Veena Kachroo Nee Reddy - A Polio-stricken Woman of Substance

Meenakshi Kachroo

Profiles in Courage

Long is the way

And hard that out of

hell leads up to light'

The indignity and indiscrimination against them had caused much agony and harassment for them, and their parents alike. It is so damnable to even visualize that they had been looked down with abhorrence and anonymity. De facto, at one time de-humanization had become a social reality in India.

Nevertheless, an incredulous woman, Veena Reddy (Kachroo), a victim of Polio, came out of this inferno and carved out a heaven for herself

Today, Veena is a senior physiotherapist in the Military Hospital at Meerut, and runs her own clinic with her husband Dusky and short, she is one of those for whom this world is not big enough The moment you meet her you are held inescapably in her charismatic spell Born in the city of temples. Jammu to a bourgeoisie and struck with polio at the age of three, she is nevertheless blessed with an unshakable faith in herself and an implacable will to achieve the impossible.

"We are the authors of our own lives" is the philosophy that rules her life and is the reason behind her success. Her falling off the crutches, the bawdy comments of the street urchins, the atrocities. of the school children, and the abominable behaviour of the relatives did not deter her a bit. Instead, these cruel realities inculcated in her a sense of killer. instinct to achieve something great in her life.

The confluence of her courage and her parents' cooperation led her to change the stride of her life. and emerge as a wholesome woman, negating the fact that she is a handicap.

A diploma holder from the Jawaharlal Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, she gives physiotherapy treatment to the Polio victims, tries to rehabilitate the paralytic and treats the spastics and people with neuro-disorders.

As a self-righteous woman, she is antagonistic towards men who "out of sympathy come forward for friendship, but don't have the courage to take a morally upright stand against the parents and marry a handicap".

A happily married woman and a doting mother, Veena gives all the credit of her success to her husband, a native of Andhra Pradesh. "He is the only person I have found till now who has a strong conviction that beauty does not lie in flesh and body but in the virtues of a person. He has never made me feel that I am a handicap. Instead he has given me his full cooperation and encouragement in anything I do." Her husband, also a physiotherapist, appreciates the drive and determination she possesses. "She is exhilarated over a new task, brimming with excitement and energy", says he.

Involved in manifold activities, Veena is also a versatile singer. Ask her to sing anything from lullaby to Bhajan, from Punjabi Geet to Rabindra Sangeet, and she gives you an enthralling performance. She has sung as a lead voice in four Kashmiri cassettes with her talented brother, Rajinder Kachroo. The lullaby "Aswini mastan myanai, Armaan ho-ho karyo", is sung to nearly every new born Kashmiri babe. Her voice has a feeling of freshness and is rejuvenating. She also gives live performances in Meerut, where she leaves the audience in an ecstatic reverie.

Veena's unfulfilled ambition is to serve the people of her native place in a well defined manner. To give effect to that ambition, she has organised several programmes in Meerut and Delhi under the banner of Sri Abhinav Educational and Cultural Society. The trust money goes both in aid of the physically handicapped as well as to the needy migrants.

That's what you call the essence of a modern woman. She is a quintessential exemplar not only to the disabled but also to the people who have started their life anew after migration. Veena believes that the ultimate weapon that comes en route to success is your own appreciation of your talents and capabilities. Love your righteous actions and the world will learn to respect them. You should have an enormous amount of vital energy and an inner source of strength to come to terms with the inevitable. Without these strong convictions on your part, all efforts are ineffective and preposterous.

For an enigmatic woman like Veena, the secret of life is that of endurance. This faculty augments the flow of adrenalin, which helps you to face the events and odds of life, and makes sure that the show is going on. She asserts that the turn of events are a non-entity in the vicious circle of life, and should not preclude you from reaching the stars. Someone has very rightly said: "When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either'.

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in the Article above are Meenakshi Kachroo ’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy: - Meenakshi Kachroo and September 1996 Koshur Samachar