A Crusade to Dignify Lives

ING! Almost all the bells of the typewriters in that room went off at once. The students at the typewriting class in Ramanathapuram were hunting and pecking at keys to keep up with the passage read aloud by the instructor, which turned the clacks of the machines the ambient noise. For a young S Namburajan, however, every ring of the bell was a rude awakening, after having recently witnessed the ill-treatment meted out to his instructor's daughter, a girl with intellectual disabilities, by her own family members.

- JEYALAKSHMI RAMANUJAM @Madurai

Eventually, the clacking ended. But several questions chased him throughout the 40-km train journey to his home in Pandi Kanmoi village of Paramakudi taluk. His conscience was troubled by wave after wave of questions, the very ones for which he had resolved to dedicate the rest of his life searching answers for.

For the last two decades, a 57-year-old Namburajan - now the state general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently-Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC) - has been an avid proponent for the empowerment of persons with disabilities (PwDs). The association's efforts were integral to several measures taken by the state government, ranging from reservation in education and employment for the PwDs to the constitution of the Department for the Welfare of Differently Abled Persons.

Though propelled by an avalanche of questions, a diligent Namburajan was unaware of the path he should pursue for tangible results. After completing class 12, he worked as a stenographer at a private firm and completed a bachelor's degree in psychology from Madras University through distance education. Gradually, he engaged himself in various social activities, including blood donation drives and volunteer services. The pivot, however, was a one-year diploma he pursued in special education (intellectual disability), conducted by Bala Vihar, during the 1996-1997 academic year.