Kunjbihari and Kumkum Agrawal have dedicated themselves to helping the disabled through their charitable institution Uddhaar.

Text: Joseph Rozario

As I walk in, frenetic activity greets me. There are patients all around with every imaginable form of deformity of the leg. On one side you see prosthetic limbs being custom made from casts, then cut, shaped and adjusted until each fits the patient’s leg to a tee. And then, of course, there is the accompanying hubbub. At the helm of affairs is Kunjbihari Agrawal, whose philanthropy has occasioned this three-day free camp at Kalyan, in the outskirts of Mumbai. The courteous and soft-spoken Kunjbihariji is the founder of Uddhaar, a Nagpur based charitable organisation dedicated to the cause of the disabled. His wife Kumkum, a veteran member of noted women’s organisations, organises free camps for the visually impaired as part of Uddhaar's activities. Immersed in helping Most of Uddhaar's work centres on providing succour to cripples, amputees and the polio stricken. Intended basically for the needy and the downtrodden, it provides both treatment as also a variety of walking aids such as prosthetic limbs — better known as the 'Jaipur Foot' — calliper splints for the polio stricken, crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, tricycles, et al. Every year, the husband-wife duo takes Uddhaar's magnanimity to hundreds of the handicapped around the country. Starting from 1997, they have organised camps in about a dozen cities so far, which have benefited thousands. With each trip necessitating considerable preparatory work, it keeps the couple occupied for months.