Thursday, June 12, 2008


"You feel ashamed by seeing his handicap so clearly exposed ?You shouldn't cause this man is a very fine gentle man and it is most pleasant and refreshing to sit down and talk with him, soon you will feel that he doesn't have any hidden handicap at all and you forget his physical deformations by polio. His name is Selvam if ever you meet ...."
This was written by the photographer and it reminded me of a passage from a book called "The Simple Life", and in it was some very practical advice to care-givers about giving comfort to those afflicted --
"And when you know families in distress, or individuals in affliction, do not surround them like those with the plague, with a sanitary cordon, which you will cross only after taking precaution which recalls to them their unhappy lot. On the contrary, after having shown all your sympathy, and all your respect for their suffering, comfort them, aid them to live, bring them a perfume from outside; something, in short, to show them that their misery has not excluded them from the world."
I think the photographer, Henk Jacobs, did that very thing and surly it was a perfume to this man.

2 comments:

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Very inspiring post.

Very often we shun handicapped people and look at them with disgust as though they did some vile thing to get this dreadful punishment. It is not uncommon to see people making fun of them. It takes a lot of courage to be kind to them.

In this connection I am happy to inform you that in Kochi buses, one seat is reserved for handicapped people.

With regards and best wishes.

FCB said...

I'm glad to hear there is handicapped seating. Some of the people must have such a struggle just to do the things I take completely for granted.
Fred