What is Normalcy and who defines it
[Music]
[Music]
do
yes that’s me in the clip you just saw
i’m curious what did you notice while
watching it
on second thought let’s come back to
this question in a bit
as i believe it is important for you to
know me
and my story before that so let’s dive
right in
you might have noticed something
different about me the moment you saw me
it’s okay i don’t mind acknowledging it
i do look like stunning in black don’t i
okay enough beating around the bush let
me just say it out loud
i was not very old when my parents had
to take the disheartening
decision of amputating my right forearm
to eliminate a life-threatening
condition
that one circumstance has altered the
course of my life ever since
you might believe that my life up until
now might have been
completely different due to this fact
but let me assure you
it’s not if i were to describe it using
a single word
i would choose the word normal
growing up i had questions about myself
and the world
like every other child has there have
been moments when i would get frustrated
about how i have to take the strenuous
way out
to do the most trivial of tasks
sometimes
but as you grow older you get calmer
and learn to accept yourself just the
way you are
after countless back and forth with
insecurities and self-doubt
i eventually learned the method of
accepting myself just the way i
am and not let it hinder my capability
despite all of this there is an issue
that i still cannot resolve
it is the society’s perception of me and
my body
while introducing myself i call myself
ambitious isha
which is who i am most of the time but
ambition stems from true passion and a
sense of purpose
which i’ve only ever felt at the highest
of intensity for my academics
yeah you heard me right academics
this passion was triggered by one
particular incident
back when i was in nursery and had
forgotten to do my homework as a result
of which
i ended up receiving something my sister
and i
call the dreaded red fish in my notebook
from my teacher
as inconsequential as that little mark
on my notebook sounds
it was sufficient to make young isha
scared enough
to make up her mind to never miss
another homework or assignment in her
life
now you might believe that this passion
arises from overcoming the fear or
beloved redfish or the fact that i found
myself securing a rank in school
followed by the time i topped the mumbai
region in my hsc exam
but i beg to differ yes
those ranks awards and validations do
motivate me to focus
and strive in terms of academics but
it is the process that excites me the
most
i’m a firm believer of the fact that
unless you enjoyed the process
you could never excel in a field when
you thoroughly enjoyed the process
along with focusing on your ultimate
goal you could even swim through a seven
hour long lecture effortlessly speaking
of which
let me introduce you to my journey of
becoming a mermaid oh
i’m sorry i meant a swimmer my journey
of becoming a swimmer
i started swimming in 5th grade
participated in my first tournament in
8th grade
and then there was no turning back only
goals to set and achieve
my swimming routines and practices are
almost identical to what every other
swimmer goes through
one might believe that my hand might
hinder my ability to do such physical
activities and workouts
but it usually isn’t the case though it
might slow me down a bit in a few
strokes
it doesn’t drastically affect my
performance
i have participated in district state
and national level palestinian events
various other tournaments and also in
bso competing with non-para-athletes
the best thing about competitions is the
complete spirit of sportsmanship that
fills there
i have always found support and healthy
competition
from all those whom i competed against
and i found it as a great opportunity to
socialize
and network with people from different
walks of life
another important lesson swimming has
taught me is that
you win some and you lose some but
at times as all humans do i do get
demotivated by defeat
and in those moments a little blue fish
from my childhood comes to me singing
you know what you gotta do when life
gets you down
just keep swimming just keep swimming
just keep swimming swimming swimming
but i cannot take all the credit now can
i one of the first golden rules that we
are taught by learning accountancy
states
debit the receiver and credit deliver
and i cannot go without giving due
credits
to my pillars of support to a great
degree
the values that a child imbibes comes
from the parenting that they receive
i grew up in a household where i had the
familiarity to be
myself without any hesitation or doubt
and the independence to pursue whatever
i had my heart in
when it comes to my parents whom i
consider my first pillar of support
they were never the ones to worry about
my grades or my performance in school
they believed in letting me and my
sister learn our lessons by ourselves
while they made sure they were with us
every step of the way
my parents are my armor protecting me
from harm
while helping me to stand up straight
and proud of myself
making sure i ingested well with others
that i don’t face any difficulty that
other children wouldn’t
they are the embodiment of strength
support and stability in my life
it is not easy to have a child who is
different from others
you face a bunch of questions that can
become bothersome
be it intentional or not my parents
tested every day to avoid every judgment
or misconception that came my way
and never let it become an obstacle for
me
they handled the outside world and me so
well
i wouldn’t be entirely wrong in calling
them executives
working on the giant function of hr and
pr in my life
the next pillar of support and perhaps
the most important one for me
is my sister a sibling relationship may
reasonably be a complicated one
with differences of opinion and a clash
