Kannammaa Writes

  Sharing Information about My Disability Isn't Seeking Pity I'm seeing a lot of people accusing me of "pity-farming" using my disability on social media. I knew this would happen. That's why I hid myself (and my jarring disability) for 10 years since I started the Karuththu Kannammaa page - only my schoolmate, who was the co-founder of the page and KK admins from India knew. I only came out with my disability in 2025 - 10 years after I started KK in 2015. 10 freaking years coz I knew that people, especially men, will use my disability to cloud my credibility.  I went from:  "Oh, she's a woman. She's using woman card and victim card." To: "Oh, she's disabled. She's seeking pity and sympathy." And since I am in my 40s, that too is used against me. Everything and anything that I'm powerless to change is used to discredit me. These people never actually debate me on what I said. You know what? My whole life, even when I was wal...

  🌅After Illness-Related Disability, I Ran to Find a Job, Not a Husband In less than a year, I went from the left to the right — a bright student to a disabled young woman. Needless to say, it was devastating. But I realized some things in the years of my journey with a new identity, in a limiting, painful body. 💔 The Man Who Pursued Me… Left As I fought for my life in the hospital after diagnosis, the man who wanted to marry me — he brought a proposal through his family — absconded. He was my cousin's wife's brother. Everyone thought that he'd be a good husband for me. Except for the fact that marriage was the last thing on my mind — I was worrying about my A-levels exam results and whether I'd bounce back in time to attend university. 👁️ When Reality Hits, You See What’s Best for You I went from a so-called “attractive girl” to a girl on wheels everyone pitied — because “no man would marry me.” I was barfing in the hospital due to an allergy to medicine, ...

  Independence Despite Disability ♿✨ Redefining What It Means to Be Independent I was a fiercely independent teenager—not only was I not sheltered, but I also hated the idea of others doing things for me. If anything, I was the one people relied on. 🏍️ I ran errands on my motorcycle, paid bills, and tutored my neighbors’ kids in English. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 I accompanied my parents to hospital appointments—while managing my own. 🎉 I took my nieces and nephews to school events and birthday outings. 🐶 I looked after my pet dog, Mylo, and extended my help to family, friends, and neighbors every chance I got. All this—while quietly battling the early symptoms of an unknown, foreign disease hidden deep within my DNA. The Silent Struggle Within 💢 At first, it was subtle but relentless: Unexplained body pain Fatigue Migraines Soon, the symptoms became impossible to ignore. My body began to betray me—walking and writing grew difficult. Violent tremors shook my hands. My j...

Personally, I've deviated far from the socially accepted life for an Indian woman. Here's my story. I hope it will inspire that life isn't a set template, it's all about breaking barriers. I Fell Gravely Ill when I was Writing My Pre-University Exams and Couldn’t Go to University.     The onset of my rare genetic disease happened during my pre-university days - I was 19 years old.  At that time, no one could determine what was wrong with me. I was admitted to the hospital and wrote  my exams there. I was in a lot of pain. My hands shook and I had difficulty writing but I pushed through anyway, in tears. I got sicker because of misdiagnosis.   Since my disease is rare, doctors misdiagnosed it many times. So, I got worse and worse – critical time was wasted. After correct diagnosis, I had severe allergy reactions to the medicine. Throughout the ordeal, I had to make great effort even to swallow. My tremors were so violent, it shook the wheelchair when I sat in it....

Call me ableist and insensitive - but I will say what I have to say about the sexism affecting only Indian disabled women. I had a disabled female relative and a disabled female doctor (both with Indian roots and affected by childhood polio). They were used liberally as inspiration porn as they were successful in a world built for able bodied people. However, marriage and romantic relationships eluded them - the words from my female relative rings sonorously in my conscience: "They think disabled people should be grateful they’re allowed to exist – romantic relationships, intimacy, marriage are excess. To some extent, disabled men have more chances to find a life partner than disabled women in our patriarchal society. Patriarchy renders women like me unmarriageable.  In the past, during the penn paarkum vaibavam (bride seeing ceremony), right... They will ask the bride they came to see to walk, sing, ask her questions, and make her serve coffee and tidbits. This was to check if th...

  Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi recently said at an event that his house is like a lady's hostel and he's the hostel warden - referring to his five granddaughters. He added that he needs a grandson from his son to continue his family legacy. He was rebuked for saying such things in public in a country where female fetuses are aborted over the preference for sons. Still, people are saying that there's nothing wrong with what he said. "Truly, only boys carry the family legacy." There are still people with such a mindset - so, public figures should watch what they say. Leave social responsibility - how'd his granddaughters feel when they hear his sexist remarks on them? They'd feel shortchanged, unworthy and that it doesn't matter how much they excel and achieve, they wouldn't measure up to a boy. And that will affect their confidence and overall sense of self-worth. Their grandfather should have at least realized that before shooting off his mouth that...