A fighting chance at life

Shoma A Chatterji

Click on any search engine for Jeeja Ghosh, and the internet will open several windows for you. The awe-inspiring life of Jeeja, her struggles and triumphs have been captured in a documentary I Am Jeeja by Swati Chakraborty. 

The film has won a Special Mention by Jury at the Mumbai International Film Festival, Best Film for Empowerment Award at Brazil, Bosifest International Film Festival Belgrade, Best Film on Disability Award at the Woodpecker International Film Festival. The documentary has also been screened at the Queensland International Film Fest and the Dhaka International Film Festival.

Jeeja Ghosh was born with cerebral palsy but she hasn’t let disability get in the way of her work. She is the sole breadwinner of her family, despite her challenged speech and balance. The film, which holds out a ray of hope to the differently abled as well the abled ones, bagged honours at the 64th National Film Awards on a social issue in the non-feature film category. The citation says: It is a “simply told story” and “a beautiful ode to life”.

Produced by the PSBT, the 28-minute documentary allows Jeeja, who is now in her forties but looks half her age, to do the talking. Since her speech pattern is a bit troubled, it takes a little time to get used to it. However, one is charmed by her ever-smiling face, her willingness to answer every question, mentoring other victims of cerebral palsy, addressing international conferences with confidence.

Jeeja Ghosh shot into limelight when a private airline crew pulled her out of the plane at the Kolkata airport in 2012 because the captain “felt” she was a threat to the flight. Jeeja followed this human rights violation and violation of the rights of a differently abled person till the Supreme Court decided in her favour and ordered the airline to pay her a compensation of Rs10 lakh. The film, however, makes only a passing reference to the incident and keeps the focus on Jeeja, who talks without inhibition about issues of sexuality and relationship of a differently abled person.

Jeeja advocates that the differently abled should be seen as whole, not genderless or asexual. Through her social work, she highlights these issues and brings these to the forefront. Jeeja holds two post-graduate degrees and has also done her Ph.D. The film gently moves over to her achievements as an activist dedicated to the rights of the differently abled and how in 2013, she finally gets married.