Turning adversity into opportunity | Muniba Mazari | TEDxIslamabad

In this talk Muniba shares the heart wrenching story of an incident which changed her life completely - from the bad to the good.

Muniba Mazari is an artist and a writer. She believes in playing with vibrant colors and flawless portrayal of true emotions. Her work speaks her heart out and is all about people, their expressions, dreams and aspirations.

Although she is wheelchair bound, her spirit and artistry know no bounds. In fact, she takes the agony of spinal cord injury as a challenge and is more determined to express her sentiments through her artwork.

While doing her bachelor in fine arts, she met a road accident which made her paraplegic. Currently, she is running her brand by the name "Muniba’s Canvas" with the slogan "Let Your Walls Wear Colors." She is a mix media artist and believes in depicting the ethnic jewels of her region in an abstract way. Some of her work is purely abstract, which depicts the humans’ expressions, their thoughts and dreams. Her paintings give the message of living life and represent the real personality of the artist.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Behind every inspirational picture,

there is an untold story of constant pain,
persistent effort, and determination.

There are some people in the world

who fight an unseen battle
within themselves 24/7,

with a big smile on their face.

They never cry, they never crib,
they neve whine.

I call such people warriors

because these people
know the art of living life,

and they are way better than those people
who just exist in the world.

Six-and-a-half years back,
I am in a car accident.

I was traveling from Balochistan
to my hometown Rahim Yar Khan.

The driver slept,
and the car fell in the ditch.

As a result of that incident,
I sustained multiple injuries.

The list is a bit long; don't get scared.

The radius and ulna
on my right arm were fractured,

shoulder bone and collar bone
were fractured,

lungs and liver were badly injured.

The whole rib cage was fractured.

But the injury changed my life
and my personality completely

was the spinal cord injury.

Three vertebrae of my backbone
were completely crushed.

It took us an hour or so to find
an ambulance in Balochistan.

All the efforts went in vain
because we couldn't find an ambulance,

so I was thrown in the back
of a potohar jeep,

and I was rushed to the nearby hospital.

In that jeep, I realized
that half of the body was fractured

and half was paralyzed.

We were rushed to the nearby hospital

where we came to know
there was no first aid;

I was kicked out.

Then I went to another hospital,
in my hometown, where the doctor said,

"Take her away. We cannot operate her!"

And I was like, "Why?"

And they were like,
"We don't have equipment.

She will die some day. You go!"

I was kicked out again.

But I finally ended up

in a comparatively
better hospital in Karachi.

Luckily, I wasn't kicked out;
probably that's why I am alive.

So I stayed in that hospital
for two-and-a-half months.

I underwent three major,
two minor surgeries.

The doctors have put
a lot of metal in my arm,

a lot of metal in my backbone,
so I feel more like an "iron lady" now.

But those two-and-a-half months
I spent in the hospital were dreadful.

I was in severe pain,
both physically and psychologically.

Many people left,

very close ones.

The ones who were supposed
to stay with me

were the ones who left me
when I needed them the most.

I was devastated.

Life was completely pointless,
aimless, colorless.

I was tired of wearing the white scrubs,
looking at the white walls,

doing nothing, sitting idle.

I really didn't want to live!

But then I realized

that instead of crying for the people
who were not meant to be with me

and for the legs which I have lost,

I have people around me
who want to see me alive.

"I have so much to be grateful for.

So let's stop cribbing, stop whining,
because it is pointless."

The best decision that I took
in my entire life

was the painting
that I made in the hospital,

with a deformed hand.

That's how I added colors
in my colorless life.

That's how this adversity
helped me in exploring an artist in me.

That's how this art kept me alive
through this whole journey.

Then I was moved to Islamabad.

I stayed in my room, in bed,
confined, for two years

because I developed
multiple pressure ulcers

and a variety of infections and allergies.

Now, this whole traumatic journey

of two years and two-and-a-half months
being bedridden, doing nothing,

the only thing kept me alive was art.

What a beautiful medium art is,

that without uttering a single word,
you express yourself.

What a beautiful escape it was!

But the day I sat on the wheelchair
for the first time,

I was a completely different person.

I still remember that I looked
at myself in the mirror and I said,

"You cannot wait for a miracle
to come and make you walk;

you cannot wait for the stem-cell
treatment, because it's very expensive;

you cannot wait and sit in the corner
of the room, crying and begging for mercy,

because people don't have time.

So the only thing that I could do
was to accept myself the way I was,

the sooner the better.

That's what I did.

I really wanted to make myself
financially strong:

let's become professional!

