NALGONDA: Where there is a will there is a way goes the popular saying. Gottimukkala Ramesh, 38, has proved this right by surmounting several hurdles. A resident of Bhoodanpochampally and a handloom weaver by profession, Ramesh saw many ups and downs in his life, but never gave up. As he does not earn much in this line of work, Ramesh doubled up as an electrician to support a family comprising his mother, wife, aunt and two daughters.
However, on July 16, 2016, while returning from Solapur in Maharashtra after having the darshan of Goddess Tuljabhavani with his family members, he fell under a moving train and lost both his legs. As a result, he stopped working as an electrician and was left with no means to support his family.
Then came a ray of hope when Sravya Reddy, chief of ‘We and She’, a voluntary organisation, donated him artificial legs. Though he found himself on his feet, he happiness did not last long. When he started operating the loom with the artificial legs, he suffered from back pain and other problems. Then he found a way out of the gloom -- an electric pedal to run the loom wheel.
Being a technician by nature, with his ingenuity, he quickly came up with the idea to make an electric pedal to operate the ‘raatnam’ (wheel) so that his mother and wife could run the wheel easily. It does not involve much physical activity.
Ramesh said that apart from his wife, daughters and mother, he takes care of his aunt. He says with a twinge of regret that he has no close relatives on his side and his wife’s side.
He earns Rs 7000--Rs 12,000 per month which is hardly enough to provide for the family’s maintenance. “There are times when the entire family goes without food for days together,” he laments. Yet, intrepid Ramesh pulls through without losing confidence in himself. A little bit of financial help from the government or NGO could make a lot of difference in his life.