IDUKKI: From working with a computer to drawing beautiful paintings, Bindhu KR -- a resident of Muttukad in Bison Valley -- does whatever she needs to. What’s so special there? Well, she does all that with her not-fully-formed limbs. But there is not much else that separates Bindhu from other able-bodied people around her.
She manages to run a photocopier at home for livelihood, though customers are scarce nowadays due to an unrelenting Covid spread. Be it self-care or managing a mobile phone without fingers, Bindhu has grown adept at handling her life. The 47-year-old lives with her mother, Rukmini, 67, who is a cardamom plantation worker.
When phocomelia, a congenital disorder, affected all four of her limbs, Bindhu was destined for a life of supposed disability. The doctors informed her mother that she would have to be lying down all the time for the rest of her life.
Despite poverty and terrible living conditions, Rukmini wouldn’t give up on her daughter, and she brought her up along with her four other daughters. Along with Bindhu’s struggles, her family had another issue to deal with -- her father abandoned them when she was 15.
“Without my father’s support, it became difficult for my mother to take care us. Hence, I was admitted to a nearby convent, where I trained in fabric painting,” Bindhu said. Painting helped her get through the struggles as it distracted her from worries. It later turned into a hobby and Bindhu now holds a separate collection of her paintings she has crafted on fabrics.
Her attempt to complete pre-degree after matriculation, and later gaining a diploma in computer application (DCA), were all efforts to eke out a living to help her mother, who had managed to marry off her sisters. With the help of noble hearts, Bindhu and her mother got a home of their own in Muttukad. People also pooled in money to buy a photocopier, which was her source of income until three years ago.
“Since the pandemic outbreak, customers arrive only occasionally,” Bindhu said.
The family now survives on the income Rukmini gets from working in the plantation. Though she passed the DCA course, she was unaware of the opportunities that she would get with her qualification. “If I could extend a helping hand to my mother, that would be huge for her at this age,” she said. Bindhu has also requested kind hearts to help them repair the roof of their house roof, which leaks all over during heavy rain, making their life miserable.