I started to find some jobs.

A very good friend of mine

found a status on Facebook
saying, "We want content writers,"

and like a cribber I commented,
"I wish I could."

I was called for that interview,

and I was hired
as one of the content writers

for Pakistan's first official websites,
heartofasia.pk -

Salmaan Taseer was the CEO.

That's how I started
my professional career.

So I was becoming
financially strong, stable;

content writing was good.

I was constantly exhibiting
my work in different galleries,

I was flourishing as an artist.

Life was easy,

but I wasn't happy.

I was not contented,

because I was constantly aiming;

I was constantly aiming high,
I was thinking big.

I didn't know what
or how I am going to do,

but I knew I want to do something big
for people, for the country.

One day, I came across
this polio-campaign-advertisement image,

this little boy from a very
underprivileged family,

he's sitting on a wheelchair,

and with his father sitting with him,

crying and saying to the world
in that campaign,

"Give polio drops to your kids!

Otherwise they will become like him."

That advertisement shook me from inside.

I felt devastated.

The way that boy was objectified

as an emblem of grief, misery,
mercy, lifelessness, nothingness -

such a wrong picture,

which was being portrayed in the media
about the persons with disabilities.

That's what we are called.

That was a day when I decided that I had
to change the perception of the people

about being on a wheelchair.

Because being on a wheelchair,

you can still face the world
with a big smile on your face,

and you can tell the world
that you're happy the way you are.

No-one has the right to objectify us
as an emblem of misery or mercy.

We are human beings;

we breathe, we have souls,
we are alive, we feel.

We don't need your sympathies,
we don't need your empathy.

Let us live!

No-one has the right
to "dis- our abilities."

We're capable enough

to breathe and to live
each and every moment of our lives.

I recently did a modeling
campaign for Tony&Guy,

and that makes me Pakistan's
first wheelchair-bound model.

I'm grand ambassador
of the Body Shop Pakistan,

and I am one of the very lucky
Pond's Miracle Women.

It's always good to know

that there are very few
wheelchair-bound artists in the world,

and I am proud to be one,
being a Pakistani,

trying to preserve the ethnic jewels
of the country and the paintings

adorned by very graceful, strong
and powerful Pakistani women,

which I paint.

Very soon I am going to be Pakistan's
first wheelchair-bound TV host.

And I am blessed to have
a beautiful three-year-old son,

which, like, he was here,
but he was so cranky.

Now you all must be thinking

why I am using the word "wheelchair"
over and over again in my talk.

This is the very perspective
I am talking about.

This wheelchair is not my weakness.

This wheelchair is not an adversity.

This is my strength

because of the kind of attention
I get when I go anywhere is priceless.

Everyone loves to be in the limelight.

I have started to enjoy
being in the limelight too.

This is the very perspective
I am talking about.

This wheelchair has given me
an opportunity

to explore what I had in me
and I never knew it.

I feel really sorry for some people
who play this blame game.

They say they feel caged.

They cannot perform well,
they cannot excel,

because the system
isn't allowing them to do:

the government, Pakistan, the whole world.

Society, economy is not letting
them grow as a person.

They're not excelling in their careers.

They say they are caged.

I feel sorry.

I can undoubtedly say that I am caged,

because when I get up in the morning,
I am unable to sit on my own.

I am unable to shift
from the bed to the wheelchair,

from the wheelchair to the car,
from the car to the wheelchair -

I need an assistant, 24/7,
to do little things in life.

Let's make it more simple.

When I feel thirsty at midnight,
and when I forget, which I always do -

and I forget to keep my water bottle
on my nightstand

and I don't see anyone around to help me,

I stay thirsty for the whole night

because I'm unable
to get a glass of water for myself.

I can undoubtedly say
that I'm caged by my body,

but my mind is free.

And so is my soul and so is my spirit.

I can still dream big.

I can still think big.

I can still aim high.

I can still aspire to inspire.

Nothing should stop me.

This wheelchair shouldn't be the reason or
an excuse of not doing anything in life.

I still have big dreams.

I still have big plans
and still have to work on that.

Be grateful for what you have,

and, trust me, you will always
end up having more.

And if you cry, and if you crib
for the little things in your life,

you will never ever have enough.

You want to excel?

You want to grow?

You want to be powerful and passionate
and great professionals?

Learn the art of converting
your adversities into opportunities.

The moment you are going to learn it,
the sky is the limit.

So be grateful, be happy, be alive,

and don’t let anyone
"dis- your abilities."

Thank you.

(Applause) (Cheers)