KOTTAYAM: ON receiving the keys of her renovated house, which was destroyed in mid-August flood, 72-year-old Sarojini Amma, hailing from Arpookara in Kottayam, was overcome with emotion and said: “You’re my son not born to me. God bless you.” For Anish Mohan, the words were the best recognition ever in his life.
For the 30-year-old differently-challenged man, also from Kottayam, such a scene was not new. As a person who has come through various struggling stages in life, Anish is well aware of people’s sufferings. And that is exactly why he had decided to help fellow human beings, especially differently-challenged persons, to help them tide over the crises. And now, Anish, his friends and his organisation, Institute for Person-Centred Approaches in India (IPCAI), are toiling to help the flood-hit in Kottayam. Anish and his team have already renovated two houses while work on two others are under way.
“We don’t have huge funds, but we could complete two houses already — one of an elderly couple and other of a visually and hearing girl's family,” said Anish. Born into an economically-backward family at Thirunalloor, Anish had to take up various jobs including carpentry and masonry early in his life. To make matters worse, he lost his right palm and left leg in an accident nine years ago after he fell down on the railway track.
He made an unbelievable comeback and went on to become one of the leading motivational trainers in the state. He also managed to secure the job of a clerk at the Arpookara grama panchayat in 2017. Anish is IPCAI’s national coordinator. The organisation has launched ‘Teen IPCAI’, a five-year project to provide guidance to as many as 25 differently-challenged teenaged students for their overall development.
“My objective in life is to help as many people as possible,” said Anish.