I have been eagerly waiting for July 2021, as my classes for twelfth grade would begin then. The previous academic year has been strange and unexpected in many ways. Certain things have been very welcome and a lot of other things have not been anything less than excruciating. With the inoculation process ongoing my hopes are very high in the current academic year. Not that gift and a 99 percentile mark-sheet would jump out of thin air but at least I would be able to attend a few physical classes in my prestigious institute along with all my classmates. All in all my spirits were high at the advent of the month of July.
1st July turned out to be a wonderful day. When my classes were over for the day, a thought flickered through my mind. I wonder why I remembered the movie ‘Independence Day’ which I have enjoyed watching with my mother when I was very young. But I remembered that 4th of July is American Independence Day. Wasn’t the French National Day also in the month of July? Yes – 14th of July! And then, there were a lot of messages in all groups conveying best wishes and expressing gratitude to all doctors. Out of plain curiosity I looked up the net. Lo and behold! The month of July is celebrated as Disability month. This month has been marked so, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990.

Apart from many other days like the World Day for International Justice on 17 July, the entire month celebrates liberty, dignity, and freedom. For people who are physically or mentally challenged in any way, this may bring about a paradigm shift in the way in which people, in general, look at them and treat them. As per the current estimates, we have at least 1 billion such people on the planet. The most common response of people who perceive themselves as normal, is to look at people with special needs as lesser beings and some degree of liability. Very few give the status of equality and accommodate as another fellow being.

The proven fact is that with proper facilitation, differently abled people outperform the notional normal and even make landmark contributions to the society at large. History is witness to innumerable such examples. The need of the hour is to ensure inclusion at all levels. And this can’t be achieved by demarcating people as disabled or special but by simply catering to the extra needs and accepting people as equals and one like any other. Hence, this month is very special from my perspective