BENGALURU : For Leena Joseph, life has never been easy. “There are good days and bad. I’ve learnt to take one day at a time,” she says.Born with cerebral palsy, a set of neurological conditions that affect a person’s movement, she has not let her condition define her. Leena was abandoned by her parents when she was three-years-old, and was left in the care of the sisters at Mother Teresa’s Convent, Bengaluru.
“I never knew why my parents did what they did. But, despite everything, life has turned out to be fine,” she states. Working as a receptionist at Terrier Security Services in the city, she has been there for the past 25 years.
“While doing my higher studies, I met Captain S Ravi in the convent, who was the head of the company at that time. He offered me a job here and I’ve been around ever since,” she says. In the company, she found herself the family that she never had. “The people here are lovely. They do whatever little they can to help me. If I’m unwell, they even offer to take me to the hospital,” she adds.
Apart from her company, Leena is grateful to a number of people who have come into her life to help her. “From the nuns at the convent to the people at Terrier, I’ve been blessed with amazing people around me. I also have a friend in Canada, a priest named Lawrence, who gives me advice and guides me. I met him when I was seven-years old, when I was undergoing treatment at St Martha’s,” she says.
But at the end of the day, she believes that only you can help yourself. “I do admit, I have an amazing support system. But when I get up each day, despite the pain, it is up to me to rise to the challenges,” she says. “In my life, pain is a constant. You have to just work through it… kindness of others helps,” she adds.