Have you ever thought to yourself having only one leg but also being happy and dancing like a peacock is possible? You may call me insane but it's not a foolish question that I am asking as I have seen someone really doing it here in Nepal. Neelam Dhungana, 21, an amputee, who lost her one leg in a tragic bus accident while she was only 15, has the power to dazzle you with her mesmerizing dance performance. I bet, you will start imagining yourself in her shoes and feel miserable for having both legs and still not being able to have those flawless steps like her. Neelam is an exemplar in this mentally handicapped society where, physical disability is associated with failure, with dependency and with not being able to do things (even the regular chores of life).
Neelam as her name suggests, is really like a gem stone (The Blue Sapphire), with a captivating beauty and never ending smile. Her school mates always had a dream of dancing like her as every one used to appreciate her dance moves. Any cultural program at school and Neelam wasn't there; the program wouldn't be interesting, and theywould opine. She was synonymous to a peacock.
Our life is like a Pandora's Box. We never know what tragic surprises it has for us when we open it. The same happened with Neelam when she was just on the edge of her youth. An ambitious dream of being a famous actor, a blissful teenager, thousand youthful aspirations and most of all the best diversion of her life; dancing were all shattered in a road mishap made by a careful driver when she was rightfully walking on her own lane holding the hands of her best buddy. In the tragedy she not only had to lose her friend forever but she even had to mislay all her dreams and lead her remaining life as an amputee with only one leg. When she remembers the very day she says, "I learnt that my leg was amputated only a day after. Though my family members were around me giving me hope, but in private I used to admit the misery and shed tears for the misfortune of not being able to dance any more.
Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For her, disability was typical trajectory. After a period of time, she started to adapt to her new situation, and started making much of it. She started dancing even with her one leg without giving notice to others for her happiness as dancing was the ultimate ecstasy of her life. After five years of practice (which wasn't easy), her talent got the limelight on a local stage on the occasion of 'International Day of Persons with Disabilities' a year back with the support of Bhima Khatiwada and Mina Acharya, who too are physically disable; whom Neelam likes to credit. Since then, she has never stepped back from her aspiration of being an actor. "Even if life is sometimes hard, my spouse, parents and mentors have always supported me and helped me become the one-leg dancer of Nepal.", Neelam shares.
We often assume that people with disabilities are unhappy. But in fact we're wrong. Surveys reveal people with disabilities consistently report a quality life as good as, or sometimes even better than that of non-disabled people. Human flourishing is possible even if you lack a major sense like sight, ability to walk, or beingphysically dependent on others. Sometimes, disabled are driven to greater achievements than before. That's why if we presuppose that physical difficulties for people result in misery for them, then we are wrong.
What is more important here is the social blockade rather than the physical impairment itself. It's true that in general, disabled people usually have fewer choices than non-disabled people. Most societies still have limited accessibility for them, which have certainly created some problem for them. Otherwise, special people like Neelam are much better than mentally jammed people of our society.
Yes, it's also true that physical impairment undoubtedly involves greater degrees of misery than average human should endure. Apart from that, there are some examples like Neelam whose transformative life stories teach us an important lesson that human beings are capable of adapting to almost any situation and can march on to triumph, overcoming all the misfortunes. Neelam, even after such misfortune still dances like a peacock.
Written by: Bhawana Shrestha
Country: Nepal
