Surya Bahadur Adhikari has not been able to move his legs since birth. But that deformity hasn’t got in the way of his work. He efficiently carries out his office work sitting in a wheelchair with the help of his knees and hands. The service seekers he attends get surprised to see an officer delivering working effectively from a wheelchair.

Adhikari is the chief of the social security unit of Hima Rural Municipality. He is 30 and lives at Patarkhola village in ward 6 of the same local unit.

In a society that looks down on people with physical disabilities, Adhkari has become a guiding light. Children, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and single women are his clients. The service seekers are impressed as he executes his work as soon as possible.

“I was surprised upon seeing Adhikari working actively in his office. He works as efficiently as able-bodied people do,” said Gorikala Kami of ward 1 of Hima. “It is meaningless to discriminate against any people for having physical disabilities. They can work like anyone if they get equal opportunity.” Kami recently visited Adhikari’s office regarding opening a bank account social security allowance.

Adhikari lost his mother at the age of five and became helpless for a long time. He is still haunted by the pain he experienced in his childhood. “Being born with a disability in society felt like committing a crime,” he says. He completed his secondary education from Bhanu Secondary School near the village. But he could never attend the school. Due to the difficult terrain, it was very risky to go to school. Parents did not always have time to carry him to school so he studied at home. His parents used to only take him to school only during exams.

“I neither saw the school, nor the teachers,” he said. “I read the books bought by my parents at home. I took exams with the help of my friends.” He can only move around by crawling. He said that when he was little, he got sad when he could not walk. “When all my friends went to school, my heart ached. During festivals, everyone would go, but I would stay at home and spend the day.”

As Adhikari lived in a remote village, neither the people working for the disabled people nor any authority concerned knew about his plights. He was the only person with deformity in that area. Everyone used to tease him. He used to hate it, but now he says that every hardship he experienced at that time is turning into power. After completing his secondary education, he moved to Khalanga, the district headquarters of Jumla, for further studies. The town had neither disabled-friendly structures nor wheelchairs. Everyone would look at him as he walked down the street on his hands and knees.

Adhikari enrolled for education faculty in Chandannath Secondary School, Khalanga. The school was not disabled friendly. He said he had returned to his room without learning as he could not reach his class. It continued for weeks but nobody paid heed about his ordeal.

On 17 June 2012, it was the anniversary of Karnali FM, the first radio station of the Karnali region. He came to the programme on his hands and knees. Fed up with his life, he attempted to take poison in front of everyone in the programme stating that no one cared for him and there was no point to live in this world. “That incident became a turning point in my life. The authorities showed concerns about my situation,” said Adhikari.

The Disability Rehabilitation and Development Center in Jumla started holding discussions with the District Education Office, District Administration Office and the concerned school. Adhikari was provided a wheelchair by International Nepal Fellowship (INF), a non-governmental organisation. He took the public service commission’s exam and started making plans to enter the government service. He bought books and started studying day and night but could not succeed.

Adhikari has completed his Bachelor’s in Education. From 2016 to 17, he worked at the help desk of the Women and Children Office in Khalanga. From 2018 to 2019, he became the project coordinator at the INF, which helped him pay the tuition fee and room rent.

Since 2019, he has been working in the social security unit of Hima Rural Municipality on contract basis. His wife, two children and father are with him. “While in the village, I had never hoped that I would reach here,” Adhikari said. “I was depressed and discouraged. There was no encouragement at all. I am now happy to serve the people.”

After evaluating his work, Adhikari received awards from the rural municipality for two years. “I am ready to work even more efficiently and hard if I get the opportunity,” he said. “There are around 2,500 beneficiaries under my unit. No one has complained about the work so far. I am satisfied with this.”

However, it is not easy and comfortable for him to work since the rural municipal building is not disabled-friendly. Adhikari’s village is around one and half hours walk away from his office. But he is unable to go to his village as it is yet to be connected with road networks. Most of the time, he comes to the office from his rented room in Khalanga travelling around 35 km on a four-wheeled scooter provided by the local unit.

Bhim Bahadur Adhikari, Surya’s childhood friend, owns a stationery shop near the rural municipality’s office. He is happy upon seeing the progress of his friend. “Surya neither saw the school nor met teachers and classmates. Now he has reached the position of serving others,” he said. “When he was at home, he was bullied by everyone. Now everyone respects him.”