MP Anil Kumar was a dashing MiG-21 pilot in the Indian Air Force. He was paralysed neck below due to a motorcycle accident on his way back from the squadron after night flying on June 28, 1988. The accident confined him to a wheelchair for life. He was just 24.
For the past 19 years he has lived in the military’s Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Pune and has become an inspiration to many in the manner in which he has picked up the threads of his life.
On his wheelchair, sitting at the computer and pecking away at the keyboard with a mouth-held stick...
Today Anil Kumar uses keyboard with his mouth and is a gifted writer. An article he wrote about his disability was so inspirational that it found its way in school textbooks in Maharashtra.
If you ever visit the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre at Khadki, Pune, in the very first room, you will meet retired Flying Officer MP Anil Kumar, fondly called MP by those who know him.
On his wheelchair, sitting at the computer and pecking away at the keyboard with a mouth-held stick, MP keeps churning out articles with a finesse and class that few writers can match. You can read many of his writings on varied topics, on rediff.com as well as in some national dailies.