.png)
Since childhood, I have been around empowered women or people with a progressive perspective. My father worked for a public sector company, and my mother is a Gynecologist. One of my early childhood memories is relishing an excellent relationship between my mother and her mother-in-law.
Hindi was the primary language in our household. So, I grew up reading a lot of Hindi and Urdu, be it poetry, debate or elocution, which later helped me choose my journalism career. My dad was also instrumental in picking Journalism for me. I pursued it at Maharaja Agrasen College, Delhi University.
After completing Journalism, we were the first generation of journalists to leave the university and head straight into television. Before that, print media and radio were the only options. I have had an excellent journalism career, having worked for leading news channels like Zee News, Aaj Tak, NDTV India, IBN7, and BBC. In between, I married the love of my life, Gaurav Kalra, one of India's leading sports journalists.
When I was at the top of the game at Aaj Tak, I chose to take a sabbatical and study International Communications at the University of Leeds, UK. My father and my then-boss said that it was a professional suicide. But I’m glad I took the tougher path as it prepared me never to hesitate to start something from scratch.
Life was stunning! Gaurav and I both worked exceedingly well in our careers. Our son, Madhav, was born. He was the sweetest thing ever! We couldn’t have asked for anything better with our life. And then came the year 2013.
It was a year of personal and professional churning for me. Professionally, I wasn’t happy with the way journalism was completely changing. There was a lot of unnecessary aggression required to be a news anchor. And personally, my son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at the age of four and a half years.
I quit working and tried to come to terms with the disability. It was strange that even after having such a phenomenal educational background, I was alien to the Autism Spectrum. The next four years were challenging! I tried hard to understand a lot about the disability. Was Autism a disease or disorder? Was it life-threatening or a lifelong condition?
Being with Madhav and closely understanding the disability has helped me break a lot of myths. It wasn’t easy. Stress, anger, sadness, betrayal, depression - I have gone through all before finally embracing the disability. It was an emotional and spiritual journey for me. And now all I can say is that my son is different. And that’s entirely acceptable to me. It’s just that when I see my son distressed, that’s when I don’t like it.
People need to understand that Autism isn’t a disease. It’s a lifelong condition that comes with various day-to-day challenges. The sooner you understand and accept it, the better it will be for you to deal with it. The struggle that a parent or a caregiver goes through while handling a sick child is different from that of an Autistic child. You can cure a sick person. However, autism is a lifelong condition. The diagnosis comes for life. So, a lot of mental strength is required.
I’m constantly engaged in Autism advocacy. And over the years, I have been shocked and disheartened to learn about the stigma around it! As a society, we still have a long way to go to be aware of Autism. You know, there are millions of people who live their lives without knowing they are Autistic. We have a data deficit about Autism because there has never been a census to cover it.
Unlike other countries, our government doesn't offer support for families with Autism. The insurance companies refuse to give proper coverage to an Autistic person. There's a curriculum crisis and a lack of precision academics. At the moment, raising awareness about it is the best we can do to make it normal. I’m doing my bit with the help of my experience in Journalism. I hope you also take some time to learn and spread the word!
Delhi Stories is an emerging platform to feature inspirational, motivational, relatable and beautiful stories. Do you also have an interesting story like Mugdha Kalra?