‘I focus on the person, not the disability': the photographer on a mission to make India inclusive

The Guardian

03-03-2025

For Bikram Bhattarai, getting to school meant being carried by his father, Narpati, across the hilly terrain of Gangtok in the north Indian region of Sikkim. The half-hour journey each way was especially treacherous when the rains came and Bhattarai, who was born without arms, sometimes had to ask classmates to help carry him, too.
Now 21, he is at college studying history and enjoys writing poetry and listening to rappers including Eminem and Nepal's Yama Buddha. But his true passion is art, he says, as he shares a sketch of an open palm holding a butterfly, drawn with his feet.
Bikram Bhattarai, a college student from Gangtok in Sikkim who was born without arms, loves art and has taught himself to draw with his feet
'Seeing my big sister inspired me. Seeing how she used her hands, I started using my toes the same way,' says Bhattarai. His story is one of 100 collected in a new book by photographer Vicky Roy, who has spent four years travelling across India's 28 states and eight territories capturing the experiences of people living with the 21 disabilities recognised by the Indian government.
For the project, Roy spends a day with each subject and their stories are translated and published, one a week, by volunteers. 'I focus on the person, not the disability; to show them not as objects of pity but as ordinary human beings pursuing their simple everyday dreams,' he says.
Photographer Vicky Roy collected 100 stories of people living with disabilities to include in the book
With its title written in English and braille, the book is part of a 10-year project of the same name, Everyone is Good at Something (EGS), launched in 2021. In February, Roy presented his work at the Jaipur literature festival and has also shown it at the UN in New York and Delhi, with exhibitions in Japan and elsewhere.
EGS grew out of a mission by Roy and VR Ferose, founder of the India Inclusion Foundation (IIF), to spread awareness and combat taboos by sharing stories of disability over 10 years and beyond. The IIF aims to 'make India inclusive' by 2030, the UN deadline for achieving the sustainable development goals.
Stigma around disability in India is reflected by the fact that the census records only about 2% of the population as having disabilities, compared with a world average of about 15%. This suggests families are hiding issues, and many may not know about rights enshrined in India's 2016 Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, says Ferose.
Vicky Roy, right, with VR Ferose, founder of the India Inclusion Foundation
'Attitudes have been slowly changing around disability in India,' says Ferose, an engineer based in California, who began working on disability rights after his son was born with autism. 'I believe many respond [to the stories] because we're helping invisible people be seen, especially in rural areas … others want to support them.'
Manisha Kumari Mahto, who was born with cerebral palsy, is unable to speak but communicates using sign
In Huppu village in eastern Jharkhand, Manisha Kumari Mahto's parents Mahto and Savita Devi at first believed she could be cured when she was born with cerebral palsy. The little girl is unable to move about or speak, but communicates through signs. 'I love listening to songs and I try to dance to them,' she says.
Roy has travelled by plane, bus, bike, bullock cart and on foot, even during the pandemic, since he began the project in 2021. It was in remote rural areas that he often received the warmest welcome, he says, and would leave with parcels of food for the journey home. He estimates he has covered about 62,000 miles (100,000km) for EGS.
Chhotray Hembram lost his feet as a baby and uses his knees to walk
It took him three days to reach Chhotray Hembram, 19, who lives in the tribal region of Ghatkuanri in Bangriposi Tehsil, in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. The area had no mobile phone connection and finding an Odia interpreter wasn't easy.
Hembram has walked on his knees for most of his life, after his feet were burned as a baby as he slept next to a cooking fire, while his parents were passed out from drinking alcohol. He had believed 'there is nothing much a disabled person can do'. But Roy connected Hembram with a local charity and helped to arrange training to become a mechanic at a garage about 12 miles away.
Hembram is now training to become a mechanic, after Roy helped to put him in touch with a local charity
On each visit Roy takes a fund of 10,000 rupees (about £92) to spend on something useful to the subject.
In the book's preface, Ferose writes: 'We also had a golden rule: when we encounter a person in need, help them lead a life of dignity. So not only did we write the stories but behind the scenes we also supported people, building a roof in a school, donating a laptop, buying a wheelchair or disability vehicle, giving cricket balls and more.'
The book relates many encounters with those who have helped expand opportunities in education, sport or work.
Satyavati Pandranki was five when she contracted polio in Mentada, in Andhra Pradesh, and says her parents wanted to give her 'the best education possible' so that she could lead an independent life, after the disease limited her mobility.
Satyavati Pandranki has limited mobility after contracting polio as a child. Her life was transformed after she took up wheelchair basketball in her 20s
After completing her degree and teaching qualifications, she was introduced to the Global Aid charity in Vizianagaram, which led her into wheelchair basketball. Since then, she has represented India and trained as a coach.
'I was a girl who couldn't travel from my village to the next one. Now I have played basketball in foreign countries,' she says.
Playing basketball has taken Pandranki around the world