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Divya Mela in Delhi helps the disabled get a fair deal, brings to the fore stories of sheer grit

Women in Indian society too often face discrimination from birth merely on account of their gender; and if they face any kind of physical or mental disability, the discrimination is doubled. It is a huge credit to them if they find the strength and courage to pursue their dreams and be independent. Sarita Brara visits the Divya Mela in Delhi, a platform for persons with handicaps to showcase their talents and use them as a means for economic empowerment, and meets Sukhwinder Kaur, Mamta Bharti, Latika Du and others – all women who inspire

It was the mouth-watering, tangy aroma of spicy pickles that drew a large number of buyers to Sukhwinder Kaur’s stall. Hers was one among several stalls set up at the Divya Mela in New Delhi, organised to give a platform to persons with disabilities to sell their products. Scores of bottles filled to the brim with a variety of sweet and sour pickles made from mango and seasonal vegetables such as radish, carrots, cauliflower, turnip, chillies ginger, garlic, lime and Indian gooseberry lined her stall.

“I worked day and night for several days to make sure that I had enough stock for the 10-day fair. I bought the vegetables and other ingredients in bulk from the market, cut and sliced them, ground and mixed spices and then prepared the pickles,” Sukhwinder says – no easy task for the wheelchair-bound lady. With no one to lend a helping hand except her aged sister, she had to do everything herself, including transporting the pickle bottles every day to the fair on a scooter fitted with an extra wheel that she drives in spite of her handicap.

“I am happy that I was able to sell pickles worth Rs 30,000 during the fair at India Gate, Sukhwinder says proudly. Her customers included families from places outside Delhi and even from Saudi Arabia. A number of them promised to send orders for pickles carrying her brand name, Chatkara Punjabi Achaar.  Sukhwinder is confident that with the contacts made at the fair, her business will flourish. It is through sheer grit, hard work and perseverance that she is able to make a living for herself today. “I was shattered when I was diagnosed with an ailment in the spine in my twenties. The surgery to cure the problem made things worse and I became wheelchair-bound for life,” she points out.

Continuing with the story of her struggle, Sukhwinder said a few years were spent running from one hospital to another, trying alternative medicines and doing whatever anybody suggested as a cure – but nothing worked. “I realised slowly that I would have to live with this disability all my life,” she recounted. She faced another blow when she lost her job because of her disability. The NGO she was working for offered only a pension of her Rs 1500 a month after sacking her.

Sukhwinder Kaur (seated) at the stall, as her sister helps in packing pickles for customers.

Sukhwinder knew it was impossible to make ends meet with this paltry amount. She had lost her parents and there was no one to give her financial or any other kind of assistance. For the next six years, she tried her hand at all kinds of odd jobs, from selling clothes on the roadside, to undertaking tailoring work and offering mehndi art services, but was unable to stick to any one of these because of her handicap. “Then one day, an idea struck me – why not do something that I had learnt from my mother; that is, preparing pickles, to make money?” she said, adding, “Fairs like this help us to sell our products and also make contacts that can help boost sales.”

Other persons with disabilities at the fair echoed these sentiments. One of them, Mamta Bharti, is also in a wheelchair, because of a childhood attack of polio. Unlike Sukhwinder, Mamta’s parents supported her. She was inspired by her grandfather to take up art and, today, she’s a passionate painter. Mamta has trained in several genres of painting, including Mithila art, and has completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Patna Art and Craft College. Her proposal for a start-up (Hast Sanskriti) was accepted under a Bihar Government scheme and she was sanctioned Rs 10 lakh as an interest-free loan.  Today, not only is she earning an income for herself, she is also providing part-time and full-time employment to over 30 women.

Mamta uses Mithila art for paintings and wall-hangings and also to ornament a variety of items, such as saris, suits, bedspreads, bed-sheets, tablecloths, bags and purses. She uses patterns and designs chosen by her clients. A state awardee, Mamta Bharti has the willpower and determination to make a profession out of her passion. This is the first time she’s getting an opportunity to display and sell her art in Delhi, though she had participated in fairs of this kind at the state level.

For young Latika Dua, the Divya Mela was the first exposure to the public, and a chance to sell her paintings. An art graduate from Delhi, Latika says that while she hadn’t been able to earn as much money as she expected, the experience was good. Born with a locomotor handicap, she says has got used to discrimination and does not let it dampen her spirits. Apart from pursuing art, she is also preparing for the UPSC exams and wants to get a government job, preferably as an art teacher.

Fairs that provide a platform to disabled persons to display and sell their produce are aimed at their economic empowerment. The Divya Mela scheme was launched in 2022, and since then more than 20 such melas (fairs) have been held in different cities in India, benefitting hundreds of divyangs (handicapped persons).

(The writer is a senior journalist who divides time between Delhi and Shimla.)

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