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Amazing Amanda

SHE is certainly of a different calibre, a mettle that is rare to find. Born in India and currently a legal advocate in the United States, Amanda Mays is surprised at the kind of attention she is getting in Kerala. And all for the single reason that she is physically challenged _ born without hands.

Not that we have not seen disabled people before, but Amanda radiates a rare vitality and she does more than most of us can with both hands!

Seeing our curiosity to know more, the pretty and petite Amanda asserts there’s nothing special about her. “What do you want to know about me?” she asks. As we sit down for a quick chat at the beach in Fort Kochi, Amanda puts across a message very clearly : “Don’t write about me with pity.

You won’t get a sob story out of me.” Amanda is not a person to whine and sulk. “I am like anyone else. It’s only that I use my body differently. I don’t get this kind of attention back in the US,” she says with a shrug.

At 30, Amanda does everything that a normal human being does _ with elan. “Maybe the only thing that I cannot do is handstands,” says the woman who loves cooking. “During weekends my neighbours and I have small get-togethers and at times I cook for everybody.”

Amanda was adopted from the Mother Teresa orphanage in Kolkata when she was 10 months old. “Seeing my disability my parents must have abandoned me. Luckily I was adopted by a loving family and was given good education.”

Amanda says she was not different as a child. “Of course, I was a little smaller than other children and I used to have a small desk at school.” But she went to a normal school and learnt everything on her own. “Nobody taught me to use my legs. I just started writing with them. It was not difficult and I was a quick learner,” she says.

When asked to pose for a photograph she asked us to wait for a second _ and placed her hair properly using her legs. She did it so naturally; making it seem like you and I could do it! She dials a mobile phone, eats with a fork and knife and even combs her hair and cooks without any help. “I have a job and I live on my own. This shows that anything is possible for a physically disabled person,” she says.

Amanda feels that Indian society should be a lot more sensitive to the needs of differently abled people. “If I was in India I would probably be in a special home or begging on the streets,” says Amanda who is blessed with a large family- four sisters and two brothers- back in the US.

In the US, she says, special children are put in normal schools with changes in the curriculum. All that Amanda wants to tell people here is, if you have a daughter or son with a physical disability, give him or her the best education possible. Be more open and generous to them. “Before you realise it, they will be on their own.”

During her India tour, she did voluntary work at the Mother Teresa Convent in Kolkata from where she was adopted. After touring India, she and her friend Amir will be heading to Thailand to visit a friend. “I have taken a two-month vacation. There is so much to see in India,” she says.

As we take leave, she asks, “Can you send me a copy of the paper? When I spoke to my mom about this interview, she said she would love to see the article.” Looking at this bold woman, we can only marvel at her energy levels!

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEX20080122002526