Setting an example of self-reliance since childhood

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 6

Never did he let his physical disability undermine his capabilities. Having lost his mobility completely and permanently in his childhood due to polio affecting both his legs, Chander Kant Gupta (32), has never given up on anything since the very beginning.

As a child when most people around him were not sure if he would be able to do his schooling, he managed to earn a doctorate degree, that too in management studies. While his kith and kin were not sure if he would be able to be on his own, he has managed to get become a banker. Posted with Bank of Baroda in Nakodar, Gupta says that he is quite comfortably placed and fully on his own for everything.

“The only person I am dependent on is my driver-cum-helper. He takes me to all the places where I need to go. He helps me sit comfortably whether it is in my office, home or outside. Once properly positioned and things are at my desk, I manage everything myself. At home, I use my walker to roam about,” says Gupta.

He adds, “I was PhD and could have also got the job of a professor but I was always inspired by my dad, who too has worked at the State Bank of India. It is because of his blessings and support that I have become financially and morally independent, if not physically.”

The youngster shared how he overcame all the difficult times since his childhood, “Whenever I used to feel low, I would play good music and cheer myself up. Listening to music and surfing the net have been my favourite pastimes. I am also a movie buff. ‘The Karate Kid’ has been my all-time favourite film.”

Gupta goes on, “It is sheer chance that I have got all the good friends at every stage. They used to help me move about in my wheelchair and give me proper time. I got a good company in Guru Nanak National College Nakodar where my batchmates were always very inspiring.”

His only regret is against the government. “Our government is completely insensitive towards the disabled. It is doing all the awareness only on paper whereas the reality is that there are no ramps and no wheelchairs available at most government buildings that I have been to.”