then, with admirable lack of rancour, he adds, “In general, in our country the attitude towards people with disabilities is quite negative. The first thing people ask is, ‘Kya karega padhke’ (What will you gain by studying)?”
More equipped people would have quailed at the extraordinary hardships Bunty Dada faced in trying to get a “Dr” as a prenomial, but he persevered and that is why the university honoured him with the special convocation, months in advance of the formal ceremony next year.
From his room in the Kaveri Hostel, Gupta braved the odds for five years to finish writing his thesis on “Brain Computer Interface”, in between travelling to Malaysia to present a paper on his chosen subject of computer science. “I opted for computer science as it is easier for me because of the nature of practicals and laboratory work it entails,” says Gupta. Of course, when stated like that, it sounds like a fairly easy achievement, until you start thinking about a cerebral palsy student living alone in a hostel, commuting from his hostel to the college building everyday, an arrangement that he must figure out for himself.
But even Bunty did not imagine he would reach this far and for this he gives credit to three people – his mother who insisted that he get an education over other’s objections, Meera Sahu – the teacher who finally got him admitted into school and Mahajan, a rickshaw puller from his engineering college days.
Mahajan ferried him every day to Umanath Singh Institute of Engineering and Technology in Jaunpur, where he pursued a BTech degree in computer science. An illiterate rickshaw puller and a student with physical limitations dreamed an unimaginable future when they travelled the 15 km between home and college every day. “Mahajan and I talked about the world beyond Jaunpur and that is when I decided I want to step out. My family was reluctant, but they eventually agreed, and here I am in Delhi,” said Bunty.
Gupta, a freshly minted doctor now, is hopeful of getting a job, preferably in the university itself. If JNU obliges, he will be overjoyed. “JNU’s atmosphere is such that anyone would like to always live here,” he says with a grin. He does grudge the government, though, for framing disability policies without consulting the affected people. “Because we are not vote banks,” he explains.
Image via Bargad
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