An Unstoppable Echo

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This film provides an intimate look into Jeeja’s daily life, capturing moments of resilience as she operates lifts and navigates through her day. Jeeja shares her poignant journey from a special school to a regular-inclusive school, highlighting the initial challenges she faced in communication. Undeterred, she encourages open dialogue, urging others to seek clarification if they find her speech difficult to understand.
Addressing Cerebral Palsy as a condition, not a disease, Jeeja demystifies its complexities, shedding light on the difficulties individuals may face. Drawing from her personal experiences, she reflects on societal perceptions. The documentary concludes with a scene of Jeeja reading a book with her daughter, emphasizing the power of acceptance and the boundless possibilities that lie beyond perceived limits.

I’m Jeeja Ghosh and I am a person with Cerebral palsy.
(Jeeja walking towards the door)
(Jeeja entering the lift)
(Are you from Bengal?)
Yea
(Wonderful, Which part of Bengal?)
Calcutta
(Oh Calcutta, wonderful)
Cholo, cholo, move
No, 4th floor
3rd
Oh
3rd
1st floor
Thank you Mam
I work with Enable India Bangalore, but I am basically from Kolkata and my family is still there. I have a 5 year old daughter
I went to a regular school called La Martiniere in Calcutta.

It is very interesting, the challenges were in the infrast..infrastructure, we had to walk a long way from the assembly to the, to where our classroom department was and it was on the third, third floor. That was a infrastructural challenge but very interestingly, the support I got from my peers and my teachers were phenomenal and that made up for the infrastructural challenge and what is very interesting is that my teachers never treated me differently and they also, also imbibed this to the other students so nobody treated me differently.
Unlike what people think and many people are subject to bullying, but for me I never faced bullying maybe because I joined in Class 11.

Yes, it has been a journey from a special needs school to a regular school.
In the beginning people had problem understanding me, but after some time, I think they kind of get used to my way of speaking and they understand.
And what, what I do in a training or I am teaching, I begin with that I have a speech difficulty.
Anywhere you don’t understand, feel free to stop me and ask.
Cerebral palsy is a condition, not a disease and, and the spectrum of Cerebral palsy is very large because the, the, the damage happens depending on the part of the brain which is affected. So no, no, cerebral palsy is atypical. Some cerebral palsy might have speech difficulty, cognitive difficulties, loss of eye sight, loss of hearing. It’s a very wide spectrum. Since it is a multiple disability, Cerebral palsy is a spectrum.

You see I, I can move around, I am mobile, but there are people who use wheelchair, there are people who cannot speak.
They have to use an alternate method of expression and this is called Augmentative and Alternative mode of communication.
Some cerebral palsy persons might have a high degree of intellectual disability, so they might need continue, continuous supervision.
Society doesn’t easily accept people with disabilities, so when you interact with society, you come across lot of unpleasant incidents. And my case has been no different.
I’ve been subject to bullying in society. People laughing at me. When we were very young, people called us mad.
When we went out or when our parents took us out, people keep staring at us, as if we are some aliens.
So, that has been there during my childhood and my growing up years. I faced lots of unpleasant incidents.