Undaunted by Pain

Undaunted by Pain

1988 9 September 19 Undaunted by Pain (413) Her story was one of shamefully poor medical attention, which resulted in her leg being infected with gangrene. By the time this was discovered, it was too late to save her leg, and it had to be amputated three inches below the knee. A dancer to the very marrow of her bones, she used to cry out in anguish, “Will I ever dance again?”

On the 1st of April, 1984, eagle-eyed dance critics of Bombay watched Sudha Chandran, a nineteen-year-old dancer from South India, who was giving a performance after a long gap of three years. They scrutinized every movement she made, every posture she held, not just to evaluate her virtuosity as a dancer, but to see if they could make out which of her legs was artificial. Later, they said that it had been almost impossible to tell which one it was, and that her dancing was even better than it had been three years ago, before she had broken her right leg in an accident.

Her story was one of shamefully poor medical attention, which resulted in her leg being infected with gangrene. By the time this was discovered, it was too late to save her leg, and it had to be amputated three inches below the knee. A dancer to the very marrow of her bones, she used to cry out in anguish, “Will I ever dance again?”

Eventually she was fitted with a modern, artificial leg known as the “Jaipur foot.” One day, its inventor, Dr P.K. Sethi, happened to meet Sudha’s teacher, who told him of his pupil’s fervent desire to be able to dance again. Dr. Sethi was of the view that Sudha would be able to dance like anyone with normal limbs provided she was “tough enough to put in the extra effort and bear initial pain.”

When Sudha was given this ray of hope – that she would once again be able to dance – she prepared herself to bear that “initial pain” and bear it she did, putting in such determined efforts to regain her former level of excellence that soon she was ready to go on the stage again. With the critics acclaim at her first performance she set her foot once again on the ladder to success. Sudha Chandran’s handicap was of the most serious nature, but she overcame it by sheer grit and determination. There are many similarly handicapped in this life who would do well to take courage from her example.