Friends turn matchmakers for Kerala man with disabilities, help him find partner

Jafar, a wheelchair user, was staying alone and struggling to make both ends meet till he met his former classmates at a school reunion.
Jafar school reunion
Jafar school reunion
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Jafar, a wheelchair user from Palakkad district’s Odupara, did not have a hope in life until May 2019. A year after passing Class 10 in 1990, he became ill and was left paralysed in both legs. For the next 28 years, his life was limited to a wheelchair and his house. A few years after he fell sick, his world turned darker when he lost his mother. In 2005, his father also passed away.

But in a happy turn of events, thanks to a reunion with a bunch of goodhearted friends from school, Jafar got married on October 19.

Jafar had not kept in touch with any of his school friends after 1990. Nobody knew where he was until May 2019 when a get-together was organised for the 1990 batch of the Parudur High School, Pallipuram.

That is when Jafar’s classmates realised his plight. “Since then I’ve not been alone. My school friends have been helping me with all my needs. They also found a bride for me who accepted all my limitations. I’m living a better life due to all their support,” Jafar said.

For the past year, Jafar had been living alone as his brother and family moved out of their house. He managed with help from some neighbours and locals. “When we met him, he was living alone in a small house. We were meeting after 29 years. We had no idea what happened to him. When we met him again at the get-together, we decided to help him. Initially, we provided some financial help but later we realised that he wanted company,” P Sudheer, one of Jafar’s friends, told TNM.

“Though I had thought about marriage earlier, I was aware of my limitations. I also didn’t have any income,” Jafar said. But two other friends from his school friends group found the perfect bride for Jafar. “Her name is Arifa and she is from Parappanangady. Initially her family was not happy to send her this far from her home. But my friends convinced them and arranged everything,” Jafar said.

Since the get-together his old classmates keep visiting him at his house. Not only financial help they also give him mental support. “We collected a good amount of money as a gift for his wedding and also provided all other support. It was not a big function due to COVID-19 regulations,” Sudheer said.

Some of Jafar’s neighbours gifted him a three-wheel scooter.

In his own words, he has truly started enjoying life. “Now I’m happy. I’ve also started earning a little by selling some homemade products through the Sahayathra charity in Koottanad. I have the support of my friends and a few neighbours now,” Jafar said happily.

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