Kolkata, Jan 22 (PTI) A Bengali play on the life andstruggles of Jeeja Ghosh, a social activist with cerebralpalsy, will be staged here soon.
The story will be partly real and partly fictional,with Ghosh playing herself, director of theatre group 'KathaKalam', Esha Kar, said.
"Jeeja's story mirrors the discrimination andcondescending attitude that has become all too common forIndia's large number of disabled people. In their everydaylives, they are fighting to get acceptance which is longoverdue," Kar said.
An alumnus of Presidency University and DelhiUniversity, Ghosh was offloaded from a flight in 2012 becausea private carrier ruled her unfit to fly alone. She took theairline to court and was awarded a compensation of Rs 10 lakhin a landmark judgment.
The 47-year-old, who never let her limitations come inher way, said she does not mind being described as a personwith disability.
"It is a tag for which I am not to be blamed. Then whyshould I be described by other terms? Disability has beenimposed on us by societal barriers and we are always workingto surmount the barriers," she said.
The tentative title of the partly fictional play is'Bristi Bheja Ek Jibone'. It will reflect the rains andsunshine in the life of a cerebral palsy affected, Kar said.
"Jeeja is an acclaimed performing artiste and she hadpreviously been part of our stage production Nirbhaya, basedon the brutal Delhi gangrape incident," the director, who isalso a mother to a differently abled son, said.
A film on a Ghosh's zest for life has bagged honoursat the 64th National Film Awards. 'I am Jeeja', a 28-minutedocumentary, traces her journey since childhood and talksabout various aspects of her life, including career andmarriage. PTI SUSRMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.