There is a very famous quote by Plutarch – The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled and it is upto our mind on how to act in case of adverse situations! As per a recent study by the UN, there are close to one billion specially-able people globally out of which 40~80 million people are living in India.
If you are able bodied and want to accomplish something with or without your body, achievement of the end goal only depends on the effort that you put. However for a person with physical disability, the whole life becomes a challenge though some of these challenges can still be overcome only with sheer will and passion to move ahead in life. Though specially abled people do face many obstacles, they still have the will and motivation to succeed and the very first step is to remove the specially abled tag from their minds!
There are many inspiring stories where specially abled people have achieved greater heights (that even a normal person wouldn’t have been able to do) like How Kargil War Hero Major D.P.Singh became India’s first blade runner and did not let his disability affect him to push harder to realize his potential, How Srikanth Bolla built Bollant Industries by fighting odds against his blindness and the list just keeps on growing! As mentioned by the late Stella Young – The only disability is the brain disability and disability doesn’t make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does.
Though there are innumerable stories of inspiration, Commute is one area that needs to be solved for those who are living with physical disabilities/challenges. People with disabilities have consistently described how transportation barriers affect their lives in important ways. This is where self-driving can make a huge difference and this is the problem that social entrepreneur Harish Kumar’s venture Ability On Wheels is aiming to solve (Earlier coverage here)! Ability On Wheels is an effort to encourage the people with disabilities (PWDs) to take a big leap towards leading a normal life by being able to drive on their own.
Today, we review his book Ability On Wheels which is a book that provides Hope! It is an effort to spread awareness and provide useful information on disability and driving
About the author
Harish Kumar was born with the absence of right arm. He did his M Sc from IIT Roorkee & M Tech from IIT Delhi. In 2012, he became the first physically challenged person in the country to complete a Solo All India Driving Expedition thereby creating a new National Record and one more record in the next year. You can find more information about him here
In order to go ahead with the review, it is very important to look into the aspect – Why Ability On Wheels.
Many people expressed their desire to drive but there was not even a single driving school for them in the entire country. This is where Harish fore-saw an opportunity and gave up his career in telecom with the sole mission : Provide driveway for people with disabilities. After six months of detailed study, multiple iterations, follow-ups and negotiations with the government, etc. Ability On Wheels, India’s first driving school for people with disabilities was born!
Detailed Review
Today the disability sector in India is at the stage where maximum visibility and focus on the potential of the person with disabilities is very much required. This is what Ability On Wheels caters to. The book is enriched by personal experiences of Harish in his quest to provide disability is only in mind and we become what we think.
The book has experiences that are faced by Harish Kumar and how he overcame those hurdles to learn driving. In addition to his own experiences, the book cites real life examples of the following:
Navin Gulia, a gentleman cadet who became paraplegic during a freak incident encountered during is training.
Satendra Singh, a doctor & polio survivor who has been highly vocal on barriers that plague the people with disability.
Kavita Modi & Pallav Pathak, students at the motor driving school for the physically challenged who learnt driving despite all odds!
These are just a few real life case-studies of grit & determination that have been covered in the book. It is a short read of ~150 pages and each chapter covers one specially-abled driver, his/her driving strategies, insights into traffic rules, types of vehicles, Process for obtaining a driving license, general Do’s & Dont’s for driving, driving under different climatic conditions, etc.
Who should read this book
Most of the times we are motivated by looking at other’s actions or by following their journey (and how they became successful by beating all challenges that came their way). They could be an entrepreneur, film-star, sport-star, your fellow colleague or anyone from whom you can draw inspiration! If you are the one who is looking for motivation and love reading stories about grit & determination, then Ability On Wheels definitely should be in your collection.
Ability On Wheels book would also be of immense interest to someone with disabilities, disability advocates & researchers, researchers, travel enthusiasts, car dealers & sales representatives of car manufacturers, officials of transport department, etc. It provides tips for safe driving, customizations/modifications required in a vehicle, related rules, etc.
Closing Thoughts
The book Ability on Wheels is an attempt on visualizing how society can be more inclusive to specially-abled persons by opening up driving for not just their mobility but also for their emotional, social and financial empowerment.
The intent of the publisher Artson Publishing to make a difference by publishing Ability On Wheels is also note-worthy since they are a start-up and inspite of focusing solely on monetization, they chose to focus on such social causes; kudos to them! The book Ability On Wheels is available exclusively on Amazon for Rs. 150.
I would close the review with a motivational quote by Harish
Driving requires mental strength, so use it. Forget about your disabilities – just drive