Most of us are so focused on our next goal, on our next achievement, on our future targets, we are just basically focused on ourselves, often to the extent that we fail to see our blessings and count them! Yes, we fail to open our eyes and observe what is important in life, we cannot see what is right under our noses and above all to be grateful for just having the five basic senses which, in itself,is no small feat.
Twelve years ago, a person came into our lives and just by observing the way he lived his life, taught me to open my own eyes wide and to just take in the many visual delights that this world and Mother Nature have to offer. He is blind but he taught me to actually see my blessings, not just enjoy them. I was introduced to him through my mother. With her penchant for always finding ways and means to help those who may not be as blessed as we have been, she stumbled upon a group of people who recorded text books for visually handicapped students. She soon brought a pile of books home to transfer to cassettes. Compact discs had just been introduced but were exorbitantly priced and so audio cassettes were still in vogue. Not all books for all the subjects post 12th grade have been translated into Braille so these students suffered a lot unless they could find people to record for them.
With my own penchant for education, both my own and that of my students, it wasn't long before I took away most of the pile to my own house and diligently began recording material, often for two hours at a stretch, despite holding a job in a college and having a toddler underfoot! My daughter's eyes were opened at an early age to putting others before self. She often used to get thirsty while playing next to me when I was recording but even as a three year old knew enough not to speak till one side of the cassette was over. Then she would ask sotto vocce for water as she wasn't old enough to reach the filtered water!
We were fortunate to have a brilliant student as our protege. He had topped the tenth standard board exams from his district not just in the handicapped category, but even in the open category! I could not marvel enough at him! He held a minor government job then and had finished his graduation and had just begun his post graduation. I used to even fill out the exam forms for him. Yes, the sad reality is that visually handicapped people have to rely on others for this most basic thing that all of us do, year in and year our, first for ourselves and then for our children. His aim was to become a lecturer and teach English at the University. With this lofty aspiration in mind, he prepared for the NET and SET exams which are a prerequisite for lecturer ship in colleges and universities in India. I filled out those forms too, recorded even more material and even persuaded an under graduate student of mine to be his writer. Yes, a blind person has the knowledge and the skills but has to depend on a third person to transfer it all to paper. Another reality that I had to contend with...
He passed both exams at the first stroke which is a staggering achievement considering that the average pass percentage for these exams is a meagre three percent! But this is not really about his academic endeavours. It's about his attitude. No light passed through his eyes but he still managed to fill his life with light.
He had been blinded as a two year old due to an eye infection that went untreated. And yet he bore no grudge whatsoever against his parents. He accepted his lot with equanimity and even kept a photograph of his parents in his wallet! My mother had accompanied him to the university once for some paper work and when he opened his wallet to pay the auto rickshaw person (oh yes he preferred to pay his way through, though my mother would have gladly paid!) she spotted the photograph. She was touched, specially as so many people we know hold grudges against their loved ones for the most absurd of reasons. And he had reason enough, but that is just not his way!
He faced every problem that came his way very calmly. I used to often get frustrated by the attitude of the government towards those whom they term ' Handicapped' but I learnt then that it is the government which is handicapped! Physically challenged people have come a long way in rebuilding their lives and have become independent but it is those in power who remain blind to their needs..
He would laugh and say it is fine, it happens, whenever there was an inordinate delay in results or from hearing back from people about a job for him or when people treated him like a five year old forgetting that he was visually not mentally handicapped and his I.Q was much higher than the majority of the people we were dealing with!
He finally got the job he deserved. All those hours of my mother and me recording book after book paid off and his hard work and sincerity reaped rich dividends He was selected as a lecturer in a top university in our state in India and has recently completed his Ph.D and has now begun guiding doctoral students! I tell him that the tables have now turned and I would want him for my guide when I begin my own Ph.D!
Today is International Blind Day. To be politically correct, it should be termed as International Visually Handicapped Day. For it is not they who are blind, but it is us! We need to open our eyes wide and pledge to donate them after our death. All of us should make it a point to tell our children and our grandchildren and a few close friends that we wish to donate our eyes. Then in the grief and confusion that follows the death of a loved one, at least one person will remember to phone the eye bank. We have one shot at giving someone this fantastic gift and dispelling the darkness from that person's life for ever. Let's not waste it. Let's pledge now.
Not taken the pledge yet? Of what use can spectacles be, if a person just doesn't want to see?
Close your eyes tight and walk around your room and you will see...
