Saturday, January 31, 2009

Saturday Read

I was browsing cricinfo this afternoon and came across this post on their Tour Diaries blog by Sriram Veera.
On December 12, 1992, a 35-year old Ajith Perera got the letter he had spent years waiting for. The man who became the first Sri Lankan to qualify as the professional umpire after a final exam at Lord's in 1985 was about to stand in his first Test, between Sri Lanka v New Zealand, when it happened. He read the appointment letter a few times and left the board office to get back home to share the proud moment with his parents.

He didn’t get home for the next two years. It was a stormy day and Perera was sitting in his car with the letter when nature intervened. A big wayside tree crashed against the car, killing the driver and instantly rendering Perera a paraplegic for life.
More over here.

It is a well known but sadly often ignored fact that developing countries like India, Sri Lanka etc. have little amenities for the physically disabled at majority of public, private and government places. It is only now that some of the private properties have been incorporating easy access options for the disabled on their properties. I believe their should be an initiative from the central and state governments to make it mandatory for properties to provide easy access and other options that would make it easier for the physically disabled to go about their lives as rest of us.