Roman Rolland, a famed writer and Nobel prize winner, once said "if there is one place on the face of earth where all dreams of living men have found a home... it is India." Rolland's comment holds true to me. There is something magical about breathing the dusty, humid air, watching the pink sky set in the horizon, smelling the turmeric and spices drifting through the air, and watching the constant bustle of the busy streets. There is something mystical about India that makes me want to hear my grandmother's stories about her childhood there late into the night. I have never stayed in India for more than a month, yet I always feel a tug to return, to live and breathe the magic and mystery than permeates the air around me once more.
Maybe the most interesting aspect of India is the contrast between people - India is the land of the most stark inequality on the face of the earth. Walking down the street, a blind man missing both arm stands in line to get hot samosa's next to a man with a suit and tie who just sold a 100 million dollar apartment complex. Mukesh Ambani, one of the richest men to ever walk the earth, lives in a penthouse that overlooks the mostly densely populated slum in the world.
India's disabled community makes up a large portion of the nearly 200 million people who live in poverty there. There is only one reason why this is the case: education. India has public schools, but they are so poorly funded that anyone wishing to go to college must go to a private school. Many families living in poverty barely scrape by because they spend most of their money sending their children to private schools. However, these private schools are not required to have accessibility measures, meaning that children with disabiliies cannot attend. There are exceptionally difficult entrance exams for these schools, which essentially prevent people with intellectual disabilities from attending. The way the Indian education system is kind of a survival of the fittest system. Only those who are able to survive the grueling, 6 hour long examinations and be in the top 5% are able to make it out of the cycle of poverty.
India needs to adapt to the Western model of education in order to build an inclusive society. Public schools need to be given more funding to make them a viable alternative to private schools. If the current system of education in India continues, the cycle of disability related poverty will only grow.
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