Nasima Hurzook – A  Living Legend

NASIMA HURZOOK – A LIVING LEGEND

Born at Kolhapur, a district in Maharashtra, Nasimaji’s autobiograpy, The wheel chair (“ChakronCha kurse” in Marathi) is an incredible story of a brave woman who faced adversity in her life with courage, grit and determination. She was a bubbly talented young girl with stars in her eyes, hopes and aspiration in her heart with a drive to do something outstanding in life. Since her childhood she had the unique quality of springing to action even after facing disappointment and disaster. Though blessed with so many positive qualities, destiny played a cruel trick on her and she became a paraplegic at the age of 16 while other girls of her age were pursuing higher studies, hobbies, sports, enjoying good health and life in general, dreaming of bright future. Nasima was stuck to the wheel chair, sad and dejected. The book wheel chair (Chakrala Kurchi in Telugu) tells us all about her life, her child hood, when she became a paraplegic, how she had come out of this sadness and dejection and is leading a life full of activity, which even people with all the faculties intact cannot even think of doing.

Nasimaji was born in a family where simple living and high thinking is the motto, values like self help, self respect, sincerity and honesty are a way of life. Her father was an officer in the Central Excise Department. His first wife died leaving four small kids. To look after these kids, he married a second time. Nasimaji is his second wife’s daughter. Nasimaji lived in a big family with her brothers and sisters not knowing till her 14th year that her four elder siblings are infact her step brother and sisters. Such was the unity, bonding and affection between the brothers and sisters; such was the nobility of her mother who looked after her step children with so much love and care.

While in school at Nanded, Nasimaji took part in a dance drama during the school Annual day function in which she was to play the part of Radha and her father came as a guest to watch the school day function. She was totally engrossed in her role and was dancing away when the stage caved in and she along with other participants fell down. It took sometime for the school management to set right the stage and continue with the rest of the programme. But when they announced the subsequent event, Nasimaji insisted that her dance programme should be given its due time and that she will complete the rest of her dance. Though surprised at her request, the management gave in to her desire, she completed the dance drama and everyone appreciated her courage. Sheeven got a prize for her performance. She developed severe pain in her when she was in her 9th class. The pain used to occur occasionally, but in her 10th class, the pain was so bad that she could take her final exams with great difficulty but passed with good marks and got admission in a good college. She attended college for some time, took part in certain sports and the March Past etc., But ultimately she was bedridden and had to stop her further studies.

The actual reason for her disability, no doctor could diagnose and her body below the waist had become totally paralytic and there was no sensation whatsoever. Her family members took utmost care of her, sought medical and surgical help, spent money beyond their capacity, but nothing worked out. To top it, Nasimaji’s father was posted to a new place and after some time, died there. It took a lot of time for her mother, brothers and sisters to come out of this trauma. Nasimaji had to watch forlornly, as others were going about their routine, plus help her to bathe, dress, go to toilet and to do many other things. Imagine a sixteen year old girl depending on others for such basic human needs. It was a pitiable condition but her brothers, sisters, mother, grand mother, uncles, aunts, brothers, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law supported her, are still supporting her in all respects. They bought a wheel chair for her to go about, venture into the streets in the chair, arranged shelves, racks and gas stove within her reach at her request, encouraged her to cook food for every one, feel useful and occupied. In the initial days, she used to cry her heart out.

Though god had closed one door, he opened others for her. As luck would have it, three years after she took to the wheel chair, she was introduced to one “Babukaka” by a family friend. It was a turning point in her otherwise bleak life. He inspired her very  much in the first meeting itself. He was himself a paraplegic but a rich man, he laid out a plan for her, how she should start her education again and become a graduate atleast, how she should take part in all the sports meant for disabled and excel in them, how she should think, plan and help to rehabilitate other physically challenged people of her home town i.e. Kolhapur. In short, she was bombarded with so many plans, activities and hopes, her confidence slowly returned and she started viewing the world and her condition in a different perspective. There was no looking afterwards.

She did finish her studies, became a graduate, started organizing rehabilitation centers for the disabled, encouraged them to take part in sports specially organized for physically challenged and she herself took part in them, went abroad and won many prizes. She did all this alone and of course with the help of good friends, family members, but the initiative and ideas were her own. She could identify good, sincere workers and motivate them to collect donations, enroll disabled people, convince them how they can be independent with the help of her training centers. She even approached “Balthackery”, the philanthropist and politician with a request to provide special buses for the handicapped people and got the required help. She used to go personally and meet the ministers, their secretaries and various charitable institutions who can provide monetary help and she got very dedicated people like Shri P.D. Deshpande, Mrs. Deshpande and Shri Manohar Deshbrathar to utilise the money collected in a useful manner so that the deserving handicapped people are really benefited. She even used to get medical and surgical help for the needy candidates and she had many noble doctors, hospitals and nursing homes to help in her endeavour.

She wrote tests and attended many interviews and ultimately got a job in the same excise department as a clerk where her father had worked. She used to spend thewhole of her salary on the disabled, for their medical bills, food, clothing, training and rehabilitation without hesitating for a moment. She got a huge open space sanctioned for the rehabilitation Centre, after a lot of struggle got constructed a training centre, Hostel etc., with all the conveniences required for the physically handicapped, such as ramps, special lavatories etc., She got not one, but several such centers built almost all over Maharashtra. All this she did sitting in the wheel chair. Imagine her perseverance!

She used to take her wards, mostly children, for picnic, camps etc., Once she visited ‘Tajmahal’ with her friends. Even to visualize how a lady in a wheel chair arranged a trip like this and literally took other disabled people with one or two helpers, up to Agra, stopping in between at other cities for site seeing and brought them all safely itself is incredible! Of course, her brothers who are now well off, financially sound now funded the whole trip. Once when she expressed the desire to go to the beach, actually get into the sea water, her younger brother Aziz took her close to the sea in her wheel chair where she did take a dip in water. She really is lucky to have such a supportive family.

Since she is good looking, capable and financially sound, she got many marriage proposals, but she chose to remain single. Firstly she did not want to be a burden to the man she might marry, secondly she did not want to get cheated and heart broken if the person she married turned out to be fraud. Thirdly she wanted to dedicate her life to the cause of rehabilitating countless other physically challenged people and help them to lead independent lives. To reach a goal of this nature, set by her own self, she had given away every single moment of her time, money and energy. She does not always keep good health as she is prone to infections and has to be hospitalized. As is typical of her nature, she bounces to her routine after treatment and rest.

In the words of the Editor of ‘Sakal’ a Marathi daily, Shri Anant Dikshit “Nasima means the ‘House of courage, character and humility, a good sports woman, one who can enjoy humor and satire on her self, a generous person who is prepared to sacrifice anything to keep her word of promise”.

Nasimaji’s life teaches how one can lead a useful and meaningful life inspite of hardships, not to give in to disappointments and misfortunes. The writer had the good fortune of meeting this remarkable lady in person when she was at Secunderabad to receive an award and got permission to translate her autobiography into Telugu which was published by Hyderabad Book Trust. The English Translation has also come out. Everyone must read her autobiography and emulate her devotion to the physically handicapped.