The lines, which I have read three decades back on a
poster – “It’s beautiful to see the
colourful world. Pledge to donate your eyes to enable other to see” – are still refresh in my mind. During my
association with the Home for the Blinds which houses visually impaired persons
with free lodging and boarding – I have realized as to how to cope with the
darkness in your life. But you have to teach the inmates by narrating about the
happenings around you.
I recollect that the Nature Conservation Society, Punjab had
an unusual audience to cater into one of its ongoing nature sensitization
programmes for the sightless youths so that they may not miss an opportunity to
see and appreciate natural colours, beauty, grace and elegance of a variety of
animals and bird species. An audio was prepared of recorded sounds for them to
have a feeling of about two dozen species ranging from the chirping of
sparrows, singing notes of the brain fever bird ending with the roar of the
lion.
I often go to meet the blinds and interact with them to know
their feelings. Even I took them once to
Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir in Amritsar and shared the brief history and
structure of thse temples and materialist world around us. I often
see them with their extra sensory memories developed with the loss of their
sight. Some of them dressed themselves
smartly and conditioned to the architect of the building for moving without any
assistance but just by touching walls of the corridor with the left or right
hand, probably to get signals of familiarity.
I remember when one of the inmates – KL- visited my house,
the moment he was made to sit on the chair, he sensed our presence rather
welcomed me with generous words of praise for inviting him. Rather, on hearing the tick-tick of old clock
hanging on the wall above his head, he asked, dear what is time now?
He was however, feeling regretted to have retired from
government services which the computer invention has come in the market to put
his hands on talking computer. Anyhow,
all of them have a good memory and some of them are interested in pursuing
higher studies.
When I kept the newspaper on the table, he too sensed the
feeling of newspapers and updated me about the heavy floods in the West Bengal
which he had heard from the All India Radio. Radio is the best medium for them
to update of the happenings in the world.
He shared with me his long journey in darkness turned into
light with me learning to move with folding canes, listening to the radio and
TV and reading from the Braille language – a raised six dots on the paper
invented by Louise Braille. The Braille
signs also helped them to enjoy playing cards with raised dots to identify the
status of card, on the corners of the card and of course, sometime cricket with
a ball which produces sound on throwing along the wall.
I collect that actor Naseerudin Shah, who played the leading
role of a sightless man in the movie ‘Sparsh’, writes in his autobiography ‘And
Then One Day’ that ‘ the script of the film ‘Sparsh’ was a starting depiction
of the fact of their being deprived of one sense, necessarily means being
compensated rightly by nature in others, including the sense of ego. Their gentle unhurried approach to life,
their willing to enjoy life, the pride they take in their achievements, their
acceptance of willingness to cope with permanent darkness, is really a
inspiring in the way they are happening.
Frankly speaking, once sitting with the and watching them
clapping, smiling and keeping the neck little tilted, which I don’t understand
as to they keep their posture so, perhaps to concentrate in their darkness –
but these moments when rushed to knock on my eye ducts for a teardrop or two.
For a moment, a feeling comes to mind that I am sighted and moved to help them
with the incident of lathi-charge on them for demonstrating for reservation in
jobs, which later on was accepted.
I being with the blind inmates have a deep humbling
experience, compelling us to ponder that in a manner of thinking they also
showed us the way to live in difficult days also.
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