A Book is Judged by
its Cover
My visit with my 61
year old handicapped (with a history of spasticity) sister on a wheelchair to
the High Street Phoenix, Lower Parel, Mumbai on Sunday 18 August 2013, just
three days after our beloved country celebrated it’s 67th
Independence Day, perhaps, proves this.
Dressed in casual
trouser/shirt & chappals, I approached the entrance to the Palladium where
I was surprised, nay shocked, to find my entry blocked by the Security
personnel, who tried to turn me away by saying that the door to the Big Bazaar
side was closed. I told him that I had been here on 15th August,
2013 and it was open then, how come it was closed now? He put me onto his
senior who held us up at the gate for more than twenty minutes, whilst he was
communicating with a senior manager.
People were entering
through the Palladium gates and my sister was getting fretful and I was losing
patience. I asked the security person to state on what basis he was refusing
entry to me and my handicapped sister. But he had no answer to this. I found
this quite infuriating. It made a few people stop and turn their heads. But it
took two ladies (one named Ismat) and a gentleman to intervene in this
situation. They told the Security person that they knew a very senior person
managing this mall complex. The gentlemen also added they were from The Times
of India and this issue could really hit in the media in a big way. This was
communicated to the senior manager by the security person, who now came rushing
to the gates. We were allowed inside. My sister likes ice-cream. So I bought her a softee cone at McDonald’s.
Ismat and the other lady who had helped us came and met us near
McDonald’s. To pacify us and assuage the
hurt, another manager came. Lunch was offered. But I refused. We were provided
an escort to Big Bazaar where I did my shopping and was escorted to the exit
and a taxi outside.
After the Reliance
Fresh Signature Store incident, this somewhat similar experience, has forced me
to think beyond the reasons for their occurrence and recurrence. More than
anger, which, of course, is there initially, these incidents sadden me.
The handicapped
individual is almost a persona non grata, unproductive, a dead investment generally in the eyes of
most people. The alms-seeking beggar- stereotype of a person in a wheelchair
must change. Unless this happens at the individual level and positive thoughts/concept
translate into action, no amount of governmental measures or efforts by NGOs
shall change the world of the handicapped in India, in any substantial manner.
