Here are some facts at the time of this column being written, days before the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris comes to a close. According to the sports pages, I see that India sent 84 athletes to compete across 12 sports and won 21 medals as of September 4. There were three gold medallists, eight silver, and ten bronze winners. It is a staggering achievement that barely gets the attention it deserves. These are men and women who have battled incredible odds to bring honour and glory to a country that routinely pretends as if people with disabilities do not exist.

It is naive for me to suggest that we should be more respectful towards the disabled just because some of them do well at sports. What isn’t naive is pointing out that in 2024, all our talk of becoming a developed nation is at odds with how we plan our cities, and how casually we take the notion of ‘inclusivity’. None of the conversations that involve urban planning take people with special needs into account, and all you have to do is step outside your home and look at whether the street closest to you is navigable by someone who doesn’t need assistance. Imagine having to use a wheelchair, and that picture darkens almost instantly.