Wheelchair-bound Mumbai couple's message for all Indians: Go out and vote!

Andheri resident Girish Gogiarsquos email id mrpositiveindian is a succinct summation of all that he is lsquoPositiversquo is an understatement for Gogiarsquos spirit which leaves the most eloquent bereft of words or labels Today Girish has a message for all Indians mdash go out and voteThe waters are still lovely and deep We have miles to go before we sleep say Girish and Eesha GogialdquoI am confined to a wheelchair and most election centres do not have ramps Still I make it a point to be taken to the centre and cast my vote and I shall do the same this election toordquoAble or disabled make it a point to go and participate in the voting process otherwise you have no right to complainrdquo says Girish who rewinds to 15 years agoHand it to life Participants at a workshop conducted by the GogiasThe DiveIn 1999 Girish was at a beach in Goa to usher in the new millennium A confident ocean diver Girish decided to dive off at Calangute beach on December 29 1999 ldquoUnfortunately I miscalculated the depth of the water I dived into shallow water and landed upside down with my head hitting the soft sandy seabed I did not get any skull injury but my body weight impacted my spinal cord My neck broke and I was instantly paralysed I drifted into deep waters as I could not swim backrdquo Girish was brought back to shore with helpDarkness to lightldquoSince then I have been completely paralysed neck downwards I became a quadriplegic with just 50 per cent of respiratory function and zero sensation in almost 90 per cent of my bodyrdquo he saysGirish recalls ldquoI remember the day vividly when doctors told me that I would never be able to lead a normal life I remember screaming from the depth of my darkness How could I a jetsetting entrepreneur an interior designer and an adventurelover turn into a vegetable I was just married and I had my entire life to live Why me I felt perplexed More so as my wife Eesha too was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis MS six months prior to my debilitating diverdquoGirishrsquos defiance however surfaced soon He remembers ldquoI recall the neurologist said lsquoGirish you will have to live the rest of your life as a vegetablersquo and also told my parents that I wonrsquot be able to survive more than a year or two I met the doctor and challenged him and said Doctor I appreciate your diagnosis but I will not accept your final verdictrsquordquoThe fight backEesha has an equally difficult story to tell ldquoBy early 1999 when I was 25 and two years into my marriage I started losing my balance while walking and could not go walk around My vision was distorted The doctors diagnosed it as MS Before things worsened for me in December 1999 my husband Girish took me to Goa for a holiday There he met with a terrible accident which left him 90 per cent paralysedrdquoBy 2006 Esharsquos condition worsened and she could barely walk ldquoI decided to go back to my parentrsquos home It was then that a family friend introduced me to Nichiren Dashoninrsquos Buddhism I took up the practice praying sincerely for my husband Prayers gave me the courage to understand our predicament and I refused to be defeatedrdquo she recallsLeaning on each otherMeanwhile Girish was back home ldquoI had a helper to feed me bathe me and carry me Every time I needed something helplessness engulfed me Eesha was there to care for me and help me So were my parents But what is a life of dependencyrdquoBut if Buddhist chants helped Esha for Girish the darkness began dissipating when he understood that while he did not have his limbs he still had his mind ldquoI understood that the problem is your attitude about the problem So I was determined to fight I started focusing on factors that were positive rather than negativerdquo he saysEesha too had to dig deep for courage to face the world ldquoMy family welcomed me back in December 2006 supporting me wholeheartedly despite the upheaval to their lives But soon my legs stopped moving and my lower body became immobile I was unable to take care of myself Previously I would cry a lot feeling very sad for myself I could not control my tearsrdquoThe transformationToday however Eesha rarely stops smiling ldquoNow a smile is kind of stuck on my face Today at 38 my spirit is high and I take my situation in my stride through my prayersrdquo she says adding ldquoNever ever run away from the problem Fight it You have a choice Life always gives you two options mdash fight or flight and I say fightrdquo she signs off The Gogia couplersquos story doesnrsquot end here It goes on And yes they are making sure they vote to elect the next government