“Each day in my life is a problem,” says Parvinder Chawla who has been sure to a wheelchair since she was 22 years previous. However that hasn’t stopped her from travelling world wide. She has been to 59 nations—gone paragliding in Taiwan, snorkelling in Australia’s Nice Barrier Reef, ziplining in South America and kayaking in Kanyakumari. “If you’re travelling, all of your ache vanishes,” she laughs.

Born in Ludhiana to a hotelier and homemaker, Chawla began displaying early indicators of rheumatoid arthritis at 15, when she couldn’t open her jaw to eat. At her sister’s wedding ceremony, she was required to squat for a dance step and she or he all of a sudden discovered that she couldn’t bend. It progressively worsened. “I couldn’t sleep or flip sides on the mattress. I attempted a number of therapies, however nothing appeared to scale back my ache. That’s after I determined to make use of a wheelchair.”

Chawla was bedridden for practically two years till her situation began to get higher with medicines. The 52-year-old who now lives by herself in Bandra slowly started to get on with life, and began transferring about by public transport throughout Mumbai in a handbook wheelchair. She took up a job as a tele-caller at a name centre. After which at some point, the journey bug bit.

How it began

Chawla’s school associates have been travelling to Vaishno Devi (Jammu & Kashmir), and she or he determined to hitch them. “Individuals requested me many occasions, ‘However how will you attain the temple?’” When she reached the shrine, there was no ramp for her wheelchair. “However 4 individuals picked me up and took me up the steps. It was very crowded, however when individuals noticed my situation, they made method. And identical to that, I reached Vaishno Devi,” she says.

After her journey to Kashmir, she accompanied her cousin-actor to Dubai on a shoot. “Dubai is among the most wheelchair-friendly locations on the planet. An organisation referred to as Wings of Angelz ensures that nearly each place is accessible by wheelchair.” Chawla, who had now switched to an automated wheelchair, took the bus and ultimately the Metro by herself. She’d spend days on the mall and cafes within the metropolis. “I used to be by no means at house. And these experiences stored constructing my confidence.”