Kanga's History and Cultural Contribution
Firdaus Kanga was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition also known as brittle bones disease. This left him with several painful fractures throughout his childhood and adolescence in India. He grew up in a family of five, in a one bedroom Bombay apartment. He spoke out against the Indian socialist consensus, and was a supporter of Reagan and Thatcher politics. Kanga's first major achievement was Trying to Grow (also translated into French and Italian) a novel exploring disability, sexuality and culture. In India where religion still dictates most cultural acts, Kanga's novel broke several taboos - portraying disabled people with healthy, rich sexual appetites. Kanga publicly rejected Hindu notions of karma (laying responsibility for suffering at what humans may have done in their last birth) often foisted on disabled people. Kanga was one of the first few public figures in India who stood up for the views of gay people, celebrating sexuality, in a society that still criminalises, though hardly, if ever, prosecutes homosexuality.
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