Location: Gurah, India
Medical condition: 70% paralysed.
His story:Mridul Ghosh was born in Gurah, India, on 4 June 1988. When his father passed away, Mridul was left with all the responsibilities of the family. Growing up, Mridul Ghosh dreamed of serving his country. He was deeply inspired by three of the most famous freedom fighters; Bose, Tagore and Singh. At the age of 10, Ghosh even gave a speech in school on the biography of his hero, Subhash Chandra Bose. He is firm a believer of Bose’s ideologies. Mridul joined the air force to fulfill his dream.
His struggle: People think that soldiers get injured at war. But that’s far from true. At just 22 years old, Ghosh suffered a severe cervical injury from a confidential but routine drill, that left him 70% paralyzed from the neck downwards. He has no sensation to touch, cold or heat from neck below. He doesn’t feel any sexual arousal and has no bladder/bowel control.Mridul suffers from a lot of nerve pain to which he needs constant medication for the rest of his life. He also suffers from a constant tingling sensation that feels like “ant-bites” which can really get exhausting. When Mridul suffered from his injuries, he was rushed to the hospital. The injury was so severe that he was bedridden and spent 3 years in hospitals. He spent another 2 years dealing with complications from his injury. However, Mridul Ghosh has always been a fighter.
His first step towards making a difference:“As a soldier, I’m trained to never give up.” Ghosh believes that the training and discipline of the armed forces has made him stronger and the idea of ‘giving up’ really doesn’t exist. Mridul now lives in a paraplegic rehabilitation centre for the armed forces. While he was always fascinated in art, he never got a chance to pursue it until he came to the rehabilitation centre. He took up found mouth-painting and the fact that this was the only thing he was able to do as a hobby, made him take it up seriously.
His contribution to the society: “I just drift into such a peaceful place in my mind, every time I paint.” Painting has made him love his life again. He looks forward to it each day and tries his absolute best to get better with each dabble and stroke. He has now been a mouth painting artist for the past 15 years. In 2017, he became a member of MFPA. He teaches the paraplegic soldiers in the rehabilitation centre. Since then he has received many awards such as MFPA India excellence award, artist of the year, 2020. He is also selected as a human book of Human Library, Pune.