Mafeli works on her typewriter at her Aizawl home. Picture by David Thangliana

Aizawl, July 26: She can?t even hold a spoon properly, a nasty fall at the age of two stunting her growth and leaving her partially immobile.

Now 24, Lalremmawii ? lovingly called Mafeli ? has stunned everyone by accomplishing what is a gargantuan task for an able-bodied person, leave alone someone with a physical handicap. Hitting the typewriter keys with a pen, she has completed a 202-page novel in just 26 days.

Confessions, Mafeli?s novel in the Mizo language, was released at a function in the state capital yesterday. She told The Telegraph today that the novel was loosely based on the true story of a girl born out of wedlock. ?She discovers her mother?s secret diary one day and comes to know who her biological father is. The title Confessions is an allusion to the secret diary.?

Ironically, Mafeli?s determination to complete the novel in quick time was born out of depression and anger over her disability. ?I worked day and night to complete the novel. I often worried that anger might get the better of me,? she recalled.

She confessed to tearing up all 40 pages of the first draft in a fit of rage before realising that anger and frustration would lead her nowhere. ?Since I cannot go out, I spend the majority of my time reading books and newspapers and watching television. My friends encouraged me to start writing,? Mafeli said.

P.L. Liandinga, one of Mizoram?s popular writers, gifted her a typewriter and she soon learnt how to hit the keys with a pen in her fist.

Recalling her daughter?s early childhood, Mafeli?s mother Lalvuani said a bone-joint disorder struck her shortly after she received treatment for a fall from a chair on her second birthday. ?It was March 21, 1982. Her older siblings had placed her on a chair, from which she fell. We took her to a doctor and she was given medication, but the pain in her joints only increased. She gradually became immobile.?

Doctors believe Mafeli did not get proper medical attention when she needed it the most. Long periods in hospital later did not help and the otherwise bright girl could do only limited schooling at the Special School managed by the Spastic Society of Mizoram in Aizawl.

?I was able to read and write before I attended school. In Special School, I was put straight into Class II. The teachers promoted me to Class IV the very next year because I was proficient. The year after that, I was in Class VII, but did not sit for the exams because of illness,? Mafeli said.

Suffering from frequent nose bleeding, Mafeli had to undergo regular blood transfusion until recently. ?That has thankfully stopped,? she said.

Mafeli now lives with her mother, three older siblings and stepfather ? her biological father apparently divorced her mother because of their daughter?s disability ? at Kulikawn on the southern fringes of Aizawl. The family still owes Rs 28,000 to the printing unit that published Confessions. ?We hope to recover the money from book sales,? the author said.

Priced at Rs 80 a copy, the novel is available at local bookstores here. Mafeli hopes government libraries, too, will procure copies of her work.