CP isn't cerebral palsy, but CP stands for Capable Person-Dr. Riitesh Sinha
Consummate
student. Creative innovator. Attentive therapist. Model employee.
Recipient of Cavinkare Ability Award. Limca Book Record holder. Honorary
Doctorate recipient. Author, Naturopath, Many achievements, one name –
Dr. Riitesh Sinha.
"I see the computer as the basic mode of expression and communication. It has changed my life completely. Without computers, communicating and expressing is a herculean task.
Spastic cerebral palsy makes it tough for me to talk fast and clearly. Along with speech, my motor functions are also severely affected.Throughout my school life, my parents had to take me to school and other places. I was entirely dependent on them. I wanted to change all of that and one day when I was watching a Science video, the idea of making a trike dawned upon me.
After two years of research and with very little expertise available in a small place like Karnal, I got modifications done on a normal cycle. I added a foot pedal that helped me steer the cycle and balance myself. The trike is affordable and very convenient to use. I use it to get around town, as far as 10 km all my own. It’s like I have wings now! I’m glad that this is my own innovation. It even helped me bunk a few B.Sc classes..after all, bunking classes is a part of leading a fulfilling college life!
Thanks to Dyal Singh College teachers and my friends, all my classes were arranged on the ground floor. I never once had problems of accessibility. I now hold a Masters degree in Information Technology from Manipal Academy of Higher Eductation, Manipal and I have also learnt Naturopathy from Nature Care Institute, Nashik.
The biggest turning point in my life was the Computer Centre that I taught in. It is affiliated to the National Institute of Open Schooling. Here, I taught the basics of computers to children and few adults. Over a period of ten years, I have introduced more than 1000 students to the world of computers. Lot of people said that you cannot teach but I proved all of them wrong. There is no reason why people with CP cannot work!
Life has taught me to fight. In 2011, I got a job at the Districts & Sessions Court in Karnal, but after a few months, I was ousted from the job on the grounds of my disability. I then approached the High Court with my case. The Court asked me to submit to an ability test. I did and I won the case. The Court quashed my termination order.
Since it was the first time in the history of the High Court that a physically challenged person was asked to undergo an ability test, my name is in the Limca Book of Records. Today I work with the Karnal District & Sessions court where I look after the maintenance of digitized records.
I was reading a story about a yogi and how he benefitted from the practice of Mudraa. I started practicing it myself and found great relief…my body stiffness went away and I decided to help others discover this too. My blog called ‘Riitesh Mudraa ’contains mudraas and practices that can provide relief to people suffering from cerebral palsy and Parkinson.
For a person with cerebral palsy , even holding a pen is often a challange.A unique "pen-holding technique" named as "Riitesh's method" has been devised by me. It was featured in June 2018, in the International Journal of research in Social Sciences.
"Ünderstanding Cerebral Palsy" is a recent book that I have written, so as to raise awareness about Cerebral Palsy in general Public.I have also recieved CavinKare Ability award and ADAPT Activists Award and have been selected by Intel and "the betterindia.com" for their Digital India Campaign.
In India, our society thinks that physically challenged people are useless. We are not even treated as proper human beings. There are easily 25 lakh Indians who suffer from cerebral palsy, and yet, very few of them get jobs. I believe that if we remove this social stigma, more than 80% of physically challenged people can lead more fulfilling lives.
In the words of my sister Anila, "For a man who finds it difficult to hold a pen, finds it difficult to wear clothes, who sometimes takes as long as two hours to brush his teeth, what he has acheived is phenomenal and there are still miles to go.
