A SAGA OF VICTORY OF MIND OVER BODY
They are an embodiment of an indomitable spirit; tirelessly crusading for
a cause. S. Ramakrishnan and S. Shankara Raman have defined the art of disability management by nursing to success the Amar
Seva Sangam, which runs a number of institutions for the handicapped in Ayikudy village in south Tamil Nadu.
From a small beginning with just seven children in one village in 1991,
the Sangam now reaches 4,809 disabled people in more than 330 villages in four blocks in and around Ayikudy. The spectacular
growth prompted the governments of Australia and Japan to chip in with aid.
Way back in 1975, as a spirited 21-year-old student of engineering, Ramakrishnan
was in Bangalore for a naval recruitment interview, when he met with an accident rendering him a paraplegic. At a hospital
in Kirkee, Pune, he lay convinced about the worthlessness of life which he wanted to be extinguished some way or the other.
But his doctor Amarjit Singh Chahal, an orthopaedic surgeon, injected a new meaning to his life. He told him, "Never ask:
why me? Ask: why not me?"
In 1981, back in his home village of Ayikudy, 70 km from Tirunelveli, Ramakrishnan,
who had realised that his intellect was as sharp as it's always been, founded the Sangam and named it after the doctor.
Shankara Raman, though afflicted by muscular dystrophy since childhood and
confined to a wheel-chair, was having a lucrative career as a successful chartered accountant when in 1992 he came to know
about the Sangam. The opportunities at Ayikudy prompted him to join hands with Ramakrishnan and together they have propelled
the institution to greater heights.
"In villages only physical abilities are important, unlike in cities where
intellectual empowerment can overcome physical disability," says Ramakrishnan explaining the problems of development in villages.
"The moment we approach them for rehabilitation, they ask: do we have to pay?"
There is a school with 564 students, located on land contributed by Ramakrishnan's
family, with classes from nursery to Std VIII. Children get training in computer operation, basic mechanism of radio and TV,
first-aid, book binding, tailoring, calliper training etc. Camps are conducted every fortnight to detect polio. There are
36 children under residential care and 25 under day care at the Home for the Disabled. The 25-acre campus also has a full-fledged
rehabilitation centre, a medical testing unit and a public library.
"We have been able to turn Ayikudy into a valley for the disabled thanks
to the patronage from Union and state governments, industry, charitable organisations and the public," says Ramakrishnan.
"We are now focusing on building a corpus fund of Rs 5 crore which will leave us with a comfortable working capital of around
Rs 50 lakh per year. Towards this, the Ratan Tata Trust has given Rs 1 crore." As part of this, renowned violinist Lalgudi
Jayaraman will perform at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall in Bangalore on Sunday, May 28, at 6 pm (the entire proceeds will go
to the Sangam). There are a number of schemes to which IT-exempted contributions can be made that will enable the inmates'
education and provision of callipers, medicines etc. for them.
For details contact: Amar Seva Sangam, Sulochana Gardens, Post Box 001,
Tenkasi Road, Ayikudy PO, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu - 627 852.
