Salil Chaturvedi, a Poet and Disability Campaigner, is a Story of Why Resistance and Fight is Important!

“Litigate to mitigate,” says veteran writer, poet and digital campaigner Salil Chaturvedi, seated in one of the quirkiest wheelchairs one can see—an artwork featuring flames in orange hues against a black background, which also aligns with his philosophy. It has been 16 years since he fought the case Salil Chaturvedi vs Union of India for better implementation of land-allotment benefits for persons with disabilities under the 1995 PWD Act. The case led to a landmark 2009 Supreme Court directive for state governments to prioritise persons with disabilities for land at concessional rates. However, he says, “The charity model still holds us back in India, rather than the social model that exists in developed countries.”

“Even at this festival, when I am moving around, people want to help me with good intentions. It is better to ask if help is needed rather than reaching for the chair and pulling it,” says the activist on the sidelines of the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa, while speaking about the potential for meaningful change towards the betterment of people with disabilities.

Salil highlights how the “charity model” is also a hindrance to achieving equality. “The ‘bechara’ (helpless—referring to persons with disabilities) is expected to be smiled at in a particular way,” he says, stressing why it should not be a matter of pity. “It is so empowering to see no one pitying you,” he adds, as he sits down to speak just outside the art exhibition he has curated.

As the festival’s accessibility curator, Salil Chaturvedi is monitoring whether the Old GMC Complex and other festival venues are disability-friendly. Last year, the festival won an award for accessibility in the Tourism and Culture category, and this year, he is once again ensuring that the ongoing 10-day festival runs smoothly, especially for people with disabilities. Undoubtedly, many visitors in wheelchairs can be seen accessing the visual arts at the Old GMC building, while others are present at venues such as Kala Academy and Art Park.

Why is being vocal important?

“But accessibility is not only about wheelchairs and ramps; it also includes sign language and audio descriptions,” says Chaturvedi, adding, “Festivals and museums need to engage more persons with disabilities (PwDs) as curators so that their individual challenges can be understood.” Elaborating on this, he says, “Even I, as a person with a disability and with lived experience, cannot fully understand the challenges faced by other PwDs or what they require. We need more access curators with different kinds of disabilities. There is nothing about us, without us.”

India has a significant population of persons with disabilities. According to the 2011 Census, the number stands at approximately 26.8 million, or 2.21 per cent of the population. However, other surveys, such as the NFHS-5 (2019–21), estimate the figure to be as high as 63.28 million, or 4.52 per cent of the population. “We are known as the invisible minority because we are never seen anywhere; it is a chicken-and-egg situation,” Chaturvedi opines.

To achieve equality for the disabled section of society, he believes there is only one path forward, urging people to follow it as he emphasises the importance of raising one’s voice against all forms of discrimination. One of the court cases he fought concerned housing for persons with disabilities. Under the Disability Act, any government or development body providing housing must offer preferential allotment to PwDs at concessional rates. “The concessional rate is not defined—it depends on the government,” he explains.

Since no application process under the Act had been initiated, Salil Chaturvedi approached the Supreme Court and filed a Public Interest Litigation, with senior advocate Prashant Bhushan representing the case. “The states were not responding, and the Supreme Court’s intervention eventually compelled them to do so. I think Goa was one of them,” says the activist from Allahabad (now Prayagraj), who moved to Goa fourteen years ago.

Even after directives were issued to the states, Chaturvedi asks, “Who is going to ensure that the states are actually working for PwDs?” The need for continuous monitoring keeps him engaged in spaces such as the Serendipity Arts Festival, and he urges fellow disability rights campaigners to remain proactive. “You have to be active—go out and, if necessary, embarrass people in public spaces,” he says.

However, he admits, “These are difficult things to do; people need time and money, and not everyone can continuously follow up on laws.” With a smile, Chaturvedi adds, “I think later in life, I should pursue a series of cases, because there is so much that needs to change.”

Highlighting the state in which he currently lives, he opines that Goa should have ramps in churches, temples and other public places, but many still lack them. “Awareness is not easy. Ours is a vast country with a large population and many different sections, but mass media alone has the power to create this awareness,” he says, before asking, “But is the media even doing responsible storytelling these days? And which government is truly thinking about governance? They seem to be busy only with large, profit-driven projects.”

While praising Firdaus Kanga and his books as a literary pathway to understanding disability and actively working for the rights of persons with disabilities, Salil Chaturvedi also believes that curators in other fields—such as dance and music—must take into account people from all walks of life to ensure inclusivity.

To encourage participation, he has also created “blind dates”, allowing people to go on a festival date after registering. “It is important to create encounters,” he says.

Glimpses of Goa in poetry 

On the lines of literature and poetry, all while talking right outside the exhibition Therefore I Am, which he has curated and which includes artists with disabilities, his bag has a book that he takes out to read one of his poems on request, which goes: “In my 50s / Not waking too well / I am tired of gods and turned to grasses instead / Of a poem, I only ask that it be like a cat, no less…”

Living on Chorão Island, closer to Panjim, on the way to Old Goa, Salil Chaturvedi has been writing on themes of nature, mountains and rivers, and says how insects, birds and animals have influenced his poems to a great extent. “Now, I need 20–25 species around me!” he says.

Having just finished building his mud house and having lived there for a year, he is planning to use the one-acre paddy field around it, all while writing and reciting. “We are trying to convert it into a food forest.”

Talking about sustaining a life, he says that it has been great for writing, but asks, “Where is the money in that?” “Goa has been very good for me, for my poetry. I have brought out five books, and they have done well. I have been engaged in Goa through various other kinds of work—helping people tell their stories and editing them—but paisa nahi hai,” he says with a big grin on his face. “An artist can sell a work of art for a decent amount of money, but I can only sell a book for Rs. 250, for instance.”

Coincidentally, Chorão is also home to a folk band organiser who moved there from Jodhpur, as they informed us. While Goa has been grappling with several issues related to tourism, one of the major concerns has been the ongoing migration tussle between locals and people from other states.

'The tussle will get worse between Goans and migrants'

Being a migrant, Chaturvedi believes that he is still an “outsider”, but feels that one must learn the language and local culture once one becomes part of the place. “The division between locals and outsiders that we are seeing is going to get worse and worse,” he says, adding that many people coming from outside have been “changing the environment”. “Goa is undergoing a shift. It has a certain ethos, but people come here with different expectations, which is a problem.”

But who does one blame for that? “It is a mistake to do that because everyone is involved in this kind of shift, from politicians to the locals. Goa has gone down a certain trajectory, and that is the way it will be. There is no turning the clock back.”

After living in Chorão for so long, Salil Chaturvedi still feels that development projects, such as building a bridge on the island, remain a matter for debate, since Goans are divided on such initiatives. “Many Goans, including us, do not like it, as the voice of the citizens is not being heard by the administration—money rules. There are already many protests taking place; our demands are loud and clear,” he says, adding, “Every year, we are witnessing Goa change. Resentment is growing, and I don't know how it will be reversed—it will not be, in the future.”