Why Are You Afraid To Hold My Hand?
by Sheila Dhir
“Why Are You Afraid To Hold My Hand?” by Sheila Dhir. Published by Tulika. A beautiful book about attitudes of people towards those with disabilities.
The book is narrated by a child affected by Cerebral Palsy. The narrative has been spun as a silent dialogue of the child with the society. People react in the strangest of ways when they encounter someone with a disability. It could just be that they are at a loss of how to be around such people. Added to this there are lots of apprehensions and misconceptions centred around disability.
The child tells the society that they know about their not being normal and needn’t be reminded of it by their reactions. They are not asking for help all the time. Give them space and let them do things at their pace. Just because their legs are wobbly, one cannot assume that their mind is wobbly as well. The best thing that one can do is to be themselves and let others be their own selves as well. Don’t put them at unease by stating or fussing too much unnecessarily. Also disabled doesn’t mean that they can’t do things. It means that they can do it in their own ways at their pace. They are strong enough and are differently abled. One doesn’t need to feel sorry or guilty about them. Just be normal around them.
A very sensitive topic has been introduced beautifully to little children who are just about beginning to form their own opinions. In fact even adults can benefit by understanding disability from the point of view of an affected child. Children are inclusive by nature and the prejudices start creeping in as they grow and start watching people around them. So it is a good reminder for everyone to not end up treating the disabled differently.
My seven year old loved the book. It made him think quite a bit as we read the book. We had already read quite a few books with differently abled people as protagonists such as “Thukpa For All”, “Machher Jhol”, “Wings to Fly”, “Chuskit goes to School”, “Welcome to the Forest” and “It’s an amazing Universe”. The book is apt for children aged 6+. Thank you Vidya and Muthamma of Funky Rainbow for recommending this lovely book!
Where to buy from?
The publishers Tulika books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.