Twelve years ago, a person came into our lives and just by observing the way he lived his life, taught me to open my own eyes wide and to just take in the many visual delights that this world and Mother Nature have to offer. He is blind but he taught me to actually see my blessings, not just enjoy them. I was introduced to him through my mother. With her penchant for always finding ways and means to help those who may not be as blessed as we have been, she stumbled upon a group of people who recorded text books for visually handicapped students. She soon brought a pile of books home to transfer to cassettes. Compact discs had just been introduced but were exorbitantly priced and so audio cassettes were still in vogue. Not all books for all the subjects post 12th grade have been translated into Braille so these students suffered a lot unless they could find people to record for them.
With my own penchant for education, both my own and that of my students, it wasn't long before I took away most of the pile to my own house and diligently began recording material, often for two hours at a stretch, despite holding a job in a college and having a toddler underfoot! My daughter's eyes were opened at an early age to putting others before self. She often used to get thirsty while playing next to me when I was recording but even as a three year old knew enough not to speak till one side of the cassette was over. Then she would ask sotto vocce for water as she wasn't old enough to reach the filtered water!
We were fortunate to have a brilliant student as our protege. He had topped the tenth standard board exams from his district not just in the handicapped category, but even in the open category! I could not marvel enough at him! He held a minor government job then and had finished his graduation and had just begun his post graduation. I used to even fill out the exam forms for him. Yes, the sad reality is that visually handicapped people have to rely on others for this most basic thing that all of us do, year in and year our, first for ourselves and then for our children. His aim was to become a lecturer and teach English at the University. With this lofty aspiration in mind, he prepared for the NET and SET exams which are a prerequisite for lecturer ship in colleges and universities in India. I filled out those forms too, recorded even more material and even persuaded an under graduate student of mine to be his writer. Yes, a blind person has the knowledge and the skills but has to depend on a third person to transfer it all to paper. Another reality that I had to contend with...
He passed both exams at the first stroke which is a staggering achievement considering that the average pass percentage for these exams is a meagre three percent! But this is not really about his academic endeavours. It's about his attitude. No light passed through his eyes but he still managed to fill his life with light.
He had been blinded as a two year old due to an eye infection that went untreated. And yet he bore no grudge whatsoever against his parents. He accepted his lot with equanimity and even kept a photograph of his parents in his wallet! My mother had accompanied him to the university once for some paper work and when he opened his wallet to pay the auto rickshaw person (oh yes he preferred to pay his way through, though my mother would have gladly paid!) she spotted the photograph. She was touched, specially as so many people we know hold grudges against their loved ones for the most absurd of reasons. And he had reason enough, but that is just not his way!
He faced every problem that came his way very calmly. I used to often get frustrated by the attitude of the government towards those whom they term ' Handicapped' but I learnt then that it is the government which is handicapped! Physically challenged people have come a long way in rebuilding their lives and have become independent but it is those in power who remain blind to their needs..
He would laugh and say it is fine, it happens, whenever there was an inordinate delay in results or from hearing back from people about a job for him or when people treated him like a five year old forgetting that he was visually not mentally handicapped and his I.Q was much higher than the majority of the people we were dealing with!
He finally got the job he deserved. All those hours of my mother and me recording book after book paid off and his hard work and sincerity reaped rich dividends He was selected as a lecturer in a top university in our state in India and has recently completed his Ph.D and has now begun guiding doctoral students! I tell him that the tables have now turned and I would want him for my guide when I begin my own Ph.D!
Today is International Blind Day. To be politically correct, it should be termed as International Visually Handicapped Day. For it is not they who are blind, but it is us! We need to open our eyes wide and pledge to donate them after our death. All of us should make it a point to tell our children and our grandchildren and a few close friends that we wish to donate our eyes. Then in the grief and confusion that follows the death of a loved one, at least one person will remember to phone the eye bank. We have one shot at giving someone this fantastic gift and dispelling the darkness from that person's life for ever. Let's not waste it. Let's pledge now.
Not taken the pledge yet? Of what use can spectacles be, if a person just doesn't want to see?
Close your eyes tight and walk around your room and you will see...
An amazing story! Though Uma had told me about him, reading about him brought him to life.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it Suniti specially in light of the fact that you have sensitized your own kids towards the visually impaired.
Deletelovely and touching story and extremely inspirational - - Siddharth
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading it Sid.Your comment tell me about your high levels of maturity and empathy.Keep it up!
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