They don’t have digits; no fingers, no toes. Many cannot walk independently. Some have problem with sight and some with speech. What’s common in them, is they are disfigured and were discarded and neglected. Guess who they are?
They are the people suffering from Leprosy, that is curable but poorly understood. Abandoned by families and stigmatized by society; with no power to grasp anything they want. They are the refuge unwanted by society. Pushed away, sometimes kicked and even left out in dark. Ceased with tears and a lot to fear at a tender age to begin with, they are doomed. Thats what we see from far and get a lot to hear.
But this is not the end. No they didn’t let their existance defined by the limits set by these disabilities. When went little closer, saw them sing, dance and heard their feat.
More of humans, they fall in love with each other, never fake a smile or tell stupid lies either. Stronger enough to try and build the community, they couldn’t find out here. With us struggling to fake a life when already dead inside, there they are enjoying making paper bags,colorful candles and planting their garden. They are more lively than us, carrying no regrets and living to the fullest. The only fortune they lack is the gift of pain. Oh yes, it’s their disability not to feel pain. I wish if only they could feel them. Cause it’s the noxious stimuli of pain that lets us be aware of damage undergone by our body and prevent future chances to encounter them. Blessed with sense of pain, they could sail their own boat in this voyage of sea unconstrained by void thoughts of society. Unlike most of us, for them happiness is here and joy is deeper than avaricious. When asked with the question what makes them so positive, they pointed towards the phrase scribbled on the wall “See the ability not Disability”. May be this is why we are lagging behind them in terms of happiness and satisfaction, always chasing or mourning over things that we don’t or couldn’t have. More satisfied, blessed to have life, being more abled, but always looked down upon; I wonder why?