By Dr. Arundhati Ray
The event was a gala affair on a magnitude never before dared. Banners and posters and blue-and-yellow pennants – the international colors of disability – fluttered brightly in the breeze.
On December 3, 2000, World Disability Day was celebrated in New Delhi, India, by close to 5,000 persons from every sector of disability. Coordinating this spectacular expression of joyousness and unity was 35-year-old Javed Abidi who, with seemingly inexhaustible energy, appeared to be in all places at once.
There was no doubt that he was the master of ceremonies. Yet, it could also be said that he was the principle architect of the moment.
Historically speaking, in India this day has been marked by tokenism or protests. But this gathering was an emphatic, unqualified celebration. For, the year marked not only the fifth anniversary of the sector being granted critical legal rights; 2000 also witnessed the sector's hard-won victory to get disability included in the 2001 Census.
