(L to R) Ram Naik with their mother Shali Naik and Laxman Naik.
Destiny has its own ways of handling things, and even if two persons are born on the same day and same time, their fates may be totally contradictory. The twin brothers Laxman and Ram (here, irony is Laxman is elder brother and Ram younger) from Dabolim Shiroda are leading different lives – one is working on the ship, and the other is working at the Directorate of Sports, posted in 1 Goa Naval Unit NCC, at Peddem Mapusa office. Ram works on the ship and comes on vacation for two-three months in a year, while Laxman who is person with orthopaedic disability, works as MTS since 2016.
“I got polio at the age of five, and my disability is 50 % while my brother Ram has no disability. We both have studied up to standard 12. Living in the village with fewer medical facilities when we were kids, I had high fever when I was five years old, and during that illness my left leg became paralysed. Since then I am living with polio,” explains Laxman, now 40.
The schooling was indeed a challenging task for Laxman, who had to travel by local buses for six km daily to attend the school, Dr Sakharam Gude School at Vazangal Shiroda. “We were not aware of any rights for the disabled. And there was no Balrath, as the schools today have. And we could not afford tuitions, as we were financially weak. My father Murali Naik worked on the truck at the local laterite query, and mother Shali Naik was a housewife. I lost my father to alcohol in 2017 and we now only have our mother and brother in the family. Most of the time Ram is on the ship, so my mother and I take care of each other,” says Laxman who completed his SSC and higher secondary from the same school, scoring second class in 12th commerce and after taking some training in computers, began earning to support his family.
“I worked in BDF Pvt Ltd at Curti Ponda for eight years, before I got a job in the Sports Department on April 1, 2016. Since then I am here on the same post. I can walk for some time, but continuously walking is painful. And I travel on scooter for three hours daily to go to my office at Peddem Sports Complex. Riding a scooter in the rush hours, through Porvorim traffic is a real risk to life, and recently I was knocked down in an accident when someone hit his bike. I fell down,” shares Laxman, who expresses his wish to get a transfer from Peddem to Ponda, which is near Shiroda to ease his travelling woes.
Most of his time goes in travelling and he gets very little time to pursue his hobbies of playing badminton and table tennis. But his leisure time is spent in gardening. “I have planted fruit trees which are yielding now, and we get to taste home-grown papaya, mango, chickoo, banana, cashew etc. Having a place of your own where you can grow your own organic produce is a blessing, and being close to Mother Earth gives me strength, and rejuvenates me,” expresses Laxman who has very few friends. The Naik family used to have cattle in the past. “I get less time on a daily basis, my mother is now old and brother is away most time of the year, so it is difficult to devote time to gardening which is very relaxing and also saves some money, as organic fruits are expensive in the market.”
Laxman has no complaints, and considering ‘less as more’ lives a content life, though his mother is concerned about the marriage of both sons. “I am elder, but due to polio no girl wants to get married to me. My brother Ram cannot get married because the society believes that unless elder brother gets married, younger should not. So we are trapped in a vicious circle, and as our mother is getting old, she is unable to handle home chores. We have left it up to destiny now,” says Laxman.
