MALINI CHIB

MALINI CHIB, CEO, ADAPT (ABLEdisabled all people together) has cerebral palsy. But that does not stop her from living her life to the full. Malini holds two international masterʼs degrees

Having experienced acceptance and rejection, I turn to the positive aspects of my life. I tell myself how fortunate I am because not many can live the way I have and the way I do. I am fortunate to have friends who reach out to me and love me. I cherish those friends who love me just the way I am. They do not try and make you kind of ʻnormalʼ which I can never be or may not want to be, because I do not know what your ʻnormal is.I know only me. I like me.

I have learned to love and accept that life is beautiful as it is. It is not always easy, but definitelybeautiful. I think that despite the attitudes of rejection, lack of access and the loss of freedom, I have accepted India as home. No matter how hard it may be to live in India, it will always be home, and I will always return home. I am comfortable now in the light and the dark, the smiles and the tears.

Yet a part of me will always belong to London. The opportunity to be a part of life in London is the nectar in my jar, the honey in the flower and the rainbow in the storm. As long as I have a taste of the nectar on a regular basis, I have found strength so salute lifeand live it with laughter and humour.

I am like the migrating bird with her freedom to spend the winter months away and the summer at home. The hybrid, nurtured and fed by two cultures, aware of both the joy of being accepted and the pain of rejection. Trying to remember to live life one day at a time and to accept who I am. Hoping to rise up to the struggle and challenge of doing so against a sea of apathy and rejection. Living, hoping and believing that there is a better tomorrow. Finally free to be me.