of interests
but that was never the case with us
even though we sometimes have your
pointless things
she has always been my beacon of
motivation
my confidant one who constantly pushes
me to do better
while catering to my smallest of needs
making sure i am comfortable wherever i
am
it is said that it is easy to find
support within the four walls of a house
but when you step outside the
circumstances turn difficult
but what i experienced was nowhere
similar to the safe statement
my teachers have always been a pillar of
support for me
outside my home growing up i used to
wear a prosthetic arm
and on request i remember a few of my
teachers coming home to learn how it
worked
so that they could help me to put it on
while i was in the school premises
it’s this level of determination
understanding
and empathy that instilled confidence in
me while growing up
and has led me to respect them as much
as i do
the last pillar of support that keeps me
afloat are my coaches
who recognized what i was capable of and
pushed me towards all the opportunities
waiting for me to seize them
my national level coach made me
understand what tough love is
sometimes you need your coach to be
tough and demanding of you
to push your limits and do better
consistently
after an intense practice session when
my mother would come up to offer me some
water
he would stop her saying children don’t
tire easily
it is not good to condition them to
think that they need help because
the best performance and stamina comes
out only when they have been pushed to
their very limits
there was a time when i came second in
the swimming competition
and my coach rejoiced as if i had won a
grand title
something he had said then still echoes
in my heart
if i were to translate it to english it
would mean
there is no one in front of the one who
comes first
but there is always an aim in front of
the one who comes second
the aim to reach as high as the first
one
but for those who come first their
challenge is to maintain their position
swimming has also taught me to be
grateful for all that i have instead of
dwelling on the negatives
there is a concept of disability paradox
that states how most people think
a person with a disability like me
leaves an unhappy life
on the contrary my life couldn’t be more
normal and happy
it is true that i am at a disadvantage
when it comes to certain
tasks like tying my shoelaces or styling
my hair into a ponytail
but i feel my disability has helped me
to become stronger in ways
i wouldn’t have otherwise imagined
i think differently abled individuals
are actually disabled by society’s
perception
more than by their diagnosis people tend
to see my disability even before they
see me
which means that their mind goes to all
the things that i cannot
do instead of all the things that i can
do
this often has me wondering what is
normal
and who decides it the more i ponder on
it the more solid the idea becomes that
normal
is just a word a word as subjective as a
person’s taste in movies color
food or music to conceive this idea
i look at normal as a plane in
equilibrium
perfectly balanced perfectly stable
for most people this plane is flat and
even
making it easy for them to walk on it
but for me the same plane seems to be
lopsided
instead of having the benefit of walking
on a steady plane
i have to climb it walking
and climbing are two different processes
to reach the same end
one being less exalted than the other so
just because climbing is slightly more
taxing than walking
does it make climbing an anomaly or does
it make it special
can we ever fix either walking or
climbing
under the label of normal i think not
there are some strokes in water that i
just cannot make
there are few objects that need me to
have a firmer grip
most of the time some additional effort
into usual tasks is
all that it takes not being able to do
a certain task on account of inability
is common for
all of us the difference just lies in
what the task is
a few face difficulty in remembering of
you cannot manage their finances
and some others are not as accomplished
in their academics
everyone has their shortcomings and
imperfections
are what make us human
as a child i learn that everyone has to
work towards molding their identity
of what they aspire to be and what they
want to be known and remembered for
i see myself as fortunate when it comes
to that
the knack for academics along with my
proficiency in numbers
helped me to become certain at an early
stage that i wanted to be a ca when i
grew up
i am just like the others in my peer
group i study for the same mass and a
determined and aspiring ca student would
contrary to how difficult society
presumes my life to be
i live a perfectly normal life with
affectionate parents a caring sister
and a group of supportive friends who
never make me feel any less than they
are
i was subjected to neither preferential
treatment nor differential treatment
and that has played an integral part in
shaping me
and my attitude that i have today
if someone would ask me whether i would
want to wish for a different
life or to be in a different situation
my answer to that would be a no without
a second thought
this is the idea of normalcy for a girl
with earnest deems
trying to become successful in her life
there is something however something i
always wish people would try to
understand from my
perspective i do not consider myself
disabled
i am just another human who needs your
consideration and assurance
rather than the sympathy and
disheartenment
being a person who is slightly different
than others
does not make me a sight of pity or
unusualness
i identify myself as normal someone who
embraces her individuality
because what is normalcy but
what we define for ourselves coming back
to the question i started off with
i leave you with a slightly different
question
what do you notice now my abilities
or my disability