photos ruhani kaur/cse environment photo library
debility The photographs published with this story, shot in 2004, feature residents of Padre village of Kerala’s Kasargod district. Above is Sheelavathi, a vivacious woman trapped in a two-foot frame for more than 25 years since she suddenly took ill as a child. Her mother would lock her up in the house with a sickle for safety and a radio for entertainment when she left for work each morning