Devidas Gaonkar is a poet and journalist, and a proud member of the indigenous Velip tribe. He lives in a remote forest reserve not far from the beautiful and touristic beaches of South Goa.   Devidas dropped out of school in 2003 because there was no money for education, and of boredom if he had note found film-making, his passion.  One…

Devidas Gaonkar

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Augostinho was a toddler when a wrong medical diagnosis left his legs in pain, and shortly completely immobile. However, the unfortunate incident did not limit him from leading a normal life.

Since he can't use his limbs waist-down, he props his body up and walks on his hands. In fact, he does much more than most of us even try doing. "I swim, climb trees, change tyres, do carpentry and electronic works, drive a car. " Augostinho says a matter-of-factly. While people would assume that walking on hands will be tiresome and painful, Augostinho puts that argument to rest too by saying, "My wife suggests that I use a wheelchair to get around, but I would rather walk." 

A successful singer and a musician in Carmona, a village in South Goa, where Augostinho is also a popular tutor to 40 children in the locality. Today his determination and grit to succeed in the world have earned him respect and space in the society. But his childhood and youth, he faced many difficulties, including ridicule and harassment from people. "I used to go to Panjim for my college and people would create unnecessary trouble for me. When I used to get tired of walking, and would sit down to rest, people thought I was a beggar," recalls Augostinho. 

But his patent grit proved to be going strong even amidst such lowly behaviour all around him. "I ignored what people thought of me and focused on completing my college," he recalls. 

Seeing Augostinho do so much with his life make us realise that we are very limited in our hopes from the disabled.