“I got polio when I was 3 years old and because I was so young, I got this hump as I grew up. My entire family was really taken aback but they made sure that my life was as normal as possible. I used to go to school, study hard and keep myself busy all the time. In the 9th standard, I became friends with a boy who I could be myself with and who respected me inspite of my condition…and over time our friendship turned into something more and we began dating in the 10th standard.
“When I first spoke to her, I was completely in awe of her intelligence and creativity. She was so ambitious and caring that I had to be with her…so I asked her to be my girlfriend and that has been the best decision of my life so far. Eventually, my parents started pressurising me to get married and even tried to make me meet girls…but I couldn’t do it. I realised then, that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life but when I told my parents they were completely against it. The doctors had said that she won’t live long, and my parents didn’t want me to marry someone with polio, but I was very sure that no matter how much time she had, I wanted her to myself until the last day. We fought for our love and here we are today. She’s 65, hale and hearty and doing amazing things with her life. She’s a counsellor in our town, she opened her own beauty parlour and trained over 100 people to become beauticians themselves. She makes me prouder with every passing day and this life has been perfect because of her.
“And what would you want your message to be?”
“I was given a disability, but I think I was given so much more in the form of love. When I look back at my life, I think I’ve been blessed to have married my best friend and had a love that goes beyond all boundaries. The doctors said I won’t live too long, but I’m 65 and in my heart I know that the only thing that’s given me such a long, happy, beautiful life is the fact that I had him by my side through it all.”
via – (Humans of Bombay)
