Perinchamkutty (Idukki): From the riverbank of the remote hill village, Perinchamkutty in Kerala’s Idukki district, a striking scene unfolds each day, a man in a wheelchair ascending a steep hillside through cardamom plants, transporting cages of quails in a custom-built lift. The image has come to symbolise human resilience, innovation and hope.

Seated in a wheelchair inside a motorised lift with a wooden floor and aluminium-sheet roof, Joseph Varghese, popularly known as Kochumon, begins his ascent along iron rails that resemble a narrow railway track. As the lift climbs, its wheels rattle against the metal bars. At the top, he smoothly rolls on to a concrete platform, transfers to another lift leading to his home above, and hands over the quail cages to family members waiting there. With his long hair tied back, he breaks into a broad laugh, a laughter shaped by struggle, survival and confidence.

Kochumon, a native of Perinchamkutty, lost mobility below the waist after falling from a coconut tree while harvesting toddy in Palakkad in 2022. Doctors told him he would never walk again. Refusing to surrender to despair, he chose to engineer his own survival.

To overcome the steep terrain separating his home from the riverbank, Kochumon designed and built two electric, manually operated lifts, one connecting his house to the ground below, and another linking the ground to the sloping foothills. Capable of carrying up to 1,000 kilograms, the lifts were completed in just four months, largely through his own effort.

Near the river, he constructed a quail-rearing shed and installed an incubator for hatching birds. The hillside has since been transformed into a thriving organic cardamom orchard, fertilised using quail waste. Under its shade live his daughter Agnes, a Class 10 student, and his elderly father Varghese.

A skilled all-rounder, Kochumon learned welding, plumbing, carpentry and farming at a young age. After his spinal cord injury, those skills became tools of survival. Along with a few friends, he handled everything from design and welding to electrical systems, including mechanisms for collecting eggs and handling birds.

The lift is used at least five times a day. Power cuts sometimes leave him stranded mid-slope for hours. On one occasion, his wheelchair toppled and slid downhill, but he survived without serious injury.

Kochumon’s story is not one of seeking sympathy. “We don’t need pity. We need people who give us the energy to move forward,” he says, words that reflect the spirit of a man who turned adversity into action.