Humbling experience

Yesterday I accompanied my socially conscious friends to a school for the visually impaired.

I was left open mouthed by the optimism, the revelry and gratefulness of the kids there. The experience left me feeling upbeat and buoyant. What I learnt there is that blind and visually impaired people can learn to do almost anything, except maybe fly an airplane.

All it needs to make them independent and ‘normal’ is to empower them with a sense of confidence and self-esteem. What I also learnt there is to treat them as any other ‘normal’ kid. If people pity them and goes out of their way to help them and burden them with too much attention, this subtle message, can actually, ruin a child. The child would then start feeling that they are too “handicapped” to learn to do things for themselves.

I met Gayatri, a 7 year old kid who is visually impaired since birth. To add to her agony, she wasn’t taught to walk either. Her mother would leave her sitting in one corner when she went out to work while her drunken father lolled in another corner. Although she has twisted legs, her spirits is as sprightly as her words. With physiotherapy, she is slowly learning to walk. I am sure, it wouldn’t be long when she can run around the compound too.

Sheetal, a 12 year’s old girl, was not visually impaired at birth. She was a bright, vivacious girl like any other girl her age. Her blindness is the result of domestic violence. The acid, which was meant for her mother’s face, splashed on her face, impairing her for life. That happened when she was just 5. She has never seen her parents since then, neither have they. They have dumped her from their life. This little body is the epitome of forgiveness and optimism. In fact, she is one of the toppers in her class.

I met and interacted with many more kids. And they left me feeling incompetent, crass and crude. Here I am, blessed with the ability to see all things beautiful, yet, sometimes, I fail to notice the beauty and, instead, grunt about the mite. Those kids at Jagriti, have never seen the daylight, yet they are buoyant and optimistic. They are not disabled, it is me who is disabled… disabled in spite of having all the ability to function. Those kids taught me not to pity another human being.

I learnt to not to think of people as disabled.Rather, they are people who happen to be differently abled!