Rizwan Shafi Wani/Srinagar

The wheelchair-bound Javed Ahmed Tak of Anantnag, South Kashmir, who received Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind on November 8, is the reason for the saying that the human spirit is invincible.

Everything was going well for Javed at 23. He lived in a large joint that was prosperous. However, in the night of March 21 in 1997, life changed for this young Kashmiri.

Javed Ahmed Tak told Awaz-the voice that everything was going well with him. He has gone to his aunt’s place wherein late at night a terrorist entered and tried to abduct his young cousin. “I tried to save him (the cousin) but the gunmen shot at me,” he says.

Javed Ahmed Tak

The next day he gained consciousness on the hospital bed. After a few days of treatment, he returned to his home. The damage was done; the bullets had hit his spinal cord and kidney and rendered him disabled.

Javed's cousin whom he tried to save was killed on the spot. Javed was an undergraduate student of the Khannabal Degree College, Anantnag.

"I was bedridden for over three years," he says. “I lay on the bed for 24 hours often lost in my thoughts of a dark future. I couldn't sleep at night; I used to lay restlessly on my bed all night. I gave up all hope and felt I was a burden to my family for the rest of my life.”

However, he says one day he realized that no physical weakness could stop him from moving ahead in life.

Javed Tak summoned his spirit and courage and found a new way of life. He started teaching children at home. “One day I was lying in bed thinking about my life. Then I heard some children loudly speaking just outside my house. I asked my mother to bring them in and started teaching them.

President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Shri Javed Ahmad Tak for Social Work. He is a specially-abled social worker who has been working with specially abled children for the last two decades. pic.twitter.com/t7CvlTVB14

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 8, 2021

“In a few days, my room turned into a small school. It gave me the enthusiasm and confidence to live and released my mind of all tension.” At this stage, I decided to pursue higher education.

Javed holds a master's degree in social work from the University of Kashmir. He also did an M.Ed and a computer course. After completing his education, he set up a school for physically-challenged children called Zeba Apa. The school has many trained teachers to help special children to learn.

“Having gone through it, I realized I had developed a passion for serving people with physical disabilities," says Talk. He visited many schools in remote areas to assess the condition of children with disabilities. 

“Seeing the plight of children with disabilities, I started a new initiative. I set up a school for physically challenged children. At present, about 120 children from four districts of South Kashmir are studying in the school.”

Children found begging on the streets and others who are being exploited by people due to their disability are lodged in the school. They are provided with free education and training as well as all kinds of facilities so that they can live happy lives.

Javed Ahmed Tak with his family 

His school has classes up to eighth grade.” I intend to set up a college for physically challenged children. We also provide vocational courses to enable them to earn a living.” Tak said.

Javed has named his school after his grandmother who was called Zeba Apa by locals. “She was always there to help others, so I named my school after her,” he said.

Javed Ahmed Tak has received many awards for his outstanding services to persons with disabilities. Besides, in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised him in the radio program Maan Ki Baat.

In 2003, Javed Tak launched an NGO the Humanitarian Welfare Organization. Today, his NGO is helping hundreds of physically challenged persons by training them to earn a living through various skills, so that they can live with dignity.

Javed no longer considers himself disabled; he is living a happy life. He also teaches others to love themselves and to become self-reliant in all ways.

He says, “I intend to set up an institution in Jammu and Kashmir where these people with disabilities can be educated up to college level.”

He said that no human being is 100% perfect. Deficiency within each